Evolution and God (or supreme being if you prefer) whats the odds?
By EvanHunter
@EvanHunter (4026)
United States
February 15, 2010 1:07pm CST
Recently I ran across an article with famous atheist Richard Dawkins. He was being asked candidly to put a ball park estimate on the chances that he could be wrong and that there may indeed be a God. At first he almost admitted nearly 50% than he recanted and said 1 in 100. If you do a little research on the theory of evolution you will find that those who support it claim anywhere from 1 in 10^450 to 1 in 10k^1bil. now that's putting 450 zero's behind it that we originated from inanimate matter. Let me be clear it is a fact that evolution does happen within a species by environmental changes (micro evolution). The rest however is still just speculation, sorry Lucy is not a valid argument the bone density in the wrist proves she walked on her wrist not upright.
I encourage you to look up the information yourself don't take my word for it the figures are all over the place. But my question is this is it not more blind faith to believe something with the odds of 1 in 10^450 than it is to believe in 1 in 100? If not how can you scientifically reason this?
3 people like this
7 responses
@Bionicman (3958)
• Czech Republic
15 Feb 10
Theories keep changing little by little as we're discovering new things. One day we'll maybe come to a definitive answer. I don't get this god vs. evolution thing..what are you suggesting? That humans didn't evolve from other species and god just put us on earth not so long ago? Or that we were here from the beginning or what? Sounds so silly. In my mind god and evolution can go hand to hand. It could be that god created something that evolved.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Thank you for the reply. The God versus evolution thing...I don't feel that they have to oppose each other but leading evolutionist say if you believe in intelligent design than you aren't a scientist. I myself am willing to admit anything is possible, it could be that God is subatomic particles of conciousness that uses biological nanites to spur on evolution but that wouldn't be any more impossible than it all came from nothing. What I was getting at was that people can gamble on the odds that are the worst but admit the odds for a supreme being are better. That's faith! In my opinion anyways.
As far as if we were always here or evolved we may never know but I do know that there have been a lot of evidence that contradicts the current theory of evolution that seems to get smothered due to politics. Its as if the facts are being forced to fit the theory instead of the theory fitting the facts. I don't know how someone can accuse others as not being a scientist but throw out facts simple because they feel that if the theory falls in one area than it might fall everywhere. Oddly enough I see a lot of the same mentality in some scientist that the early catholic church had with persecuting and smearing people who don't stick to the party line of Darwin's evolutionist theory.
1 person likes this
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Big bang theory is so five minutes ago, "M" theory rules the day now, our universe was created by two other universes rubbing together. Therefor there was something before our universe was created. The farther science goes the more it becomes infinite big and infinite small realities. Or it could be like Barehugs pointed out and I suggested maybe time isn't a straight line but folds in on itself or worlds are created by every action. The possibilities are about endless.
Of course if Richard Dawkins was asked that question today I am sure he would gladly re-evaluate his number to something that didn't make it seem so one sided. I just found it strange that he would say 1 in 100 without thinking about the odds of evolution in comparison, maybe its a Freudian slip and deep down he is really agnostic...LOL.
BTW I was just theorizing that subatomic particles is God thing showing that anyone can come up with a theory it doesn't mean its true or that its correct. In fact who knows maybe one day people will say I was a genius for coming up with this theory...lol.
1 person likes this
@Bionicman (3958)
• Czech Republic
15 Feb 10
I believe that if we will ever find god, it would be through science.
But let's take your example for an example:)
"it could be that God is subatomic particles of consciousness that uses biological nanites to spur on evolution."
Even if this would be true, most of believers wouldn't accept it as "god" and scientist certainly wouldn't label it as "god".
I don't think the odds that god exist are better.
It's funny how some people would spend their life looking for some holes in scientifically established facts but they would believe blindly in everything written in the bible. But I'm not talking about you obviously.
We can't explain how something came out of nothing. No god, no evolution and big bang can explain it...
Who/what created god then? God is the ultimate, it just IS and always WAS. We can't explain it but it's god so it's alright, we don't have to. But hey, why not say the universe is the ultimate, it wasn't created, it just IS and always WAS? Why complicate it even more by adding unexplainable creator to explain the unexplainable?
@mutpal74 (314)
• India
16 Feb 10
Hi friend, yesterday only I was seeing one program me at Discovery channel about universe.It has shown such vast picture of universe that I was puzzled.Millions of galaxies, stars, planets etc... and the chance of existence of life in any of them.No I can't believe that we are here because of evolution, there must be a supper power who lead us to stage!!!.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
16 Feb 10
Thank you for your reply. It would seem that if evolution was a natural order of things than we would see a lot more life. I am curious to see what we will find on some of the frozen water moons in our solar system.
