The Narrow Path Ministries

Earlier I shared my rough draft of the evolution animation. Below I have a link to the final version. This animation gives a quick overview of the lines of evidence which scientists have used to tentatively conclude that all living things on Earth are related.

http://statedclearly.com/videos/what-is ... -evolution

At http://statedclealry.com we now have 7 animations along with multiple articles on genetics and evolution. The site and our materials are designed to quickly introduce viewers to the basics of evolutionary theory in a clean friendly environment.

I'd love to get your feedback.

Thanks
Jon

What is the evidence that phlogiston exists in flammable substances?

1. Wood, coal, and other flammable substance lose weight after they are burned. This is evidence that phlogiston was once in these substances, but is released as the substances burn.

2. Fires can be contained in a wood heater. If the damper is open, air enters and carries away the phlogiston up the chimney, and the fire burns fast.
However, when the damper is closed, no air passes through so that the phlogiston cannot escape readily and the fire is thus partly smothered and so it burns more slowly.

Of course we know now that these are not evidences for the existence of phlogiston at all, but are explanations of the behaviour of burning substances.
The facts concerning burning substances such as those given above are now explained by the presence of oxygen in the air—ever since Joseph Priestly's discovery of oxygen.
So actually there is no evidence at all for the existence of phlogiston in flammable substances. That was but a model to explain the facts surrounding the burning of substances.

Likewise there is no evidence at all for evolution. Evolution is but a model to explain the phenomena of life on earth. An alternative model is the creation model.

There is no evidence for the original creation by an intelligent designer, either. Yet the creation model has as much validity to explain life on earth as the evolution model.

It seems that both evolutionists and creationists mistake the facts of life on earth as evidence for their respective theories.

I can't understand why this nonsense is getting "air" time.

It's important to understand that evolution is not simply an alternative creation story, instead, it is a scientific theory used by researchers to understand biology.

The theory of evolution is used by the scientific community because it works. It consistently leads researchers to new discoveries.

In our animation "Does the theory of evolution really matter?", we go over a few examples of how evolution has helped us solve real world problems. See the video here: http://statedclearly.com/videos/does-th ... ly-matter/

It's important to understand that evolution is not simply an alternative creation story, instead, it is a scientific theory used by researchers to understand biology.

Oh yes. Certainly!

The phlogiston theory was a scientific theory, too ——— in its day.

[user account removed]

Thanks for noting my use of the word "tentative". It is important to me that nothing be overstated in science. This is an issue I speak of frequently with scientists, teachers, and other folks like me who popularize science through the media.

I'd like to emphasize that the only real reason a theory gets accepted by the scientific community (at least for the long haul) is because it works to help researchers make new discoveries. Bad theories can be helpful for a while but their utility quickly runs out. People who invest in research want a return on their investment. Scientists who dedicate their lives to study, do so because they want to reveal new information about the universe. To accomplish their goals, these people follow the theories that have consistently proven to work. Evolution is the norm in biology, not because Darwin was extremely charismatic (he wasn't), not because scientists hate God (many biologists are Christians), but because evolution has proven useful. It has incredible utility, vastly superior to anything we had prior to evolution, vastly superior to any idea which has challenged evolution since it was first popularized.

For examples of the utility of evolution see this: http://statedclearly.com/videos/does-th ... ly-matter/

If someone doesn't like evolutionary theory and want's to see it go the way of phlogiston or the old Geocentric model of the solar system, all they have to do is come up with a new theory which makes sense of the thousands of facts evolution already makes sense of, and also leads scientists to new discoveries faster than evolution does.

If you think you might have a new theory that is better than evolution and would like to start testing it against some facts to see how well it holds water, the video I posted in the introduction to this discussion gives a nice handful of facts for you to start with.

Here it is again: http://statedclearly.com/videos/what-is ... evolution/

Nicely done video. Beyond that, my feedback would be the same as I've given you several times before, to all of which you have yet to respond. Ignoring points and questions that are inconvenient for your position, makes your position look less like hard science, and more like a religious belief that can't hold up to critical thinking. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would be willing to spend a lot more time interacting with you on this topic if you didn't leave all those loose ends.

What sort of loose ends do you have in mind? I spent the last few months talking with whale paleontologists. If you have any concerns related to whale evolution specifically I can probably address them right away. On other lines of descent I may be slow to respond as I would probably need to do a little reading in the scientific literature.

Tomorrow I meet with a woman who studies bat evolution which I know next to nothing about. If you have any questions about bats I'll run them by her. She did the bat embryo photos found in the animation.

By the way, if I have ignored you it is not on purpose. It is usually me vs everyone in these forums. I can't respond to every claim made here. To get a direct response from me, ask one specific question at a time and use clear language.

If for some reason I don't respond, you can contact me from this form http://statedclearly.com/contact/questions/ and link me back to the discussion board. That form notifies my phone so I'm guaranteed not to miss the question.