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Reddit mentions of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
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Reddit mentions: 65
We found 65 Reddit mentions of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. Here are the top ones.
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- Free Press
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| Height | 8.4375 Inches |
| Length | 5.5 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | August 2010 |
| Weight | 1.06 Pounds |
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I'll stick to recommending science communication books (those that don't require a deep background on biological concepts):
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For books that everyone studying biology ends up reading, my candidate would be Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry, by Nelson & Cox but that's a textbook.
> I don't think I ever was a good muslim except for not eating pork.
Being a "good Muslim" is not a good thing
> My teacher said something about even though evolution is widely accepted it has not been fully proven yet.
Your teacher is wrong, there have been a ton of experiments that further prove why evolution is true.
I recommend reading The Greatest Show On Earth, by Richard Dawkins, it'll teach you quite a bit about evolution
You said in another comment below that others were treating you as a troll or an idiot. I don't think that's necessarily the case: many of us are just trying to present the facts, and may be a little bit frustrated due to how YECs typically react. For example, my earlier comment about how creation science does not count as science, and how Geocentrism is incorrect, I did not set out to treat you like an idiot (and if I did, I'm sorry). I did treat you as ignorant, which isn't as bad as it sounds. I'm ignorant to a lot of things. Everyone is. But I love to learn, because I love to expand my knowledge.
Ignorance can be cured. Stupidity can't. We encounter wilful ignorance a lot, and it gets very frustrating, so that colours what we say.
If you're genuine about your desire to learn more, I'll drop some suggestions for further inquiry. Some of the language may be abrasive, but please keep an open, skeptical mind:
I'll give you fair warning on this next one: it may have a profound effect on you. At the very least, it will help you understand our philosophical position better as atheists.
For reading:
Hopefully that gets you started.
Hello and welcome! Here are my recommendations for getting those nasty watchtower cobwebs out of your head, in other words, here is what I did to de-indoctrinate myself:
Take some time to learn about the history of the bible. For example, you can take the Open Yale Courses on Religious Studies for free.
Read Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliott Friedman
Also read A History of God by Karen Armstrong
Next, learn some actual science. For example - spoiler alert: evolution is true. Visit Berkeley's excellent Understanding Evolution Website.. Or, if you're pressed for time, watch this cartoon.
Read Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
Read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
Learn about the origin of the universe. For example, you could read works by Stephen Hawking
Read A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Learn about critical thinking from people like Michael Shermer, and how to spot logical fallacies.
For good measure, use actual data and facts to learn the we are NOT living in some biblical "last days". Things have gotten remarkably better as man has progressed in knowledge. For example, watch this cartoon explaining how war is on the decline..
Read The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
Another great source is the youtube series debunking 1914 being the start of the last days.
I wish you the best. There is a whole world of legitimate information out there based on actual evidence that you can use to become a more knowledgeable person.
You may still wonder how you can be a good human without "the truth." Here is a good discussion on how one can be good without god. --Replace where he talks about hell with armageddon, and heaven with paradise--
Start to help yourself begin to live a life where, as Matt Dillahunty puts it, you'll "believe as many true things, and as few false things as possible."
It's a bunch of gobbledygook about the generations and the kingdom and all of that. It's all nonsense. In my humble opinion, you need to de-indoctrinate yourself to fully remove these types of fears. Not sure if I've shared this post with you before, but here's what I did personally:
Take some time to learn about the history of the bible. For example, you can take the Open Yale Courses on Religious Studies for free.
Read Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliott Friedman
Also read A History of God by Karen Armstrong
Next, learn some actual science. For example - spoiler alert: evolution is true. Visit Berkeley's excellent Understanding Evolution Website.. Or, if you're pressed for time, watch this cartoon.
Read Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
Read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
Learn about the origin of the universe. For example, you could read works by Stephen Hawking
Read A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Learn about critical thinking from people like Michael Shermer, and how to spot logical fallacies.
For good measure, use actual data and facts to learn the we are NOT living in some biblical "last days". Things have gotten remarkably better as man has progressed in knowledge. For example, watch this cartoon explaining how war is on the decline..
Read The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
Another great source is the youtube series debunking 1914 being the start of the last days.
Another way to clear out the cobwebs is to read and listen to exiting stories. Here are some resources:
https://leavingjw.org
Here is a post with links to a bunch of podcasts interviewing JWs who've left
Here's another bunch of podcasts about JWs
Here is a great book from Psychotherapist and former JW Bonnie Zieman - Exiting the JW Cult: A Helping Handbook
I wish you the best. There is a whole world of legitimate information out there based on actual evidence that you can use to become a more knowledgeable person.
You may still wonder how you can be a good human without "the truth." Here is a good discussion on how one can be good without god. --Replace where he talks about hell with armageddon, and heaven with paradise--
To go further down the rabbit hole, watch this series.
Here's a nice series debunking most creationist "logic".
Start to help yourself begin to live a life where, as Matt Dillahunty puts it, you'll "believe as many true things, and as few false things as possible."
