Ropes are coming off biology too; Nicholas Wade replies

BA77: I'd add that the emotional is inextricably intertwined with cognitively rooted judgements and perceptions. Of course, such can be astonishingly naive and ill informed, e.g. in judging by surface appearances and allowing halo effects. The thing is to look to the soundness of underlying judgements and sentiments, training ones senses and tastes to discern and to move to the good persistently. KF kairosfocus

To support the position that morality is 'objective', toddlers are found to have a highly developed sense of moral justice,,,

The Moral Life of Babies – May 2010 Excerpt: From Sigmund Freud to Jean Piaget to Lawrence Kohlberg, psychologists have long argued that we begin life as amoral animals.,,, A growing body of evidence, though, suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life. With the help of well-designed experiments, you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life. Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bone.,,, Despite their overall preference for good actors over bad, then, babies are drawn to bad actors when those actors are punishing bad behavior. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/magazine/09babies-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The following study goes even further in establishing the objective reality of morality by showing that 'Moral evaluations of harm are instant and emotional':

Moral evaluations of harm are instant and emotional, brain study shows – November 29, 2012 Excerpt: People are able to detect, within a split second, if a hurtful action they are witnessing is intentional or accidental, new research on the brain at the University of Chicago shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-moral-instant-emotional-brain.html

The following study goes even further in establishing the reality of objective morality. Completely contrary to what atheists/materialists would presuppose beforehand, the following study shows that morality is embedded in reality on a much deeper ‘non-local’, beyond space and time, quantum level. A much deeper level of reality than materialism can possibly account for.

Quantum Consciousness – Time Flies Backwards? – Stuart Hameroff MD Excerpt: Dean Radin and Dick Bierman have performed a number of experiments of emotional response in human subjects. The subjects view a computer screen on which appear (at randomly varying intervals) a series of images, some of which are emotionally neutral, and some of which are highly emotional (violent, sexual….). In Radin and Bierman’s early studies, skin conductance of a finger was used to measure physiological response They found that subjects responded strongly to emotional images compared to neutral images, and that the emotional response occurred between a fraction of a second to several seconds BEFORE the image appeared! Recently Professor Bierman (University of Amsterdam) repeated these experiments with subjects in an fMRI brain imager and found emotional responses in brain activity up to 4 seconds before the stimuli. Moreover he looked at raw data from other laboratories and found similar emotional responses before stimuli appeared. http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/views/TimeFlies.html

The preceding study is simply inexplicable for materialists to explain. The materialist/atheist simply has no beyond space and time cause to appeal to to explain why this phenomena should happen as it does! Whereas as a Theist, especially as a Christian Theist, I would fully expect for morality to be rooted in the perfect nature of God. Verse and Music:

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc

bornagain77

Also of note: The I.Q. tests, that have shown supposed large differences in the intelligence between races of humans, are all shown to be biased by overlooked environmental factors:

Myth: The black/white IQ gap is largely genetically caused. Fact: Almost all studies show the black/white IQ gap is environmental. (i.e. children from an enriched learning environment always perform equally well on I.Q. tests, no matter what their race may be.) http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-IQgapgenetic.htm

Dr. Ben Carson is a prime example of overcoming strong peer pressure, surprisingly from within the African American community itself. Peer pressure trying to tell him to neglect his education (i.e. to not be like those white people):

Gifted Hands – The Benjamin Carson Story – movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDfS3chUOi8

Also of note, humans are not 'more evolved' intellectually than the first humans, but in fact we quite possibly may be losing intellectual capacity:

Is Human Intellect Degenerating? - February 19, 2013 Excerpt: A recent study of the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, although incomplete, indicates that about half of all human genetic diseases have a neurologic component, [6], frequently including some aspect of [intellectual deficiency], consistent with the notion that many genes are required for intellectual and emotional function. The reported mutations have been severe alleles, often de novo mutations that reduce fecundity. However, each of these genes will also be subject to dozens if not hundreds of weaker mutations that lead to reduced function, but would not significantly impair fecundity, and hence could accumulate with time... https://uncommondesc.wpengine.com/intelligent-design/is-human-intellect-degenerating/ Earliest humans not so different from us, research suggests - February 2011 Excerpt: Shea argues that comparing the behavior of our most ancient ancestors to Upper Paleolithic Europeans holistically and ranking them in terms of their "behavioral modernity" is a waste of time. There are no such things as modern humans, Shea argues, just Homo sapiens populations with a wide range of behavioral variability. http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-earliest-humans.html Geometric Principles Appear Universal in Our Minds - May 2011 Excerpt: Villagers belonging to an Amazonian group called the Mundurucú intuitively grasp abstract geometric principles despite having no formal math education,,, Mundurucú adults and 7- to 13-year-olds demonstrate as firm an understanding of the properties of points, lines and surfaces as adults and school-age children in the United States and France,,, http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/05/universal-geometry/ “Geometry is unique and eternal, a reflection from the mind of God. That mankind shares in it is because man is an image of God.” – Johannes Kepler

Moreover, it is impossible for equality of people, (between races, & men and women), to be biologically based, but 'equality' is a 'objective moral precept' that must find its ultimate foundation in God.

