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From: heller@shell.UUCP (Don Heller)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Ethics 'n Stuff
Message-ID: <259@shell.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 20-Apr-85 18:54:02 EST
Article-I.D.: shell.259
Posted: Sat Apr 20 18:54:02 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Apr-85 01:09:47 EST
References: <945@uwmacc.UUCP>
Organization: Shell Development Co., P&CS Dept., Houston TX
Lines: 27

The claim was made that evolution and creation are the only two models, and
that if one is refuted then the other is proved.  Well, there are indeed
other alternatives.  One which is often neglected (for good reason in most
contexts) is the "don't care" model.  This is appropriate when trying to
analyze changes in the earth or in life since some point in the past.  The
advantage is that one does not waste time trying to explain earlier events.
We simply "don't care" what happened before the arbitrary time.  Sort of
like US foreign policy :-)  Now, if one wants to iterate on the "don't care"
model, pick a time in the past, and explain what has happened since.  Now
pick an earlier time, and repeat.  Will your resulting theory be evolution
or creation?  Will you be able to make any statement about what happened
before your cutoff date?  This is, of course, an intellectually unsatisfying
process, but we've made a lot of money using it and it looks a lot more like
evolution than creation.

Don Heller
Shell Development Company
Houston, Texas