Hello and welcome! Here are my recommendations for de-indoctrinating yourself:
Take some time to learn about the history of the bible. For example, you can take the Open Yale Courses on Religious Studies for free.
Read Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliott Friedman
Also read A History of God by Karen Armstrong
Watch this talk from Sam Harris where he explains why "free will" is likely an illusion, which debunks the entire premise of "the fall of man" as presented by most Christian religions.
Watch this video on the Cordial Curiosity channel that teaches how the "Socratic Method" works, which essentially is a way to question why we believe what we believe. Do we have good reasons to believe them? If not, should we believe them?
Watch this video by Theramin Trees that explains why we fall for the beliefs of manipulative groups in the first place.
This video explains why and how childhood indoctrination works, for those of us born-in to a high-control group.
Another great source is this youtube series debunking 1914 being the start of the last days.
Next, learn some science. For example - spoiler alert: evolution is true. Visit Berkeley's excellent Understanding Evolution Website. Or, if you're pressed for time, watch this cartoon.
Read Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne.
Read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.
Watch this series where Aron Ra explains in great detail how all life is connected in a giant family tree.
Learn about the origin of the universe. For example, you could read A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
Learn about critical thinking from people like [Michael Shermer] (http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things?language=en), and how to spot logical fallacies.
For good measure, use actual data and facts to learn the we are NOT living in some biblical "last days". Things have gotten remarkably better as man has progressed in knowledge. For example, watch this cartoon explaining how war is on the decline.
Read The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker.
Watch this Ted Talk by Hans Rosling, the late Swedish Statistician, where he shows more evidence that the world is indeed becoming a better place, and why we tend to wrongly convince ourselves otherwise.
I wish you the best. There is a whole world of legitimate information out there based on actual evidence that we can use to become more knowledgeable people.
You may still wonder how you can be a good human without "the truth." Here is a good discussion on how one can be good without god. --Replace where he talks about hell with armageddon, and heaven with paradise--
Start to help yourself begin to live a life where, as Matt Dillahunty puts it, you'll "believe as many true things, and as few false things as possible."
im not OP but try The greatest show on earth by Richard Dawkins, thats where i got started.
Some books that have been often mentioned as good introductory texts about evolution for the layman:
Why Evolution Is True by Jerry Coyne
The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
Websites with general information:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/ (old site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/)
The folks at /r/evolution might be interested in giving their view, too if you have any specific questions.
You could also look into the biology curriculum of your college and check out the introductory biology courses you will soon be taking, and buy in advance the textbook(s) that deal with evolution.
> No, I do not see enough evidence in evolution.
As an honest question, have you genuinely looked at the evidence? I feel like many people who say the evidence for evolution isn't convincing, have either not looked at the evidence, or have only very selectively looked at it through the lens of creationism (which often caricatures evolution in a way that many "new atheists" caricature Christianity & religion)
If you were genuinely interested, this book does a fantastic job. Yes, it's written by Richard Dawkins, but the subject is 100% evolution, nothing about God or religion. Even Dawkin's harshest critics on the subject of religion typically agree that he is a phenomenal scientist/biologist and one of the worlds best experts on the subject of evolution. That book basically lays out a lot of the evidence and not only builds a proper understanding of evolution (which many of its critics do not have) but answers many other questions about it you might not even of had.
If you only read one book, make it Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne.
The Greatest Show on Earth comes in as a close second for me - both will address your misconceptions just nicely.
If you want more information, consider visiting /r/evolution. There are plenty of resources there at your disposal.
The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins is a good book that gives counter examples to creationists. It addresses radio-dating, plate tectonics, cool examples of animals, and missing links. Dawkins is a grumpy old atheist, so he may not be your cup of tea.
Most of the books that people are recommending on here are great, especially Jerry Coyne's. If you're going to read Dawkins, his best for explaining the basics of evolution is Greatest Show on Earth. If you want to read a book by a devout Christian who does an outstanding job of explaining evolution, then explains how he reconciles his understanding of evolution with his religious beliefs, try Finding Darwin's God by Ken Miller. Good luck on your search, and I salute your hunger for knowledge!
Not a book, but the overviews on TalkOrigins.org are a good place to start. Just start at the top and work down. It addresses some common theological issues.
You can also look at an index to creationist claims on the site, which has short answers to many points creationists raise, including a section on philosophy and theology.
You also might look at the unrelated biologos and clergy letter project for more theological support for evolution.
As for book, someone already mentioned "Why Evolution is True". Your Inner Fish is also a good place to start. The Greatest Show on Earth is also supposed to be good although I haven't read it.
If you do become interested in debating, or if you just have questions, it would be better to head over to /r/DebateEvolution, which specializes in the issue and has a lot of people very knowledgeable about the subject.
Are you talking about Dawkins or the FreeThought blogger? Read The Greatest Show on Earth, it has plenty of science and clear thinking.
