I have to agree with @John_Harshman on this one. Dark energy and dark matter are interpolations of data in the present. Dark energy is a conclusion based on current measurements of galaxy movement. Dark matter is a conclusion based on current movement of stars in galaxies and current gravitational lensing of light passing through areas of the universe. They are based on what we are observing right now.
That happened billions of years ago.
You describe yourself as a phylogeneticist, and are unaware of the views of Craig Venter on the subject? You do know who Craig Venter is, don’t you?
Actually, I have not done that. I have denied false accusations about ID and ID proponents; I have rejected mischaracterizations of the positions of Discovery and various ID proponents. I have not, on this site, tried to present arguments for intelligent design. Arguments for intelligent design can be found in the books of Behe, Denton, etc., and that is where I send people who are interested in such arguments. Here, I merely respond to cheap culture-war attacks on ID people and their motivations.
Did you pay attention to the italicized word, universal? Are you unaware of the views of Craig Venter and others regarding a “bush of life” as opposed to a “tree of life”?
We are observing it right now. By your rules, we couldn’t measure anything in science because it all happened in the past. I couldn’t measure the height of an object across the room because I am measuring what it was like in the past due to the time it takes light to cross the room.
Are you unaware of the views of scientists who think abiogenesis happened in the past? Or do opinions only matter when they agree with your preconceived beliefs?
You ought to say “inferred.” The whole point of calling it “dark” matter is that we can’t directly observe it.
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Your answer is non-responsive. Craig Venter is a geneticist who, as far as I can tell, is a higher-ranking scientist than either yourself or Harshman here, and with an ultra-specialist knowledge of genetics, says that he doesn’t think there is a tree of life, but rather a bush. Deal with it!
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By my rules?! I just noted the obvious, and of course many of our inferences are legitimate. You are beginning to sound like @John_Harshman who throws everyone who disagrees with him into a YEC bag.
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Nope. I just noted the similarities of what you were saying (intended or not) to YEC argument styles.
True. “Extrapolated” would also be the wrong word.
You doubt that I am?
How would that, if true, invalidate universal common ancestry?
Do you know the difference between a tree and a bush? Once you analyze the difference, you will have the answer to your question above.
No, I won’t. Why is a non-scientist trying to educate me on biology, and using a lame version of the socratic method at that?
If I find a high ranking scientist who thinks abiogenesis happened in the past will you accept it?
Yes, by your rules. You are saying that if it takes time for light to travel from the thing we are observing then we are extrapolating from the past. This would apply to everything that science measures.
Sorry, I forgot to check our ranks. Can you give me a url to the scientist-rank database?
It’s obvious that you want to drag us into your perspective that you’re an unbiased observer in the universe; what you don’t seem to get is that, for those of us who believe in God, you’re claiming a right which belongs to God alone.
No matter; it seems pretty obvious that you think of yourself in those kinds of terms, in a very “Harshman comes first” type of existence. It’s sad, really. So, we’ll probably keep trying to reach out to you, which you are free to disdain as useless. You may be right, but that doesn’t predispose our hopes.
That reminds me of christian groups who protested the use of Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rods because they thought the lightning rod was telling God where to send the lightning.
Two questions:
- Who are “we”?
- How is insulting me in multiple ways considered “reaching out”?
I tried to save your soul with the 26 factorial calculation above but wanted to be subtle about it. I see insulting people is a better way to get their attention.
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Maybe there’s some French in him? ;o)