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I think that religion in America is different from other countries because
we do not have an official state religion. Historically this has allowed
the development of a lot of different religions, such as the Methodists,
Baptists, LDS, and Seventh Day Adventists. I suppose they were filling
"empty niche space," if you will. The fact that the Great Awakenings have
an approximate 80 year periodicity is quite bizarre to me (First Awakening
1730-1740; Second Awakening 1820-1830s; Third Awakening 1886-1908; Fourth
Awakening 1960-present?). After these revivals, where, in most cases,
they return to more primitive beliefs, they tend to split into
factions and the end members go 'extinct' and the 'adaptive peak'
survives. Sometimes, I think that it is very tempting to apply
macroevolutionary principles to this! But........ is it a punctuated or
gradualistic model? Are we in steady-state equilibrium or increasing
diversity? (just kidding, of course)
I suppose it might be a small comfort to know that these movements only
last approximately 40 years; so, it would appear that we have about 5 more to go
with this one (The Fourth). The odd thing that I've noticed is that a big
war often follows each one (i.e. American Revolution, American Civil War, WWI
and WWII). However, my political science colleagues assure me that there
is no direct correlation between Awakenings and wars.
Lisa Park
-----Original Message-----
From:
paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk on behalf of Peter Roopnarine
Sent: Thu 1/27/2005 3:01 PM
To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
Cc:
Subject: Re: paleonet NYTimes editorial on
Creationism
Practicing physicians in the US _must_ have a MD
degree, or some equivalent
(e.g. DPM). The Ph.D. does not count. Ph.D.'s in
medicine are reserved for
medical research, though most Ph.D.s in medicine
generally also hold a MD
degree (most programs that offer the Ph.D. offer
it jointly with the MD).
And I have to say that, having some
familiarity with those programs, that the
quality of research mentoring
offered in the medical Ph.D. programs is in no
way less than what is
expected in other scientific disciplines. A
dissertation is produced, and
active research and publication is expected.
Look, ID and other
creationists who hold advanced degrees in science do not
hold their beliefs
because they received insufficient training or anything
like that. They are
religious fundamentalists, and they interpret everything
in the world
around them in that light (no pun intended). I have personally
known two
geologists who received Ph.D.s from two of the top 10 Geology
programs in
the country, and yet are creationists. Smart enough to get the
degree, but
no, not smart enough to be good scientists.
I agree with the
emphasis that has been placed on the role of history in
this debate.
Unfortunately, that is a point that is quite often highlighted
by
creationists, precisely because it is a soft spot in the framework
of
evolutionary theory. There are no "tests" of evolution, in the
Popperian
sense, to be had from the geological record. There is inference
only. I am a
strong proponent of inferential science, and there is nothing
preventing
predictive hypotheses being generated from observations based on
the fossil
record. But _strong_ tests are in the neontological
domain. _Understanding_
the history of life, and the current state, does
indeed require history, but
remember, it does have a significant
interpretive component. Our deep time
science also differs from that of the
physicists in one very important and
fundamental way. Physicists can
theoretically, and quite often in practice,
reverse time. They do it all
the time when they study conditions of the early
Universe in particle
accelerators. We can't do that. But we do have a record,
and it is, in my
opinion at least, most consistent with evolutionary theory
and the Modern
Synthesis.
Peter
--
Dr. Peter D. Roopnarine, Assoc.
Curator
Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology
California
Academy of Sciences
875 Howard St.
San Francisco CA 94103
Phone:
(415) 321-8271
FAX: (415) 321-8615
WWW: http://www.calacademy.org/research/izg/roopnarine/peter.htm
No
more wars please
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