,,,We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,, http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

It simply is impossible for objective morality to have a biological/material basis. In fact, Dr. Craig calls this failure of materialism to account for morality a 'knock down' argument:

The 'Knock-Down Argument' Against Sam Harris' moral landscape – William Lane Craig – video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL_vAH2NIPc Here is a letter from Adam Sedgwick to Charles Darwin: Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin - 24 Nov 1859 Excerpt: There is a moral or metaphysical part of nature as well as a physical. A man who denies this is deep in the mire of folly.,, http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2548

bornagain77

There is a biological basis to race, just as Wade holds, but the biological basis is not the basis that Darwinists falsely suppose, (and are afraid to admit sans Hitler), that it is. The falsely supposed advanced races of Europeans are not 'more evolved' than Africans, as Darwinists think, but Europeans actually have less genetic diversity than Africans.

New analysis provides fuller picture of human expansion from Africa - October 22, 2012 Excerpt: A new, comprehensive review of humans' anthropological and genetic records gives the most up-to-date story of the "Out of Africa" expansion that occurred about 45,000 to 60,000 years ago. This expansion, detailed by three Stanford geneticists, had a dramatic effect on human genetic diversity, which persists in present-day populations. As a small group of modern humans migrated out of Africa into Eurasia and the Americas, their genetic diversity was substantially reduced. http://phys.org/news/2012-10-analysis-fuller-picture-human-expansion.html "We found an enormous amount of diversity within and between the African populations, and we found much less diversity in non-African populations," Tishkoff told attendees today (Jan. 22) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Anaheim. "Only a small subset of the diversity in Africa is found in Europe and the Middle East, and an even narrower set is found in American Indians." Tishkoff; Andrew Clark, Penn State; Kenneth Kidd, Yale University; Giovanni Destro-Bisol, University "La Sapienza," Rome, and Himla Soodyall and Trefor Jenkins, WITS University, South Africa, looked at three locations on DNA samples from 13 to 18 populations in Africa and 30 to 45 populations in the remainder of the world.- "...but Natural Selection reduces genetic information and we know this from all the Genetic Population studies that we have..." Maciej Marian Giertych - Population Geneticist - member of the European Parliament – EXPELLED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z5-15wk1Zk

Moreover, the falsely supposed advanced races of Europeans are now also known to have more genetic deterioration than Africans,,

Human Genetic Variation Recent, Varies Among Populations - (Nov. 28, 2012) Excerpt: Nearly three-quarters of mutations in genes that code for proteins -- the workhorses of the cell -- occurred within the past 5,000 to 10,000 years,,, "One of the most interesting points is that Europeans have more new deleterious (potentially disease-causing) mutations than Africans,",,, "Having so many of these new variants can be partially explained by the population explosion in the European population. However, variation that occur in genes that are involved in Mendelian traits and in those that affect genes essential to the proper functioning of the cell tend to be much older." (A Mendelian trait is controlled by a single gene. Mutations in that gene can have devastating effects.) The amount variation or mutation identified in protein-coding genes (the exome) in this study is very different from what would have been seen 5,000 years ago,,, The report shows that "recent" events have a potent effect on the human genome. Eighty-six percent of the genetic variation or mutations that are expected to be harmful arose in European-Americans in the last five thousand years, said the researchers. The researchers used established bioinformatics techniques to calculate the age of more than a million changes in single base pairs (the A-T, C-G of the genetic code) that are part of the exome or protein-coding portion of the genomes (human genetic blueprint) of 6,515 people of both European-American and African-American decent.,,, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121128132259.htm Daily thought: blue eyes and other gene mutations, April 25, 2013 Excerpt: "Research on blue-eyes has led many scientist to further affirm that humans are truly mere variations of the same origin. About 8% of the world's total population has blue eyes so blue eyes are fairly rare. In fact, blue eyes are actually a gene mutation that scientist have researched and found to have happened when the OCA2 gene "turned off the ability to produce brown eyes." http://www.examiner.com/article/daily-thought-blue-eyes-and-other-gene-mutations Melanin Excerpt: The melanin in the skin is produced by melanocytes, which are found in the basal layer of the epidermis. Although, in general, human beings possess a similar concentration of melanocytes in their skin, the melanocytes in some individuals and ethnic groups more frequently or less frequently express the melanin-producing genes, thereby conferring a greater or lesser concentration of skin melanin. Some individual animals and humans have very little or no melanin synthesis in their bodies, a condition known as albinism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanin#Humans Are Wisdom Teeth (Third Molars) Vestiges of Human Evolution? by Jerry Bergman - December 1, 1998 Excerpt: Curtis found that both predynastic Egyptians and Nubians rarely had wisdom teeth problems, but they often existed in persons living in later periods of history. He concluded that the maxillary sinus of the populations he compared were similar and attributed the impactions he found to diet and also disuse causing atrophy of the jaws which resulted in a low level of teeth attrition. Dahlberg in a study of American Indians found that mongoloid peoples have a higher percentage of agenesis of third molars then do other groups and few persons in primitive societies had wisdom teeth problems. As Dahlberg notes, third molars were ‘very useful in primitive societies’ to chew their coarse diet. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/tj/v12/n3/wisdom-teeth

