well...

[RazorClaw]

I'm the highest ranked poster with a life.  :-P


But lives are so overrated.

Arguia left? Who else is gone since I was here? Other than Retto, and windhound, and a bunch of others.

[The Lady Shael]

windy's definitely still here. Well, Nohc's been gone for a long time, and I don't think I've seen Neo in a while...we get random people who come in, post, and then leave, like Tania, Cal and Raine. (but Raine's been doing that for the past two years)

[Gen. Volkov]

LOL, you know me too well Rudder. It is indeed disputable whether or not human's have a soul in my mind.

[Aqualis]

Just another monkey, eh Volkov? Hehehe.

I am amused. So very amused.

And have now forgotten what I was originally going to post.

[windhound]

oh, I'm still around Razor = P

[Gen. Volkov]

Ape, not monkey, and we aren't "just another" one. There are important differences, such as walking upright, tool use, and problem solving intelliegence, though chimps, orangs and gorrillas share those last two with us. They just aren't as good at it as we are. The most important difference is speech. Everything communicates, but as of right now, it seems only humans can actually talk, that is communicate abstract ideas with sound. Some recent research suggests whales and dolphins might be able to do this as well, to a limited extent, but it's not conclusive.

Humans are unique, as far as we know, but I don't think they have a soul, and other species had many of our same characteristics in the past, they are just extinct now. Our uniqueness may just be due to us being the last of the hominins. So I don't think that our uniqueness is due to a soul at all. (It's been officially changed from hominids in the nonmenclature, because hominid is now used to refer to chimps, gorillas, and humans, as recent evidence shows that those three species/genuses all descended from a common ancestor more recently than the other primates. Hominins is the correct word.)

[The Lady Shael]

Volkov, these kinds of insightful posts aren't allowed in the Spa Room.  :wink:

[Vengerak]

post, and then leave, like Tania, Cal and Raine. (but Raine's been doing that for the past two years)

Boo! :D

[Arguia Zsah]

I'm the highest ranked poster with a life.? :-P


But lives are so overrated.

Arguia left? Who else is gone since I was here? Other than Retto, and windhound, and a bunch of others.

I ish back. But for how long or how much who knows...  :-P

[Aqualis]

Ape, not monkey, and we aren't "just another" one. There are important differences, such as walking upright, tool use, and problem solving intelliegence, though chimps, orangs and gorrillas share those last two with us. They just aren't as good at it as we are. The most important difference is speech. Everything communicates, but as of right now, it seems only humans can actually talk, that is communicate abstract ideas with sound. Some recent research suggests whales and dolphins might be able to do this as well, to a limited extent, but it's not conclusive.

Humans are unique, as far as we know, but I don't think they have a soul, and other species had many of our same characteristics in the past, they are just extinct now. Our uniqueness may just be due to us being the last of the hominins. So I don't think that our uniqueness is due to a soul at all. (It's been officially changed from hominids in the nonmenclature, because hominid is now used to refer to chimps, gorillas, and humans, as recent evidence shows that those three species/genuses all descended from a common ancestor more recently than the other primates. Hominins is the correct word.)

I donwanna be a monkey. :-D

So, you have no soul? Many species previous to us share many of the same characteristics? Don't we share, like, 98% or our DNA with bananas?

That's right, I said like. _{Long live Sarcasm Awareness Month!}

I think evolution is absurd. One word: Entropy.

[Gen. Volkov]

LOL, sorry Shael.

Well you are, you share 98% percent of your DNA with chimps and Gorillas and 95% of it with all other primates. That makes you a primate too. We share about 45% of our DNA with bananas. In fact pick any two living things on the planet and they will share at least 30% of their DNA. If that doesn't prove that there's a common ancestor way back in the depths of time, I don't know what does. And yes, many hominin species that are now extinct share many of the same characteristics humans possess. Walking upright, advanced tool use and construction, problem sovling intelliegence, and in the case of Neaderthals, possibly even speech. And no, I do not believe I have a soul.

Entropy can be overcome with energy. Living things are amzing energy storers, converters, and users. 'Nuff said. I don't really care what you think about evolution, because you do not have enough information on the subject to make an informed decision, or you do, but are letting a bias overwhelm it. Either way, evolution may be "just a theory", but as I've said before, a sociology has everyone screwed up on what a theory is. A theory is a system of hypotheses that have been tested and proven to be true repeatedly many many times. It's more like a mathematical theorem than what you mean when you say "I have a theory about this" You don't think the theory of relativity is absurd do you? Evolution has mounds and mounds of evidence behind it, much more than relativity. Besides, everyone who matters does know that evolution is correct, so what you think doesn't really matter. Though if enough of the nonscientific population becomes convinced that it is not correct, they will stop teaching it in school, and then it will be a problem. At which point I move to Canada, where they do know that evolution is right.

