How and why I left christianity (evangelicalism to be exact...)

[Hominid]

A bit of a read. Just sharin'....

http://www.jamesphotography.ca/wolfspeak/escape.html

[Caesar dude]

Is this your story?

[Hominid]

Is this your story?

Yes

[Caesar dude]

Then I like this ...I like it a lot!

[BikerDude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAuFJKQh83Y

[Hominid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAuFJKQh83Y

Great video; he argues like I do about rational evidence. As to whether or not I'm an atheist depends on your languaging. I don't believe in any single deity being responsible for creation (because none exist), but I do believe that there is some kind of inherent intelligence behind the evolution of biological life.  To me, DNA isn't some random mistake. I have no theories or answers, but I don't have enough faith to think it's all just random accidents.  But that's like, my opinion man... 

[cckeiser]

Don't know if this may be what you have been searching for, but I finally put Poly-Solipsism back on the web. It's on g+:
https://plus.google.com/118067270898779712769/posts

[BikerDude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAuFJKQh83Y

Great video; he argues like I do about rational evidence. As to whether or not I'm an atheist depends on your languaging. I don't believe in any single deity being responsible for creation (because none exist), but I do believe that there is some kind of inherent intelligence behind the evolution of biological life.  To me, DNA isn't some random mistake. I have no theories or answers, but I don't have enough faith to think it's all just random accidents.  But that's like, my opinion man... 

It's the illusion of intelligence. It's natural selection.
Random mutation with the "good" ones being selected as being advantageous in a given set of conditions. I take the outcome as resembling intelligence. But really how else could it come out? Giraffes with a longer necks won. For obvious reasons, and that fact "makes perfect sense" which of course resembles an intelligence.
But it's really just the ghost in the machine and of course in the same breath we have to realize the intelligence is not something appart from natural forces it's just another outcome. Rational thought is an advantage. Pair that with opposible thumbs and the ability to manipulate objects, build tools etc etc on and on. It grows out of it's utility just like a giraffes long neck.

[Hominid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAuFJKQh83Y

Great video; he argues like I do about rational evidence. As to whether or not I'm an atheist depends on your languaging. I don't believe in any single deity being responsible for creation (because none exist), but I do believe that there is some kind of inherent intelligence behind the evolution of biological life.  To me, DNA isn't some random mistake. I have no theories or answers, but I don't have enough faith to think it's all just random accidents.  But that's like, my opinion man... 

It's the illusion of intelligence. It's natural selection.
Random mutation with the "good" ones being selected as being advantageous in a given set of conditions. I take the outcome as resembling intelligence. But really how else could it come out? Giraffes with a longer necks won. For obvious reasons, and that fact "makes perfect sense" which of course resembles an intelligence.
But it's really just the ghost in the machine and of course in the same breath we have to realize the intelligence is not something appart from natural forces it's just another outcome. Rational thought is an advantage. Pair that with opposible thumbs and the ability to manipulate objects, build tools etc etc on and on. It grows out of it's utility just like a giraffes long neck.

I hear you... but there's much more than natural selection going on - there are specific adaptations that come from local environmental pressure, such as birds that evolve their beaks from year to year to adapt to different seeds. It isn't "just another outcome". This direct, non-random adaptation demonstrates what I'm referring to. Similar to butterflies that have eyes painted on their wings, or frogs that are poisonous to their predators. They weren't random natural selection... there's "brains" behind these micro-evolutionary adaptations.

To me, anyways.  ;-)

[BikerDude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAuFJKQh83Y

Great video; he argues like I do about rational evidence. As to whether or not I'm an atheist depends on your languaging. I don't believe in any single deity being responsible for creation (because none exist), but I do believe that there is some kind of inherent intelligence behind the evolution of biological life.  To me, DNA isn't some random mistake. I have no theories or answers, but I don't have enough faith to think it's all just random accidents.  But that's like, my opinion man...  

It's the illusion of intelligence. It's natural selection.
Random mutation with the "good" ones being selected as being advantageous in a given set of conditions. I take the outcome as resembling intelligence. But really how else could it come out? Giraffes with a longer necks won. For obvious reasons, and that fact "makes perfect sense" which of course resembles an intelligence.
But it's really just the ghost in the machine and of course in the same breath we have to realize the intelligence is not something appart from natural forces it's just another outcome. Rational thought is an advantage. Pair that with opposible thumbs and the ability to manipulate objects, build tools etc etc on and on. It grows out of it's utility just like a giraffes long neck.

I hear you... but there's much more than natural selection going on - there are specific adaptations that come from local environmental pressure, such as birds that evolve their beaks from year to year to adapt to different seeds. It isn't "just another outcome". This direct, non-random adaptation demonstrates what I'm referring to. Similar to butterflies that have eyes painted on their wings, or frogs that are poisonous to their predators. They weren't random natural selection... there's "brains" behind these micro-evolutionary adaptations.

To me, anyways.  ;-)

You can display the opposite in the nature of natural selection also.
The giraffe neck that I mentioned is the classic.
The nerves that control the muscles in the giraffe's face run all the way down it's neck, U turn and go all the way back up to the face.
This happes because it was not until quite a long way along the process that this became a ridiculous design. But of course by then all of the giraffes had differentiated completely from the ancestor.
If it was an itelligence it would have done it differently.
It's a process. And in certain instances it's flawed.

[Hominid]

Intelligent design != perfection  -  look at George Dubya Bush...    

[BikerDude]

Intelligent design != perfection  -  look at George Dubya Bush...   

I agree. Intelligent design is Gibberish. Dressed up in incomplete pseudo science.
But that's just like my oppinion man.

[karmatso]

I just wish someone could explain the duckbilled platypus to me.

I don't believe in intelligent design, but if it turns out to be real, then this was definitely some project intended to use up the leftover spare parts.

[milnie]

Evolution is a tricky concept I think because as children of the modern age, we sometimes can't handle the time aspect. We're so use to our societies own rapid development that genetic adaptions are not happen with humans as we change the world to suit us but just look at the urban fox, it's changed to the environment we have made.

[Hominid]

Evolution is a tricky concept I think because as children of the modern age, we sometimes can't handle the time aspect. We're so use to our societies own rapid development that genetic adaptions are not happen with humans as we change the world to suit us but just look at the urban fox, it's changed to the environment we have made.

Agreed. It is established FACT that our species is about 200,000 years old, and we didn't start settling down and developing agriculture till about 20,000 years ago (Or is it 12,000?)  Still, these numbers are so insignificant when you consider how long it took our planet to evolve.  All very mind boggling. To say it's all only 8 to 10,000 years old is such hogwash.  Until I have God himself visit me and turn me into a pile of ash, I'm sticking to what I can interpret as actual evidence. I'm NOT a theist, and definitely not a creationist. All that is bullshit. But my instincts tell me something's at play here...

So I'll reiterate: I believe biological life isn't just an accident. To me, DNA is far too organized and complex to be a random accident. Although anything is possible, the probabilities are too vast.  Like putting a monkey in front of a computer and having it come up with a Shakespeare novel - by accident.

Just my opinion man!