I wonder what Hitler would have thought of all those studies? In fact, where the fossil record is most complete, (i.e. where we can have the confidence in the fossil record), the entire human race, Africans included, are found to be deteriorating,,

If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking? - January 20, 2011 Excerpt: John Hawks is in the middle of explaining his research on human evolution when he drops a bombshell. Running down a list of changes that have occurred in our skeleton and skull since the Stone Age, the University of Wisconsin anthropologist nonchalantly adds, “And it’s also clear the brain has been shrinking.” “Shrinking?” I ask. “I thought it was getting larger.” The whole ascent-of-man thing.,,, He rattles off some dismaying numbers: Over the past 20,000 years, the average volume of the human male brain has decreased from 1,500 cubic centimeters to 1,350 cc, losing a chunk the size of a tennis ball. The female brain has shrunk by about the same proportion. “I’d call that major downsizing in an evolutionary eyeblink,” he says. “This happened in China, Europe, Africa—everywhere we look.” http://discovermagazine.com/2010/sep/25-modern-humans-smart-why-brain-shrinking Scientists Discover Proof That Humanity Is Getting Dumber, Smaller And Weaker By Michael Snyder, on April 29th, 2014 Excerpt: An earlier study by Cambridge University found that mankind is shrinking in size significantly. Experts say humans are past their peak and that modern-day people are 10 percent smaller and shorter than their hunter-gatherer ancestors. And if that’s not depressing enough, our brains are also smaller. The findings reverse perceived wisdom that humans have grown taller and larger, a belief which has grown from data on more recent physical development. The decline, said scientists, has happened over the past 10,000 years. http://thetruthwins.com/archives/scientists-discover-proof-that-humanity-is-getting-dumber-smaller-and-weaker

Of course, if the evidence were to ever be looked at soberly by Darwinists, instead of them trying to force fit it the evidence into a Darwinian/atheistic worldview, none of this would be surprising:

Genetic Entropy - Dr. John Sanford - Evolution vs. Reality - video https://vimeo.com/35088933

bornagain77

'Darwinism has always been the religion of liars and jackasses.' I seriously doubt if you will ever be accused of timid equivocation or an unusually urbane and courtly manner, maps. Top marks! Axel

NB: Here is a key substantiating comment in Wade's remarks on questions on variations across human pops: >> Perhaps I could point out an error in one of the few specific statements in their letter. They charge me with saying that “recent natural selection has led to worldwide differences in I.Q. test results .” I say no such thing. What I do say (p. 193) is that “It may be hazardous to compare the IQ scores of different races if allowance is not made for differences in wealth, nutrition and other factors that influence IQ.” The fact that Coop and Eisen can attack my book only by misrepresenting it is in my view a powerful indication of its solidity . . . >> Without endorsing either side, if that sort of strawman tactic happened, Wade has reason to complain. And, I am old fashioned enough to imagine that politicians, too, have duties of care to truth, accuracy and fairness, as part of our general moral government. That is, I hold there is a worldview foundational IS that is adequate to bear the weight of OUGHT. And, I dare point out that evolutionary materialism can have no such IS, with well known community level consequences evident since Plato penned The Laws Bk X, 2350 years ago. Which of course I have pointed out many dozens of times here at UD, only to face studious ignoring and willful mischaracterisation or personal attacks. Maybe, it is time to pay heed to that warning. As, ideas -- especially poor ones -- have consequences. KF kairosfocus

Mapou, that is going a bit strong, please tone down. For instance, I make reference to Ps 32:8 - 9 and contrast the similar image, but different tone. KF kairosfocus

Darwinism has always been the religion of liars and jackasses. Mapou

Most of Wade's book is speculation, not unreasonable speculation but not mathematically impossible stuff such as the origin of a de novo gene. He is not hypothesizing that humans have developed some wildly different phenotypes in the last several thousand years. He is essentially arguing that behavior is influenced by genes and certain social situations such as form of governance in the past have selected for alleles that were consistent with the desired behavior. It has been a couple months since I read the book but in one example he points to genes that tend to create very aggressive behavior as one gene that could be selected for. In a warrior society where aggressive behavior is rewarded with wives, this would cause these genes to be more prevalent than a society that rewarded some other form of behavior. He is essentially saying that combinations of alleles lead to certain behaviors and certain societies reward the behaviors that these combination produce. He has no great examples but is mainly speculation. But not automatically impossible or improbable. As an example, we have all heard the observation that the children are all different with very distinct personalities. I was with a cousin last night who said this about 7 of her nieces and nephews all from the same very large family. What combination of alleles produces each of these distinctive personalities. It is probably a very complex web of alleles that creates the personality and I don't doubt that certain personalities can be selected for in terms of offspring. They all may be equally fertile but some may never reproduce. jerry