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From: long@oliveb.UUCP (A Panther Modern)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Prediction or Observation?  II
Message-ID: <419@oliveb.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 25-May-85 13:30:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: oliveb.419
Posted: Sat May 25 13:30:54 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 26-May-85 03:15:19 EDT
Reply-To: long@oliveb.UUCP (A Panther Modern)
Organization: the Sprawl
Lines: 32
Summary: 

References:

| Nope.  Why?  Because it would merely show that the origin of life
| occurred more that once, and in different ways - all of which would be
| evolutionary ways, of course.

    Evolution does *not* deal with "the origin of life".  It gives some sug-
gestions as to how life may have originated.
    The large difference between the creationist and evolutionist points of
view is that the creationists hold that organisms were created, and did not
change (except very little in special circumstances :-)), but evolution holds
that organisms do change.

| So how could one test it, really?  When one insists on interpreting
| all facts from within an evolutionary framework, it is hardly likely
| that the framework shall be contradicted.  Aspects of it, yes (as you
| said), but not the framework as a whole.
| 
| This is similar to the statement that's been thrown around about
| fossils of higher animals being found in early strata.  It has been
| said that this would falsify evolution.  It wouldn't.  All that
| happens is that the interpretation is changed to "it appears that this
| organism evolved earlier than was formerly realized.  Clearly then,
| it must have earlier ancestors than was supposed."  This is what in
| fact *actually* happens, for instance, with the bird fossils that were
| as old as _Archaeopteryx_.  "Too early" fossils don't make a dent.

    The easiest way to contradict the whole framework would be to show that
there was no heirarchical structure of living organisms, and that all species
appeared suddenly at one time.  (Or have a "creator" say "Ha! fooled you! There
is *no* method to my madness!")
						Dave Long
-- 
{hplabs,fortune,idi,ihnp4,tolerant,allegra,tymix}!oliveb!long