Advanced search

Ockham and God

Everything from "Whats the best place to get a sandwich at Bellagio?" to "Damn, Shana Hiatt is FINE!".

Moderators: TightWad, LPF Police Department

Postby geiststaat » Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:25 pm

"A big day in my career was the day I realized that tomorrow I would still be a tilter." -- Tommy Angelo
User avatar
geiststaat
 
Posts: 600
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:02 am

Postby k3nt » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:05 am

User avatar
k3nt
Enthusiast (Online)
 
Posts: 6710
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:27 pm

Postby T-Rod » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:38 pm

User avatar
T-Rod
 
Posts: 5794
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:09 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

Postby geiststaat » Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:13 am

"A big day in my career was the day I realized that tomorrow I would still be a tilter." -- Tommy Angelo
User avatar
geiststaat
 
Posts: 600
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:02 am

Postby Bosox1 » Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:22 pm

"No, 'The stripper's bouncer beat the shit out of me' is not an acceptable answer"
User avatar
Bosox1
 
Posts: 886
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:13 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Postby Bosox1 » Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:29 pm

"No, 'The stripper's bouncer beat the shit out of me' is not an acceptable answer"
User avatar
Bosox1
 
Posts: 886
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:13 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Postby Felonius_Monk » Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:25 pm

The Monkman J[c]

"Informer, you no say daddy me snow me Ill go blame,
A licky boom boom down.
Detective mon said daddy me snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky boom boom down." - Snow, 1993
User avatar
Felonius_Monk
Semi Pro (B&M & Online)
 
Posts: 7243
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:40 am
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Postby Bosox1 » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:47 pm

"No, 'The stripper's bouncer beat the shit out of me' is not an acceptable answer"
User avatar
Bosox1
 
Posts: 886
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:13 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Postby k3nt » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:23 pm

User avatar
k3nt
Enthusiast (Online)
 
Posts: 6710
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 12:27 pm

Postby excession » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:33 pm

Bosox - I'm afraid you misunderstand the word 'theory' when used in a scientific context.
Creationists often intentionally misuse the word when they claim 'evolution is only a theory' to laymen and you seem to have fallen into their trap.


Theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.

In science, a theory is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behaviour are Newton's theory of universal gravitation (see also gravitation), and general relativity.

In common usage, the word theory is often used to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. This usage of theory leads to the common statement "It's not a fact, it's only a theory." True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements which would be true independently of what people think about them. In this usage, the word is synonymous with hypothesis.
User avatar
excession
Enthusiast (Online)
 
Posts: 3872
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 3:52 pm
Location: manchester uk

Postby Bosox1 » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:46 am

Thanks for the explaination. I'm the first to admit that I don't know as much about science as a lot of people. However, I have read a bit and I try to learn a thing or two about things that interest me. From what I've learned, I'm not convinced that the theory of evolution is 100% correct. I believe that it is true; so much so that I often find myself thinking things like "I wonder why humans evolved to have X feature because I can't see what advantage this has". But I've not seen such overwhelming evidence as to make all other ideas on the subject clearly wrong. Perhaps this is just a gap in my own knowledge and if I were to investigate further I would feel differently.

Just to re-state my overall point here so we don't miss the forest for the trees: A lot of what we know about the world and the past is incomplete. Because of this I don't think it's right to reject differing opinions outright just because they go against conventional thinking. Evolution is just one example.
"No, 'The stripper's bouncer beat the shit out of me' is not an acceptable answer"
User avatar
Bosox1
 
Posts: 886
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:13 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Postby Bosox1 » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:53 am

"No, 'The stripper's bouncer beat the shit out of me' is not an acceptable answer"
User avatar
Bosox1
 
Posts: 886
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:13 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Postby Felonius_Monk » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:20 pm

The Monkman J[c]

"Informer, you no say daddy me snow me Ill go blame,
A licky boom boom down.
Detective mon said daddy me snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky boom boom down." - Snow, 1993
User avatar
Felonius_Monk
Semi Pro (B&M & Online)
 
Posts: 7243
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:40 am
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Postby T-Rod » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:28 pm

User avatar
T-Rod
 
Posts: 5794
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:09 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

Previous

Return to LPF Community

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests