Did Douglas Axe Disprove Evolution? Spoiler: No

I haven’t said it’s unclear anywhere. My paraphrazing of Axe was simply to establish agreement on what he is arguing, to see if we understand him to be saying the same thing. So we can move on.

This is a perfectly normal part of discourse. We test our mutual understanding of another person by an attempt to describe what they say in our own words. If our interlocutor can agree that we have correctly described the position despite using different words, we have established a common framework from which to proceed. That’s all I’m doing right now.

But this always takes a willingness to engage in comprehension from both parties. It takes some degree of charitability on the part of the interlocutors. We have to be willing to give the other side some benefit of doubt. If the grammar or spelling isn’t necessarily perfect, or we use synonyms, can we still give it an interpretation that restores correct meaning?

Like when you complain I use the word “fragment” and Axe doesn’t, a person who was trying to read with comprehension and charitability would understand that I simply mean that in Axe’s example he has broken up his mutations of the 42 character string into 6 individual sections of 7 characters each. Each of these 7 characters would be the “fragment.”

You having a fit about the word “fragement” betrays your unwillingness to read with comprehension and charitability. A lack of willingness to seek an interpretation that restores meaning.

It reveals you are afraid. Fearful. You have defenses up. It’s pathetic.

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