And if that was said in a sarcastic or joking manner, I couldn't tell, hence my response.

[Aqualis]

Both sarcastic and not.

You are implying that life puts out more energy than it takes in. This violates the first law of thermodynamics. Second, you are proposing that things have moved from a lower state of organization to a higher one. This violates the law of entropy. Have you ever seen an apple unrot? Entropy can only be overcome by something forcing it to work backwards. Have you seen anything in nature that reverses entropy?

That we share DNA merely implies that everything requires the same basic functions to live. I'm convinced most humans these days have more in common with rocks and apes.

Relativity is irrelavant to this arguement.

Evolution in schools is a different arguement, don't distract.

How do you know "neanderthals" weren't just humans ont he losing end of a fight and got their head bashed in. Or sufferers from birth defects. Like that six legged cow. There are few enough examples to make this a possibility.

Evolution is a theory, Entropy is a law.

Ever notice how evolution conveniently sidesteps the whole question of where all this matter came from at the "birth of the universe"? And how it conveniently organized itself into the universe, and how earth is conveniently located the exact distance from the sun needed to support life.

And what the hell did the platypus evolve from?

[The Lady Shael]

Oh Raine. Why can't you just stay for good?


Heh. I remember last time we had a discussion/argument about evolution...it was, for quite a while, the longest topic ever on the forums at 14 pages.

[Gen. Volkov]

I am implying no such thing. I simply said that life is very good at taking in, storing and using energy. It gets this energy from many sources, most importantly from the sun, which, according to you, also violates entropy. Fusion is the process of making a larger, more complex atom out of two smaller, less complex ones. Entropy is overcome by the huge energy release of the nuclear reaction. So let me repeat this, ENERGY CAN BE USED TO OVERCOME ENTROPY. Use enough energy, and you can reverse all the chemical reactions that caused the apple to rot. Every single chemical reaction is reversable, the only question is how much one side is favored over the other. If you use enough energy, you can reverse it. If you took basic college chemistry, you would know that while entropy overall is always increasing, in different places this is not true. It's a net increase. If entropy was to increase everywhere at a constant rate, we'd all be dead by now. Alot of the basic chemical reactions in your body rely on them being reversible, or things moving from a less ordered to more ordered form.

Rocks are inanimate objects containing no DNA, and I could make a very mean joke about your head, but I will refrain. We don't just share DNA that codes for processes. 90% of the genome codes for nothing. It's called junk DNA, and yet we still share quite a bit of it with bananas. If we did not in fact share a common ancestor, this would not be true. Besides, alot of our basic life processes could be done a different way, and we'd get along just fine, the fact that so many basic processes are done the exact same way across a very broad spectrum of organisms makes the case for evolution even stronger. Evolution is a conservative process, it doesn't reinvent the wheel when it's got a perfectly good one lying right there for it to use.

Relativity was just an example of the silliness over evolution. I was simply pointing out that evolution is the only thing ever called ":just a theory" and that is so consistently disputed, yet there is more evidence for it than for alot of the theories that are so easily accepted.

Evolution in schools was barely mentioned. It was an offhand comment and was not intended to distract.

Entropy only became a law after it was proven as a theory. Everything that is now a "law" was once a theory. The atom itself was once only a theory.

Ever notice how evolution conveniently sidesteps the whole question of where all this matter came from at the "birth of the universe"? And how it conveniently organized itself into the universe, and how earth is conveniently located the exact distance from the sun needed to support life.

That's a completely different argument. Don't distract. Evolution does not address those points. Never has. It concerns biology, not astrophysics.

And what the [haties] did the platypus evolve from?

The platypus descends from a very old family of mammals, of which there are only two living examples. It wouldn't be so remarkable without that bill though, then it would be essentially an oddly shaped beaver, which a couple of poison spurs on its hind legs, LOL. I don't know the exact evolutionary history of the platypus, but I'm sure there are people out there who do know it.

[Aqualis]

Shael: I remember that topic ...

Volkov: This is the spa room, as such I refuse to make completely coherent arguements and intend to continue in this fashion. Also, my rock comment was a mean joke. Sarcasm Awareness Month, keep that in mind.

The sun is still constantly releasing energy. It's decaying. Fine, energy can overcome entropy, but eventually everything decays.

If evolution doesn't like to reinvent the wheel when it has perfectly good working forms, why are there multicelled organisms? Why is there life? Rocks seem to work just fine without all the hassles of being alive. They're pretty durable too as far as I can tell.

I am allowed to distract, only you are not.

The platypus is a freak, admit it. All hail the duck-beaver!