A creationist viewpoint: > On Mon, 13 Nov 1995, Bruce Metelerkamp wrote: > > > How can dominant forces be wrong? Has evolution not dictated that > > those who are strongest survive? Popular Darwinism reduces to a tautology - "Survival of the fittest" means "Survival of the survivors". Euan Mason wrote: > I'm not sure where your comment was aimed, but I shall comment on the > sentiment above. It is true that evolution, a mindless mechanism, has > produced a wonderful variety of species and ecosystems. In what sense has a "mindless mechanism" produced a "a wonderful variety of species"? The "species" may, arguably, exist independently of mind (whether of God or man) but can the "wonder" exist in a state of mindlessness? Am I correct in suggesting that at the root of the debate is the notion of what constitutes "value" (in its broadest sense, not limited to its narrow meaning in economics or mathematics)? ie from where do those things which we call "human values" originate? what is their reality? and how do they connect or relate to other values such as "environmental values"? The questions are rhetorical because I do not propose to offer the simplistic answer "from God" or "from the human mind". But suppose that there is such a thing as a phenomenology of ideas; and then consider what we know or can know about the ideas "mind" and "God". That consideration will lead to answers on why some of us poor confused beings run counter to the "laws of evolution" and seek to preserve the world of nature into which we were born, rather than accept the logic of "dominant forces". Geoff Fischer Forest Hand II Forestry Tutor The views expressed are not necessarily those of Waiariki Polytechnic
Mail converted by
MHonArc 1.1.0