1 person likes this
@eukristian3 (19)
• Romania
16 Feb 10
That's because there are a lot of conditions that must be met in order for the live to form . Some of these conditions are the presence of an atmosphere , the presence of just the right temperature , pressure , gases in that atmosphere etc. How do you know we are unique ? Humans only visited or took photos of planets in our Solar System . There is a golden ring around each star . In theory , a planet whose orbit is this golden ring , can sustain life . We never visited other solar systems so you can never know .
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
20 Feb 10
I'm probably a little off course here but the next time you are in that used book store, see if you can find any of the brilliant work of Teilhard de Chardin. He was a world renowned paleonthologist who taught evolution as true science in a French university. The Catholic church gave him a very difficult time because he was, and remained his entire life, a devout Roman Catholic priest.
Maybe you are already familiar with deChardin but I thought I'd put this here anyway because so many people believe that evolution and religion are opposing beliefs. I frankly never heard of Richard Dawkins but I think if he were familiar with deChardin he would put better than 50% odds on God's existence. DeChardin was complex and not for everybody. He also seems to be a bit out of fashion at the moment but he was unarguably one of the greatest minds of the Twentieth Century.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
21 Feb 10
Yes I am aware of Teilhard de Chardin, those obnoxious Jesuit priest always causing trouble for the Catholics...just kidding. I have my own interpretation of the original sin myself that would differ from most and land me in a boat with him.
Richard Dawkins has pretty much made a living off of his being an atheist and he has made a lot of money off of it. We could talk about his degree in biology that he got from studying zoology but most of his work wasn't really that ground breaking (in my opinion) but a rehash in what others had already wrote although some think the "selfish gene" is all that and a bag of chips, although it too has been compared to other writings and he has never disputed that his writings may have been a loose plagiarism of other writings. But I guess you can get away with that when you are on top and are a good figure head for bashing religion.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
15 Feb 10
Of course its all Just Pure Speculation, and I'll speculate that your question is unanswerable due to lack of evidence. The way I see it, Time is not running horizontal (as we imagine it) but vertical, so there has never been a beginning, nor will there be endings! God (the Supreme Being) has always existed, along with all his evolving creations. Read "Parallel Worlds," by Michio Kaku. (A journey through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos.)
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Thanks for the reply. I have read excerpts from it but not the whole book I do enjoy listening to Michiko Kaku and his ideas, unfortunately used book stores are my main source of reading and haven't felt compelled to spring for it just yet. Some of the things like circular time where there really is no end but just different points where time starts over like a fractal folding in on itself or that every choice or moment in time creates another universe are really quite amazing. Things like M theory and going back before the creation of our universe and our universe itself reminds me of cells look at a black hole sucking in material and putting it back out, is the galaxy nothing more than a giant cell? What if the bigger picture is beyond our comprehension, could it be that we are living in a cell of a supreme being? Possible! LOL. But unlike him I do feel that God is more than just the order of things but has a consciousness and will. Anyways back to the matter at hand as far as the odds go we may never have collective proof in this life time but I think I will place my bet on the better odds.
@blummus (451)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Well, EvanHunter, the reasoning is very direct. There is no physical evidence for the existence of God. The existence of matter can be demonstrated, as can changes in some species of animals and certainly of plants even so short a time as during the last century. Granted, the means by which chemicals became complex and organized themselves into even a simple one-celled protozoan is still a mystery in many ways, but the existence of a mystery does not argue the existence (or nonexistence) of a creator-god. Knowledge is hard-won over long periods of time, and the unknown still vast even with the narrowest of specialties. Somewhere in that vast unknown, there may be some kind of conclusive proof of a being or beings we might identify as God, the source of the universe, and perhaps someday humanity will discover it. Until then, to talk about the likelihood of a being existing before the Big Bang is just speculation without possible resolution.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Thanks for the reply. As far as spontaneous regeneration is concerned all evidence points against it, life as we know it only comes from life. The only life we have seen change into a new species has been through manipulating DNA and these species would be hard pressed to survive on their own without our help. In fact genetic mutations never seem to improve a species but usually hamper it and a lot of times in the genetic mutations evolution would need to happen the animal is either sterile or cant survive. So as you said maybe there is beings in this universe that helped things a long but my bet is still on God. Besides even if there are beings that could do this kind of genetic manipulation 3 billion years ago than that would pretty much mean he/they are God(s) compared to us. So as I stated above I am still going to put my money on God it seems far less of a stretch than the other arguments.
1 person likes this
@sbryan1969 (212)
• United States
15 Feb 10
This is a tough one. I am a devout Christian so I do not at all believe in evolution. I agree with your last statement. If I was on the fence and did not know what I believed, I would stake my claim on believing that Someone created this earth and it did not happen just by chance.
@EvanHunter (4026)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Thank you for the reply. Its definitely the better odds...LOL
1 person likes this
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
24 Feb 10
I don't think that the odds really matter...you either believe or you don't. Personally, I believe that God created everything but then that's just me. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. It shouldn't matter to anyone else. Even if everyone else believed that the world was evolved from pond sludge it wouldn't change what I believe.
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**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]