Oh.. I just saw the link to statistics above, however, my point about prisons promoting religion to the inmates still stands.

Science - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received: 1

"Hell, I wonder why atheists commit fewer crimes than believers. This simply isn't true. But I am sure atheists will support this statement even if they commit crimes all the time." I think that statement was based on prison demographics, which show a significantly lower population of atheists in prison as compared to their magnitude in the general population. I vaguely remember a comparison of 10% atheist/agnostic in the general public, but only 3% of prison. Don't quote me on it, but I think I'm remembering the numbers correctly. This could however be a result of the close-knit communities promoting religion within prisons. -Karl

Science - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received: 2

To elaborate on Josh's response to Abhishek. (1) Where are the trillions of fossils of such true transitional forms? -One explanation could be that transitional forms by nature have smaller populations, so the vast number of fossils that are available to be found are of a more developed version of the new species, which would simply be attributed to the new species. To turn it around on you, as a creationist how can you explain the lack of human fossils at the depths where many dinosaur, or other prehistoric fossils are found? (3)Where did all the 90-plus elements come from (iron, barium, calcium, silver, nickel, neon, chlorine, etc)? -Evolutionary theory doesn't have anything to do with the beginnings of the universe. (4) How do you explain the precision in the design of the elements, with increasing numbers of electrons in orbit around the nucleus? -Again, this has nothing to do with evolutionary theory. (5) Part of your question is about chemistry, but the remaining portion talks about specifics of the "primordial soup" etc. The issue here is that the primordial soup is infinitely more simple than the idea of a omnipotent being. To explain the beginning of life, it is much easier to reason that it came from simple beginnings that could happen by chance, which is a very slim chance, as evidenced by our lack of experience with life on other planets. A simple beginning is much more easily acceptable than the complex beginnings offered by any "God Theory." If you are going to use God to explain the beginning of things, you are only complicating your problem, because now you have to explain how God came to be, how God was created. (6) How did life develop from non-life? -I don't know, we don't have evidence to answer such questions. (7) Where did the human emotions, such as love, hate, and jealousy come from? -The usefulness of these traits can be fairly easily argued, because social constructs help a species work together and survive. This would give evolutionary reason for brain centers controlling emotion to be passed on to newer generations, because organisms that can't interact socially will not survive. I also think it's unfair to call these human emotions, because many other species seem to experience similar feelings. ( 8 ) Symmetry question... -This is often used as an argument FOR evolution, so I think you need a better understanding of evolutionary theory. Assume that a very early life form had a symmetrical appearance, if you are to believe that evolutionary theory are true, then this would provide an explanation for how all life forms evolving from this first species could inherit the symmetrical nature of the "parent" species. (9) What are the odds that of the millions of species of animals, birds, fish, and insects, a male of each species developed at the same time and in the same place as a female of the same species, so that the species could propagate? -Speciation isn't theorized to be as sudden as you make it sound, a new species is created within a small population. This way many males and females evolve simultaneously over many years. (10) Why are there 2 sexes anyhow? -Because without sexual reproduction, their wouldn't be variation in the population, one of the central points of evolutionary theory. (12) How did the heart, lungs, brain, stomach, veins, blood, kidneys, etc. develop in the first animal...? -This question clearly illustrates your misunderstanding of evolutionary theory, I think you know enough to know that evolutionary scientists don't actually believe that an animal developed 10% of an organ, or 20% of a vascular system, that is just ludicrous. To explain how complex systems emerged in an evolutionary sense, you can imagine simple versions of an organ developing in a very TINY creature, so they can expand with the evolution of the species. Other points: It is very important to remember that evolutionary theory doesn't make room for "random" variations. This is a common mistake creationists make when making arguments against evolutionary theory. Also, I do agree with Abhishek that evolutionary theory is very inadequate when trying to describe the very beginnings of life on earth. However, it's lack of an explanation can be more convincing than any outlandish story about a complex creator that just exists because it's convenient. Sorry for any overlap with Josh's response, but I felt like some areas could use expansion.

Science - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received: 4

Science - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received:

I like to think of this quote as a more broad claim involving our ability to perceive the world. Wittgenstein's world is limited to what he can describe within it. To adapt to this big emptiness created by our inept language, we use a term "feelings" to describe all the "crap" in life that we can't explain otherwise. On extending our A to the Z's Perhaps we should start teaching kids Math in hexadecimal, although some cognitive science research suggests that the neural connections to our ten digits are wired very closely to our "calculation" center in a developing brain. Giving us a predisposition to a "base 10" counting system. I don't have a conclusion, just more questions.

Linguistics - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received: 2

Binary Watch should be marketed at programming conventions, it would be awesome to show off to newbies, they would think you are from space or something.

Programmers - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received: 0

La Jolla, California UCSD!

Brazil - Posted By Karl Keefer - Karma received: 0