My Darwin Challenge

[AV1611VET]

I think Darwin was qualified to speculate on human origins in Africa, but not to state it definitively.

You're skating around the word I used in the op.

Was he qualified to SAY it?

I didn't ask if he was qualified to speculate it.

Nor did I mention stating it definitively.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

Question is: so what?
Darwin was proven to be right in the end; humans did come from Africa.

 

[durangodawood]

You're skating around the word I used in the op.

Was he qualified to SAY it?

I didn't ask if he was qualified to speculate it.

Nor did I mention stating it definitively.

If it doesn't mean either of those two things then I guess I dont know what "qualified to say" means.

 

[AV1611VET]

Question is: so what?
Darwin was proven to be right in the end; humans did come from Africa.

What do you mean "right in the end"?

How did he know it BEFORE anyone at the end of the line did?

But regardless as to whether or not he was right or wrong, was he QUALIFIED to say it?

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

What do you mean "right in the end"?

How did he know it BEFORE anyone at the end of the line did?

But regardless as to whether or not he was right or wrong, was he QUALIFIED to say it?

... how does that phrase trip you up? Darwin speculated that humans came from Africa. That speculation was proven right, even though he had no serious scientific way of showing it.

And why does it bloody matter if he was qualified or not? The man was right.

 

[AV1611VET]

... how does that phrase trip you up? Darwin speculated that humans came from Africa. That speculation was proven right, even though he had no serious scientific way of showing it.

And why does it bloody matter if he was qualified or not? The man was right.

You're jumping from SPECULATION to PROVEN RIGHT.

In between those two, was Darwin qualified to say it?

Just YES or NO, for crying out loud.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

You're jumping from SPECULATION to PROVEN RIGHT.

In between those two, was Darwin qualified to say it?

Just YES or NO, for crying out loud.

Speculation is the first step on the road to being proven right. That's how science works. That's how basic ideas work.

And I have already given you my answer, in post #24.

 

[Astrophile]

See, the thing is that Darwin, and Thomas Huxley before him, postulated the idea that, since the greatest amount of apes is in Africa, then humans must have come from Africa.

Modern paleontology and archeology proved him right.

I think that Huxley concluded on anatomical grounds that we are more closely related to chimpanzees and gorillas than to orang-utans, and therefore that our common ancestor with the apes was an African ape.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

I think that Huxley concluded on anatomical grounds that we are more closely related to chimpanzees and gorillas than to orang-utans, and therefore that our common ancestor with the apes was an African ape.

I'm just writing what I know without copying whole reams of Wikipedia stuff.

 

[Astrophile]

He was a naturalist, geologist and biologist. No mention of Paleontology when I do a search for him. So I don't know maybe someone else can answer.

During the voyage of the Beagle, Darwin collected many fossils (e.g. Megatherium, Mylodon, Scelidotherium, Glyptodon, wild horses, Toxodon and mastodons) in South America, and fossilised wood in South America and Australia. You should read Darwin's Fossils, by Adrian Lister (Natural History Museum, 2018).

 

[Frank Robert]

You're skating around the word I used in the op.

Was he qualified to SAY it?

I didn't ask if he was qualified to speculate it.

In "The Descent of Man" Darwin Predicted that Human Origins Will be Found in Africa, a hypothesis which was ultimately proven correct through fossils. Even if he were later proven to be incorrect, why would do speculate that he wasn't qualified to make a hypothesis in his field.

 

[AV1611VET]

6 votes -- 72 posts.

Keep 'em coming!

 

[ruthiesea]

No he was not, by modern standards.

Yet all of the evidence indicates that he was right.

 

[Larniavc]

Yet all of the evidence indicates that he was right.

Yeah, which makes then untestable hypothesis even more remarkable.

 

[driewerf]

Was Charles Darwin qualified to say we came from Africa?

Whether Darwin was qualified to say that humans originated in Africa depends on what you consider as qualified. Het had no formal degree in any science. He hadn’t an impressive string of abbreviations before or after his name. In the 19th century the phenomenon of the rich gentleman amateur scientist was still in existence, and many of these amateurs have contributed to our scientific knowledge. (Another famous example – though earlier – is William Herschel.) Darwin corresponded extensively with professional scientists who accepted him as one of their peers. His publisher considered his books worth to be published. His paper was read during a session of the Royal Society. Darwin was up to date with the knowledge and the relevant science available at that time. Hence, by any criterium, yes he can be considered qualified.
Today, scientific progress has come so far that all “easy science” is done. To perform new, original research very expensive and delicate equipment is required. Hence in most of the fields of science the enlightened amateur can’t do a lot of research anymore. One can deplore this development for it had its own charm, but that’s the way it is.

 

[driewerf]

Yeah, which makes then untestable hypothesis even more remarkable.

Since it has been shown right - and it could have been shown wrong too - it was a testable hypothesis. Just not in his life time.

 

[Larniavc]

Since it has been shown right - and it could have been shown wrong too - it was a testable hypothesis. Just not in his life time.

That’s what I meant.

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

Fail. Nothing in that old book mentions Darwin, evolution, or you.

 

[AV1611VET]

Fail. Nothing in that old book mentions Darwin, evolution, or you.

Wrong on all counts.

It even mentions YOU.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

Wrong on all counts.

It even mentions YOU.

Except that nowhere does it say "AV1611VET is qualified to say that Charles Darwin was unqualified to postulate that humans originally came from Africa."