Post by dividavi on Feb 5, 2020 8:41:28 GMT
Here are examples of adages that you've heard in one form or other and which are declared to be irrefutable truth - when they're not.
1. Absence Of Evidence Is Not Evidence Of Absence - No, Absence Of Evidence sure as shit Is Evidence Of Absence. Imagine there's a mass murderer in your town. All homes in your neighborhood are searched, everyone is questioned, nothing is found to incriminate anyone for anything. Yes it's possible, though unlikely, that the murderer(s) resides in that house with mom, dad, two kids and a dog. The available evidence is that it's someone from a different locale. Of course evidence of something is not proof of anything. Here's a write-up on that topic.
2. We didn't evolve from monkeys. Rather, we and monkeys share a common ancestor - All human beings are cousins to each other since we share a common ancestor at some point in the past. Human beings are also cousins to chimpanzees, we are more distant cousins to Old World (African and Asian) monkeys, and we are even more distant cousins to New World monkeys. The last common ancestor of humans and today's Old World monkeys lived about 25 million years ago and was a tailed primate, something that we would refer to as a monkey. Yes we did evolve from monkeys. No, there never was a female baboon that gave birth to a fully formed human, Creationist stupidity nothwithstanding.
3. Evolution and abiogenesis are completely different things - No they're not. There was a time when the planet was bereft of life with no bacteria or viruses present. There were chemical reactions and these resulted in complex molecules being formed. Some of these molecules survived (subsisted might be a better word) and grew more complex yet. At some point these molecules became complex enough to be considered alive. These ancient bacteria differentiated into different forms and eventually became eukaryotic, like modern trees, fungi and people. It's all evolution, from pre-living formations to modern creatures.
4. If women ran the world there would be no wars - Experience says otherwise. Margaret Thatcher didn't hesitate to make war on Argentina. Catherine The Great (Russia) overthrew her husband in a coup, made war on the Ottomans, Iran and Poland, among others. Maria Theresa was no pacifist either. And what of Bloody Mary, Boadicea, Zenobia and others?
5. science asks how, religion asks why (attributed to UK author Peter James) - Actually, religion doesn't ask anything since every cult or creed already knows the answer. The answer to any question about why things are this way instead of that way is this: Because God wants it this way.
1. Absence Of Evidence Is Not Evidence Of Absence - No, Absence Of Evidence sure as shit Is Evidence Of Absence. Imagine there's a mass murderer in your town. All homes in your neighborhood are searched, everyone is questioned, nothing is found to incriminate anyone for anything. Yes it's possible, though unlikely, that the murderer(s) resides in that house with mom, dad, two kids and a dog. The available evidence is that it's someone from a different locale. Of course evidence of something is not proof of anything. Here's a write-up on that topic.
2. We didn't evolve from monkeys. Rather, we and monkeys share a common ancestor - All human beings are cousins to each other since we share a common ancestor at some point in the past. Human beings are also cousins to chimpanzees, we are more distant cousins to Old World (African and Asian) monkeys, and we are even more distant cousins to New World monkeys. The last common ancestor of humans and today's Old World monkeys lived about 25 million years ago and was a tailed primate, something that we would refer to as a monkey. Yes we did evolve from monkeys. No, there never was a female baboon that gave birth to a fully formed human, Creationist stupidity nothwithstanding.
3. Evolution and abiogenesis are completely different things - No they're not. There was a time when the planet was bereft of life with no bacteria or viruses present. There were chemical reactions and these resulted in complex molecules being formed. Some of these molecules survived (subsisted might be a better word) and grew more complex yet. At some point these molecules became complex enough to be considered alive. These ancient bacteria differentiated into different forms and eventually became eukaryotic, like modern trees, fungi and people. It's all evolution, from pre-living formations to modern creatures.
4. If women ran the world there would be no wars - Experience says otherwise. Margaret Thatcher didn't hesitate to make war on Argentina. Catherine The Great (Russia) overthrew her husband in a coup, made war on the Ottomans, Iran and Poland, among others. Maria Theresa was no pacifist either. And what of Bloody Mary, Boadicea, Zenobia and others?
5. science asks how, religion asks why (attributed to UK author Peter James) - Actually, religion doesn't ask anything since every cult or creed already knows the answer. The answer to any question about why things are this way instead of that way is this: Because God wants it this way.