Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site watdcsu.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watdcsu!dmcanzi From: dmcanzi@watdcsu.UUCP (David Canzi) Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Re: If You've Got the Time... Message-ID: <337@watdcsu.UUCP> Date: Sat, 4-Aug-84 01:29:31 EDT Article-I.D.: watdcsu.337 Posted: Sat Aug 4 01:29:31 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 03:34:01 EDT References: <896@akgua.UUCP>, <211@ncoast.UUCP> Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 36 Gregg Thompson speaks: > It is interesting to see how > we have disproved abiogenis (sp) or > spontanious generation and yet people > still beleive that the world and *MAN* > all started from some particles that > were floating around in an infinite > amount of space! It is interesting to see this same set of events happen again and again: 1) A bright creationist makes an interesting argument that appears, at first glance to show that evolution is impossible and/or so unlikely as to be beyond credibility. 2) A number of evolutionists poke holes in the argument, pointing out bad reasoning or implicit assumptions not supported by evidence or reason. 3) A number of creationists attempt to answer the objections. I've never seen them succeed in answering all the objections. 4) Having answered some, but not all, of the objections, some creationists act as if the original argument has been successfully defended, and the heathen hordes have been defeated. By the way, you have 46 chromosomes. 23 of your chromosomes were selected randomly, one each from each of your mother's 23 chromosome pairs. Your other 23 chromosomes were similarly selected from among your father's chromosomes. The likelihood of a particular set of chromosomes being selected by this process is 2**46, or about 10**14. Making the reasonable assumption that your parents have had fewer than 100 children, this means the odds against them having a child with the particular set of chromosomes that you got are over 10**12:1. Therefore, you are so unlikely as to be beyond credibility. If you can't see that this argument is fallacious, there is no hope for you. The same sort of fallacy in this argument was in the original article "If You've Got the Time". That argument is just as valid as this one. David Canzi