When an article begins with the statement that “The theory of evolution by natural selection is among the best established in science,” you know the author won’t be defending that claim but rather will be assuming it as a given. You also know the author, in this case psychology professor Tania Lombrozo at the University of California, Berkeley, is sufficiently distant from evolutionary theory such that facts won’t confuse the message. Even committed evolutionists have long since admitted that natural selection, at best, can only be one of several modes of evolutionary change. In fact biological adaptations we can observe are dominated by rapid, directed change in response to environmental challenges, not slow, random change accumulated via natural selection as evolutionary dogma had insisted. Read more
10 Replies to “Tania Lombrozo on Evolutionary Belief and Cultural Factors”
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as to Lombrozo’s comment here:
There is a mechanism underlying my cognitive abilities? Really???
Something smells rotten in Denmark! Let’s analyze this a bit more closely with our ‘mechanism’ of human cognition shall we?:
As to all that “judgment and evaluation, reasoning and “computation”, problem solving and decision making” of human cognition, exactly how does Lombrozo propose we do all that “problem solving and decision making” if she, as a materialist, denies we have the free will to make decisions in the first place?
Perhaps after Lombrozo turns her incredible analytical/cognitive abilities on her unsolved problem of free will in her materialistic worldview, i.e. figuring out exactly how we can possibly make rational decisions without the inherent ability to make rational decisions, she can then turn her incredible analytical talents on the hard problem of consciousness?
I think Lombrozo has her work cut out for her on the hard problem. 🙂
of related note: Due to advances in quantum mechanics, the argument for God from consciousness can now be framed like this:
Verse
What’s the soap commercial for? Is it trying to suggest that women shouldn’t concern themselves with the big questions in science and philosophy but stick to the housewifely duties?
Natural selection has proven to be impotent. Eliminating the less fit does not explain the fit.
nightlight – no, the title of the commercial will give you a clue. She’s soaking in it.
The question of whether one or another is true appears to be irrelevant – as it should be in the Darwinian world. Evolution supposedly makes us think one thing or another. There’s no truth standard by which to measure any of it by.
This assumes that theistic belief is ‘easier’ to wrap one’s head around. People tend to prefer certainty, as when reading articles about evolutionary claims. People tend to prefer purpose. For myself, I’d prefer my evolutionary journalists to write entirely without purpose.
It’s good she mentioned that her options are not exhaustive. She accepts that evolution created our minds to think the way we do. But one possibility she excluded was that God actually shapes human thought — especially among those who believe and pray that God will guide them.
OT: Journey Home – 2015-06-01 – video interview with former atheist Dr. Holly Ordway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAz_sKuHSnM
Wow. Thanks for that, BA77.
OT: Thomas Kindell – Amazing Design of Honey Bees – video (13:00 minute mark)
https://youtu.be/OKuhx8dALnY?t=797
Slow Life – video
https://vimeo.com/88829079
Description: “Slow” marine animals show their secret life under high magnification. Corals and sponges build coral reefs and play crucial roles in the biosphere, yet we know almost nothing about their daily lives. These animals are actually very mobile creatures, however their motion is only detectable at different time scales compared to ours and requires time lapses to be seen.
Make sure you watch it on a large screen! You won’t be able to appreciate this clip or see individual cells moving in a sponge on a smartphone. ,,,
The answer to a common question: yes, colors are “real” and not exaggerated by digital enhancement.
They are so bitter they are losing. so they say creationists have brain defects. Oh brother.
First cHristianity has not been proven false. for many genesis is very Christian in its truth.
Second its most likely smarter people see through error, especially after some competition, then others. Thats why creationism is more here in North america then elsewhere. I presume everyone agrees we arte the smartest peoples in human history. We are.