Natural selection in the evolutionary view is not guided by a mind. Anything produced by evolution (or by natural selection) is therefore accidental. Thus, if evolution is true, then people are accidents by definition since they are produced “without a deliberate plan or cause.” So this confirms what we wrote early, and refutes Robert’s previous claim.
30 comments
It comes as no surprise to learn that Jason appears to be woefully ignorant of the meanings of words, probably deliberately so. To the fundie mentality, plasticity of definition is regarded as an important aide-de-fantasie and all round gullibility enhancer.
The biggest misconception about evolution is that it is random and accidental. Evolution is directed by environmental changes and follows physical laws.
To use an analogy, suppose I let go of a rock on top of a cliff. It falls and hits the ground. There was no intelligence guiding it to hit the ground, but it was no accident either as it was following the Law of Gravity.
i think it's fairish to say that all life is accidental because it isn't logically necessary. humans are an accident of history, so to speak, because of that. but in common use i don't think someone would say that the rising of the sun is an accident. it's an inevitability that emerges necessarily from circumstances that are an accident of history.
but, that's assuming that lisle has any idea what logic actually is and what its limitations are.
Let's see if we can apply some intellectual honesty here.
youroriginsmatter.com should actually be appealtoconsequences.com
and "accidental" would be better characterized as "emergent" but emergent isn't as useful when you want to beat ye olde strawhorse to death insisting that "unplanned" means there's no value to anything so there's no reason to not eat babies, murder little old ladies, blah blah other implied unfettered nihilism blah blah ...
So if some creator guided our evolution, why do we have an appendix, eye teeth, generally terrible vision, flat feet, a birthing system tied into our piss system? It makes no sense that a perfect creator would do such a slipshod job.
Nothing in the evolutionary theory says that it couldn't be controlled by a mind. That it's not the result of a program so complex that it seems random.
Evolution rules out your God but it does not rule out a creator.
False dichotomy, silly. There are plenty of natural processes that are not "guided by a mind" but are not accidents. The mutations might be tweaked (if you work hard) to be seen as accidents, but the natural selection is not.
Okay, if that's how you want to define "accident", but even so, that just makes our presence here even more wondrous and worth treasuring.
If "accidental" means not guided by a mind, then does that mean that all Jason Lisle's posts are accidental?
Because I'd be hard pressed to find any writing more mindless than his.
Anything produced by evolution (or by natural selection) is therefore accidental.
Hmm... but something that is accidental is something that happens that wasn't in a plan... which means you can only assume the accidental part if you assume there IS a plan... and if evolution is true, then there is NO plan... so there cannot be anything accidental... so your entire claim is circular wankery.
Oh... it's Jason Lisle... I'll just strike through anything that is now superfluous...
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
