I’m neck deep in college work this week. I’m dealing with molar volume of an ideal gas right now, but will quickly move on to oxidation and reduction. Surprisingly, this stuff hasn’t been too hard. (I might not be saying that, though, once I get my grades back!) But it is time-consuming. So, I haven’t had time to poke and prod a certain Mr. Apple in Wakulla. So, perhaps you folks would like to do so yourselves. There’s plenty in Mr. Apple’s piece to skewer. How about this:
Let’s say by some miracle we did evolve from a single cell organism. If so, how did they reproduce? Oh, they just divided, you say. They just multiplied. Oh. Okay. Then let me ask you this. If that system worked so well, why did it switch over to requiring two people to procreate? If you had an efficient system of procreating by simply multiplying yourself, why would it ever evolve into requiring two organisms? And how did it make that leap?
I’m telling you, asking these questions is like taking a machine gun to a football. It rips it full of holes and lets all the air out.
Oh, but throw in millions of years. That’s our answer to everything. Gee, that’s a really long time. I guess anything could happen if you give it a million years.
This one is even more ridiculous:
Now let me ask you, have you ever studied about the earth’s “magnetosphere� It’s a magnetic shield around the planet that protects the earth from the sun. Now I’m no sun expert. I just saw this on a DVD from the library. But it pointed out how powerful the sun is (remember, they say at the core it’s like 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.) It’s so powerful that it would hammer the earth – if it weren’t for that magnetic shield.
Now, are you going to try to tell me that we have evolution to thank for that shield? And evolution to thank for the sun? And, praise evolution, it all happened at once, because the sun sustains life on this planet, yet at the same time we must be shielded from the full affect of the sun. It all had to happen at exactly the same time. What are the odds of it happening by chance? It’s impossible!
Do you get the impression that this guy doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about? Yup, me too.
You’re welcome to rip him apart in the comments, or send me your response to Mr. Apple via e-mail. I’ll then put the best slice and dice up as a regular blog post. Have fun.
“Do you get the impression that this guy doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about?”
He cites as his source “Answers In Genesis”. So no, he has no clue at all what he’s talking about.
What in the name of James K. Polk does the magnetosphere have to do with evolution?!?!?
Sigh. Just another in a long and undistinguished line of asshat creationist fanatics who, with no knowledge of science or how it works whatsoever (outside of what they saw in a late-night showing of “Frankenstein”), nonetheless presume to critique it.
I mean, do these pathetic sheep really think that scientists themselves do not ask these same questions, and then seek the answers? And that a simple Google search would reveal the answers that have been found, and the means that such answers were arrived at?
Such empty arrogance and unfounded self-righteousness can only be found in repeated, continuous reinforcement in an echo chamber of similar-minded fools. They really do, it seems, think that these sorts of critiques constitute “death blows” to the ToE.
I only recently discovered the meaning of Ivy Mike.
Mr. Apple, it is difficult to understand the point you are trying to make by comparing unrelated phenomenon – biological evolution and the Earth’s magnetosphere. You are correct in saying that our magnetosphere protects our planet from the harsh radiation of the Sun. You are also correct in stating that you are no “Sun expertâ€. Many astronomical objects are surrounded by this region in which phenomena are dominated or organized by a magnetic field. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are many other magnetized planets such as Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and innumerable other planets in our galaxy. This magnetosphere has existed around our planet much longer than life has been here, and will still be here long after life is gone. Evolution, the change in inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next, really has nothing to do with Earth’s magnetosphere. Certain conditions are needed for life to exist, but whether or not those conditions exist at any given location in the universe in no way disproves that life on Earth has changed and diversified over time. These things really have nothing to do with each other.
Mr. Apple, Microorganisms are incredibly diverse and include bacteria, fungi, archaea and protists, as well as some other microscopic plants and animals, and most of these microorganisms are single-celled. For the first 3 billion years of the Earth’s history, this was the only life here on Earth, and today we still have an abundance of these organisms. They are even crawling all over your body right now. Many microbes such as bacteria freely exchange genes by conjugation, transformation and transduction between widely-divergent species. This has allowed microorganisms to swiftly evolve (via natural selection) to survive in new environments and respond to environmental stresses. Consider slime molds – they have unique life cycles which involve switching between unicellular, colonial, and multi-cellular forms, and this is readily observable in a lab environment. I am not sure where you getting your information from, but these questions were answered long ago by scientists such as Spallanzani and Pasteur. Actually, this does touch on one of the most important reasons why students must study evolution – a thorough understanding of evolution is needed to be able combat the threats humans face from microorganisms that are evolving resistive traits to our medicines. Take a look at the Biology website of a major university and you can easily find much more on the subject.
Ideal gas? Let’s see….I vaguely remember something about that…
Oh yeah…that’s all about the ideal pressure in the beer volcanoes in Heaven!
RAmen
As for Mr. Apple (must resist…), after reading a few paragraphs, my brain has once again gone into that completely speechless dumbfounded state.
I’ve only gotten up to…
“First of all, it’s amazing that we have taste buds and actually enjoy food so much. Second of all, it’s amazing that our bodies take that food and use it for energy. In addition to the pleasure, food literally keeps us alive.
And you’re trying to tell me that just sort of happened randomly, a really lucky accident? Think of the odds of that happening. A mouth develops on its own? A mouth that eats and tastes? And it just so happens that it eats things that energize the body? The odds are so staggering that it’s actually impossible.”
…so far
I’ll have to head/desk a little more vigorously for a little while more before attempting to read on further.
And this guy is local to me. (head/desk) However, he does provide a good example of why we need evolution education in this state.
This is just some guy wallowing in his personal incredulity in subjects of which he as little or no familiarity with. The whole piece reads like persecution flamebait. I suspect that any attempt to reason with/educate him will result in terminal insanity.