> Religion is obviously very successful at propagating. It's like saying:
> what is the probability of life arising on Earth. Well, obviously, it's
> pretty damn near unity: given that we are having this conversation.
First of all I agree with you in principle that life on earth is a
product of evolution, however, your logic in the above example is flawed
since you've approached the problem using the anthropic principle. Let
me illustrate :-
Q: What is the probability of people being on Earth if a space-ship from
Alpha Centauri got lost a million years ago on its way to Mars but
crash-landed on Earth instead and the horny little green buggers
cross-bred with the Neanderthals and then left when they fixed their
ship?
A: Well, obviously, it's pretty damn near unity: given that we are
having this conversation.
Now if we alter our argument as follows :-
Q: What is the probability of life arising on Earth via evolution as
opposed to simply being created by a Supreme Being?
A: The probability of the former proposition is higher since there is
abundant physical evidence to support it while the latter is
"faith-based" meaning that it requires no proof other than blind
acceptance.
As a former ape, I thank you for your indulgence.
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* Hakeeb A. Nandalal *
* nanco@trinidad.net *
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