A question for evolutionist

[Hellbound]

So it's a lot like creationists.

Pretty much.

I've shown that creationists don't know their uvula from their epiglottis. It remains to be seen wether they can tell their a$$ from their head.

 

[BrianSI]

The most important thing to note is that it's fun to use 'uvula' and 'epiglottis' in casual conversation.


Do you use the uvula when you say 'uvula'?

 

[articulett]

The uvula is removed to prevent snoring and aid those with sleep apnea. It appears to be a vestigial structure more than anything that is actually necessary. Vestigial structures are more evidence for evolution (and the way life is cobbled together from what exists) than it is for design. But creationists can turn anything into design and obfuscate even the simplest of principles if it means a bigger role for their "intelligent designer."

 

[articulett]

Pretty much.

I've shown that creationists don't know their uvula from their epiglottis. It remains to be seen wether they can tell their a$$ from their head.

The fact that we have an epiglottis is due to the poor designing of the equipment. What designer would put the food intake hole for the air intake hole not to mention putting the sewage plant right next to the recreation area.

 

[articulett]

It's the brains that concern me. I can understand how creationists survived before brains evolved, as they seem to get along fine without them now, but what about the rest of us?

It's a meme thing. the same genetic flaws that make them susceptible to religion also make them receptive to ideas like "go forth and multiply", "god doesn't give you more than you can handle", "god hates condoms", "make soldiers for god and you will live happily ever after, etc." So they pass on the genes that make them both stupid and gullible, and then infect these offspring with memes from childhood to make more ad infinitum

You don't need to think to spawn. In fact those who think more tend to spawn less.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

The uvula is removed to prevent snoring and aid those with sleep apnea. It appears to be a vestigial structure more than anything that is actually necessary. Vestigial structures are more evidence for evolution (and the way life is cobbled together from what exists) than it is for design. But creationists can turn anything into design and obfuscate even the simplest of principles if it means a bigger role for their "intelligent designer."

Vestigial structures aren't useless though. They're reduced from their original function. Some of the less obvious ones on humans are goosebumps, flaring our nostrils/wiggling our ears and picking things up with our toes. The uvula doesn't appear to be a vestigial since it clearly has developed as a function of our speech, so I'd classify it as yet another example of poor design due to the sleep apnea problem.

As you said, it's a perfect example of how our bodies are cobbled together with what our HOX genes can produce and not with unique and highly specialized structures.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Now I know Dustin is a performance artist. He is attempting to sculpt a troll installation piece in the public space of this forum. I almost admire the effort and commitment.





Only the artist knows for sure.


ETA: Ooooo...this is rich. Look what I stumbled upon:




http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1882237#post1882237
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1882274#post1882274

For Gods sake that was 10 months ago! I've done a lot of personal studying since then and I have realized that Behe is A LOT more intelligence then I initially pegged him as being. His arguments are very well thought out and in my opinion very convincing and make a fantastic case against the Darwinism hypothesis.

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

I started reading his book yesterday and I'm already half way through. He makes some very compelling and convincing arguments against the Darwinism hypothesis.

Let's discuss one, shall we?

Helloooo?

~~ Paul

 

[skeptifem]

I think it is time to turn the tables here and have some of my questions answered by you.
Notice I will go one at a time instead of bombarding you with about 30 at once and when all are not answered instantly proclaiming a victory.
Q: How did humans survive before we evolved the uvula...you know that little dangly thing in our throats that prevent food from going down our breating passage and causing us to choke to death...

This is a very fascinating question and gets to the heart of the problem with Darwinism. There are so many aspects and features of the human body that are required for living and if they didn't exist, humans could not live. For instance how did humans get along before their teeth evolved? How did they eat before their teeth evolved allowing them to chew? They would have starved to death a long time ago.

questions like these demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter being discussed. A more constructive question to ask would be "can someone give me an explanation of the current understanding of evolution?", and ask additional questions to make sure that you comprehend the subject. its important to know what evolution actually is before trying to be critical of it.


