Evolution and Santa Claus/ /Commonalities of Illusions

[lucaspa]

Originally posted by seesaw
Huh? proof atheism I didn't say anything about that. I think we could proof the big bang or end up with enough evidence that shows that it did happen.

First, by the deductive logic used by science, it is impossible, strictly speaking, to prove ANY theory.  Even round earth. The problem is that no matter how many tests we perform, there are still an infinite number of tests yet to perform, and the theory could fail one of them.

Second, so what that we have shown that the Big Bang happened?  The evidence for that is below.  You seem to think that will be some big milestone.  But since Big Bang has so much supporting evidence that it is perverse not to accept it as (provisionally) true, I can see no point in wanting "proof" for it or for evolution unless you are using these events as "evidence" for a particular worldview.  I.e. atheism. 

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni/uni_101bb1.html
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/acosmexp.html
3.  Barry Parker, The Vindication of the Big Bang, Breakthroughs and Barriers, Plenum Press, 1993.
14. M Joy and JE Calrstrom  Probing the early universe with the SZ effect.  Science 291: 1715-1717, March 2, 2001.  Interaction with the CMBR with free electrons in ionized gas produce the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect.  Proposed in 1970, but not detected until recently.  Is independent test of big bang and theories associated with it.  So far, supportes big bang strongly.
19. MJ Reese, Piecing together the biggest puzzle of all.  Science 290: 1919-1925, Dec 2000.  Observations that could have falsified big bang (pg 1923): helium abundance, detailed background radiation, stable neutrino of 100 - million ev, high deuterium.
20. A Gangui, In support of inflation.  Science 291: 837-839, Feb. 2, 2001. 
21. CSeife, Echoes of the Big Bang theory put theories in tune.  Science 292: 823, May 4, 2001.  Boomerang analysis of CMB finds harmonics that support acoustic theory -- pressure waves in early (<300,000 years) blob of plasma.  Exactly as theory predicted. 

 

[MSBS]

Originally posted by lucaspa
In the sense that it won't convince John MacNeil?  Of course he won't be convinced. But this thread has nearly 2,000 views.  IMHO, it is worth the effort to show the fallacies of his arguments to those viewers.

For instance, it appears that no one else was aware of the transitional fossils linking H. sapiens to H. erectus, because no one posted it.  Now everyone knows.  And they know of the fallacy of insisting on the link between sapiens and neandertals.

Hopefully, people will also know why MacNeil is mistaken about his claims linking evolution to atheism.  That information too is well worth the effort, IMO.

You have more staying power than I do. For some reason I tend to develop a headache after banging my head into a brick wall.

 

[lucaspa]

Originally posted by MSBS
You have more staying power than I do. For some reason I tend to develop a headache after banging my head into a brick wall.

That's because you are only looking at John.  Look past him to all the people who are reading the post.  They are not brick walls.

The real satisfaction comes when you see another poster taking up your arguments and using them on their own.