Favourite excuses for not accepting evolution

Two of the most common criticisms I hear about evolution from the general public are:

1. Evolution is the THEORY of evolution, it's just a theory it might be wrong.
   
2. We don't know how life got started therefore evolution is not true.

Let me deal with objection number one first. A scientific theory is not something a crazy scientist just makes up and so might have just as much chance as being right as wrong. A scientific theory only becomes a theory once it has been throughly tested. The normal procedure goes something like this: a scientist first proposes a hypothesis, this is an idea or insight a scientist has through a combination of knowledge, observation and creativity, on the way that something works or a reason as to why certain natural processes behave the way they do. The scientist then goes about setting up experiments and making observations in order to try and prove the hypothesis.

If the observations and experiments don't validate the hypothesis (this is the most common outcome), then the hypothesis is cast aside and revealed to be false. If the alternative happens, and measurements and observations match up with the hypothesis, then the scientist will publish a paper describing the hypothesis to others and methods to test the hypothesis. The hypothesis (paper) is then put to the test by other scientists who make their own independent observations and measurements that further either confirm the hypothesis or perhaps find flaws in it (sending the original author perhaps back to square one). Once a sufficient body of evidence confirming a hypothesis has been gathered, then, and only then, does it become a THEORY. Some theories that have been through this process and are currently widely accepted are, the theory of gravitation, atomic theory, number theory, the theory of magnetism, the theory of evolution and so on.

Once a theory becomes accepted though this is not the end of the story. Scientists are continually testing their theories often making slight modifications to them as new evidence and experimental techniques become available. Occassionally a brilliant scientist will come along and provide such profound new insights that whole theories must be revised and updated to reflect this knowledge - such scientists include Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin and their respective theories on space, time and the origin of species which shook up the scientific community.

Evolution has been tested, continues to be tested and continues to provide remarkable insights for understanding the origin of species. Evolution has been witnessed going on today - Darwin's finches, the evolution of bacterial resistance to disease and the spotted moth in England are just a few of the many examples. What's more, there is a remarkable fossil record showing the evolution of humans from our earlier precursors including neanderthals, homo erectus and countless others. The ability to sequence animal genomes has shown that about 98% of our DNA is identical to that of our closest relative the chimpanzee. In fact our DNA is more similar to chimpanzee DNA than chimpanzee DNA is to Orangutan DNA. Through sophisticated gene sequencing techniques we now know that about 5 million years ago there existed a common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans to which all humans and chimps today are related. All of this provides elaborate evidence for the theory of evolution establishing it as a scientific fact.

The second objection to the theory of evolution mentioned above, that it doesn't explain abiogenesis 'the origin of life' is not a sensible objection to this theory. Evolution has not and never will make any claims as to the explanation of the origin of life. It merely explains the mechanism through which existing life evolves and changes into new species in response to selective pressure such as predation and climate. Claiming evolution is wrong because it doesn't explain the origin of life is rather like saying: the theory of gravity does not explain magnetism therefore the theory of gravity is false. Of course this is nonsensical. It is difficult to establish the mechanism of the origin of life simply because it happened so long ago. Estimates range from 2.7 billion to 4 billion years ago - that's a 4 with 9 zeros or 4,000 million. However, I have no doubt that eventually science will satisfactorily explain the origin of life and what a great thing that will be.

Easter, a call to arms

Hi all, well here I am on an Easter Sunday morning at 10:06am. Some say this is the 'holiest' day on the Christian calendar, well maybe, but for me and many other Atheists this holiness, whatever it means, is full of holes. Of course there is a truckload of Christians heading to church this morning, and I find myself asking why? Because, despite a modern technological society, the antithesis of theism, the church still manages to thrive and draw in the crowds. To me this is truly so amazing. Are people so devoid of creative thought and ideas that they can't think of anything better to do on a Sunday morning?

We know that people don't go to church for moral guidance, well at least they shouldn't given the appalling record of the church with regard to modern moral standards - witch hunts, crusades, opposition to contraception and gay rights being some primary examples. People must go to church, for the most part for the social aspect. Getting together in groups is what we as humans love to do, it is in our genes you might say. That's why I think despite the contradictions and lies the church continues to propagate to the 'faithful', they still manage to draw people in. It is such a big group with such 'gravity' that it will take a long long time to erode the support base, even in modern society. I think to help people make a better choice, atheists and secularists need to offer concrete social alternatives to the church going public. I don't know what this is - more sport on Sunday, less theist laws such as the closing of shops etc on Christian holidays, are just a couple of meagre ideas.