For instance I did technical support at a satellite television company. Many people asked questions like "how do i stop people from stealing my signal?" when their recievers would stop working. (this is not possible, at all, ever). Its just not a good question to ask because they are asking questions based off of numerous assumptions, with no evidence to build those assumptions off of. Its extremely frustrating for posters to read these sorts of questions over and over again, so I dont really blame people for getting snippy with either of you at this point. I know most people are familiar with encountering a headache inducing question over and over again, its annoying and people arent going to put forth the effort to explain the same things over and over again when you refuse to even try to understand what they write. I dont know what either of you expect people to do after displaying a behavior pattern like this. they certainly arent going to be nice about it forever!

Other people have answered the initial questions, I just want to ask you guys to ask better questions with a motovation to LEARN rather than a motovation to critisize.


hey jf, did you ever get around to reading that book? I still remember that agreement, as do many other people.

 

[D'rok]

For Gods sake that was 10 months ago! I've done a lot of personal studying since then and I have realized that Behe is A LOT more intelligence then I initially pegged him as being. His arguments are very well thought out and in my opinion very convincing and make a fantastic case against the Darwinism hypothesis.

Natural Selection is no longer a hypotheses. It is a full-fledged theory with a preponderance of supporting evidence. That's EVIDENCE...not arguments.

But you already knew that. Carry on with your performance.

 

[skeptifem]

For Gods sake that was 10 months ago! I've done a lot of personal studying since then and I have realized that Behe is A LOT more intelligence then I initially pegged him as being. His arguments are very well thought out and in my opinion very convincing and make a fantastic case against the Darwinism hypothesis.

your over the top profile page is what screams 'troll' to me, but hey thats just my opinion.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

your over the top profile page is what screams 'troll' to me, but hey thats just my opinion.

Why is it "over the top"? Do you even know who it is of?

 

[EatatJoes]

For Gods sake that was 10 months ago! I've done a lot of personal studying since then and I have realized that Behe is A LOT more intelligence then I initially pegged him as being. His arguments are very well thought out and in my opinion very convincing and make a fantastic case against the Darwinism hypothesis.

Is this a joke? Are you for real?
Why doesn't anybody let me in on these things??

Ugh! OK, assuming you are not making fun of IDers and the like, what arguments does Behe make that have swayed you? I'm sure he has them lined up real nice like in his book, so it won't be hard to start listing them. So, go ahead, I'm all eyes.

 

[Beleth]

I have realized that Behe is A LOT more intelligence then I initially pegged him as being. His arguments are very well thought out and in my opinion very convincing and make a fantastic case against the Darwinism hypothesis.

Well, that's your opinion.

 

[andyandy]

For Gods sake that was 10 months ago! I've done a lot of personal studying since then and I have realized that Behe is A LOT more intelligence then I initially pegged him as being. His arguments are very well thought out and in my opinion very convincing and make a fantastic case against the Darwinism hypothesis.

see you're already talking like an IDer - with weasel words like Darwinian hypothesis - thus framing the debate in the 19th century. It's evolution and it's the 21st century. In any case, what arguments do you find convincing?

 

[Mobyseven]

I disagree and so does medicinenet.com

The uvula has its own little muscle, the musculus uvuae, to help it stiffen and change shape, so it helps fill in the space at the back of the throat. It helps keep food from going down the wrong way down the breathing passage when one swallows. Singers credit the uvula with letting them produce a vibrato, a wavy up-and-down sound.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5923

Singers credit the uvula with no such thing, thank you very much.

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

So far I agree with everything Dustin has to say about Behe.

~~ Paul

 

[Spidey13]

I knew a guy in college with two uvulas. This adds nothing to the conversation. I'm just sayin'.




Maybe he's god!

 

[ChristineR]

I doubt if anyone has ever died as a result of having his uvula cut off, unless he bled to death. StraightDope says people have it taken off as a treatment for snoring.

Once upon a time there was an ancestor who looked nothing like us, and had no uvula. He had offspring that had a bulge in his throat. This gave him a slight advantage, probably in speaking--no one is sure. This helped him to sweet talk the chicks. He had lots of kids. Half of them were even sweeter talkers than him. You can figure out the rest.

 

[Beleth]

So far I agree with everything Dustin has to say about Behe.

What, everything he's said about Behe between your two posts (68 and 77)?

Because if that's what you mean, then so do I.