What I am doing with the one hour of my life that I have free because I am not going to church? Well, I've been working on a scale computer model of the solar (planetary) system as a little hobby and I've been trying to reconcile it with measured data of the actual solar system. The simulation is up and working reasonably well, although there are some sources of error that mean that after a few years the positions of the inner planets no longer accurately line up with the real data. So this morning, I'm experimenting and trying to increase my knowledge of the universe we live in - this is much more exciting and rewarding than any promise of eternal life or seven virgins - happy Easter, whatever you are doing.

Torquay

I have a new favourite beach - the surf beach at Torquay. After the Grand Prix Asia, Mark, Claire and I drive down to Torquay for a one night camping trip. For those who don't know, Torquay is about half an hour South of Geelong at the beginning of Victoria's famous Great Ocean Road scenic drive. Torquay, apart from being a picturesque costal town, is famous for it's legendary surf breaks including Bell's beach and is the home and birthplace of a couple of Australia's largest surfwear brands, Rip Curl and Quiksilver. Okay now I sound like a travel agent.

Highlights of the weekend include body surfing on some awesome waves at the beach, nearly getting killed by an out of control surfer, making a sand castle with Asia and getting a flat battery on the pulsar. Photos to follow.

F1 oh yeah

One of the great attractions of Melbourne as opposed to other Australian cities perhaps, is that it draws and hosts some truly great international events. For whatever reason, the denizens of Melbourne have made every effort to make Melbourne visible on the world stage - and it shows. The two events that I'm mostly thinking of here are the Australian Open Tennis and the Formula One Grand Prix. This weekend it was Melbourne's turn to play host to the Grand Prix circuit and the usually quiet and peaceful Albert Park was transformed into a high speed, adrenaline pumping formula one circuit. Since we moved to Melbourne in 2006, the formula one has been on my 'to do' list and this year Asia and I went to Friday's practice session along with our friends Mark and Claire.

Melbourne is in the grip of a late Summer/early Autumn heat wave at the moment. As I write it is still 28 degrees C outside, a 'cool' change bringing welcome relief from 38 degrees only an hour before. Friday was also swelteringly hot and by the time the second practice session started at 2pm Asia and Claire had had enough and decided to go home to the air con at Mark and Claire's city apartment. Mark and I managed to brave the heat for another hour or so and managed a few good shots of the cars as they zoomed by at an incredibly noisy 300 kph. Everyone says how you will be amazed by the noise of the F1 cars but you really can't prepare yourself for just how noisy it is. Earplugs are an absolute must as the noise it so loud it does cause physical pain. But hey the cars and the technology are awesome and what a spectacle it was. Despite the heat a great day.

Bris Vegas

It's funny, when my brother was living in Brisbane I never travelled there once for work but since he left I have been there at least six times - five of them since November last year. I have many good memories of Brisbane and it was the first part of Australia that I visited when I was younger. To me, it is quintessentially Australia and even after having lived in Melbourne for 18 months, the first thing I think of when I think of Australia is Brisbane - I guess it is etched in my memory. In many ways for NZers Brisbane is everything NZ is not. The weather is fine and warm, the people are sun tanned and friendly (if a little bigoted at times) and you can't help but being swept up in the optimism and positive vibe when you are there.

One of the funniest things about Brisbane is the crazy creatures you encounter just wandering around the streets or in the botanic gardens. Lizards are a frequent site (big ones, little ones and medium sized ones), often clamoring around street lights looking for there next 'mothy' meal. Okay, so the reason I'm waxing on about Brisbane is that I have just got back from a five day trip there. My manager was kind enough to shout Asia's flights there and back so she could come with me and also pay for a couple of extra nights in the hotel. I had to present training on the Monday-Wednesday, so we only really had the weekend to look around. We took the early morning flight on Saturday and while we waited until we could check into the hotel we took a stroll around the central city and checked out the Art Gallery, which had a particularly interesting collection of old propaganda posters from the 70s and 80s. It's quite interesting to see how things have changed substantially since even then. The big issues of the day were women's equality and nuclear weapons.

We had a great meal at a riverside restaurant on Sat and on Sunday we decided to take the train down to Dreamworld, one of the big American style themeparks, on the GoldCoast. Despite finding it a little tacky we had a pretty fun day, highlight: catching a shot of a tiger in mid air.