Just gonna throw this out there - most of me and my wife's shelf breakers came from books or film that wouldn't traditionally be seen as related to mormonism. Our brains were just too wired to sniff that stuff out and reject it even if engaging with it. Instead I'd recommend two of the most powerful books I ever read and obiliterated my testimony without so much as a mention of Mormon history:
The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins - Dawkins has a bit of a reputation as a vocal Atheist so your wife may already be biased. But if not - he is a wonderful writer, capable of relaying complex scientific principles in easy-to-understand layman's terms. So clear and levelheaded, it's essentially impossible to read this book and not have a minor stroke from the cognitive dissonance it throws on every concept of a divine creator that's ever existed.
Varieties of Scientific Experience by Carl Sagan - Carl Sagan was the original 'make science cool and accessible' superstar and in my mind he still hasn't been topped. This book is a supremely entertaining, mind expanding and FAIR mediation on science and belief from one of our generations greatest thinkers.
Hope this helps (cause reading mormon history books if she isn't ready sure as hell won't)
Some here will disagree, yet I think your cause is a noble one.
My suggestion would be to keep encouraging her to be a freethinker, question everything, and learn all she can about science. If she can be at a point where she understands that "science is more than a body of knowledge, it is a way of thinking" (Carl Sagan), if she can fall in love with the wonders of the creation of the universe and the evolution of life on this world, then you'll be done, as those things will show any thinking person the absurdity of religion as a moral compass.
If she likes to read, here are some books you might consider getting for her:
Edit: grammar
The study of the origin of life is an ongoing process in the scientific community. A reddit comment is hardly the place to summarize an entire area of ongoing scientific study and research.
If you'd like to know more, wikipedia has a page on it which delves into the many competing and conjoining theories on the origin of life as we best understand it now.
There's also the Miller-Urey experiment concerning the so-called primordial soup specifically. That established the kind of conditions in which simpler organic compounds form more complex ones, and how that relates to early earth conditions. It's all really interesting to read about.
Also that's different than evolution. And if we're having an argument as to whether evolution is a real thing, I don't even know where to begin with that. The evidence for it, available from a wide variety of sources, is so voluminous that anyone wanting to seriously learn about the scientific study of the evolution of life can find an abundance of literature discussing evolution of creatures both small and large. Richard Dawkins discusses much of what that is in his book The Greatest Show on Earth.
If you'd like a source from a less controversial figure, Prof Jeffrey Coyne (an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Chicago) has a good book: Why Evolution is True.
I would highly highly recommend "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins. It was actually used as a text book for a capstone evolution course at my university it explains the basic and very complex ideas of evolution in a very simple manner.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Greatest-Show-Earth-Evolution/dp/1416594795/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374690719&sr=8-1&keywords=the+greatest+show+on+earth
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History available on iTunes podcasts as well.
Steven Pinker’s book The Better Angels of our Nature is a fantastic total annihilation of Watchtower’s constant fearmongering about how much violence there is in the world and how it’s only getting worse.
Basically anything by Richard Dawkins is evolutionary biology gold, highly recommend his book The Greatest Show on Earth
Neil deGrasse Tyson recently released a great book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry that gives so many mind-blowing facts about our universe in quick-to-read fashion. His podcast StarTalk Radio is fascinating and fun as well.
Bart D Ehrman is a fantastic biblical scholar, his book Forged examines the Gospel writers and why many are not who the religious believe them to be.
This isn't exactly what you're looking for (it has much more to do with pollination and fertilization than it does germination), but the hammer orchid has a structure that looks like a certain insect. The orchid has evolved a part (the labellum) to look uncannily similar to the female Thynnid wasp (at least to the males). When the male Thynnid wasp tries to copulate with the labellum, the orchid swings the two backward, smashing the wasp against pollen packets, which stick to it. The wasp then flies away and is tricked again by a second orchid. This time, however, the pollen from the first flower enters the stigma of the second and fertilizes it.
I'm just a high school student, so professionals out there please correct me if I'm wrong. I apologize profusely for any errors or misconceptions.
Hope this helps!
Here are some other good books not included in the Bible.
https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Unearthed-Archaeologys-Vision-Ancient/dp/0684869136/ref=nodl_
https://www.amazon.com/How-Jesus-Became-God-Exaltation/dp/0061778192/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_nodl?crid=9RMC18R4FOG4&keywords=misquoting+jesus+by+bart+ehrman&qid=1554250427&s=gateway&sprefix=bart+ehrman&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594795/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_nodl?crid=35QQAVAV7QDZC&keywords=richard+dawkins&qid=1554250354&s=gateway&sprefix=richard+dawkins&sr=8-3
https://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins-ebook/dp/B003JTHWJQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_nodl?crid=35QQAVAV7QDZC&keywords=richard+dawkins&qid=1554250354&s=gateway&sprefix=richard+dawkins&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Isaac-Asimov-ebook/dp/B000FC1PWA/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=12RC9CDG804CS&keywords=isaac+asimov&qid=1554250561&s=gateway&sprefix=isaac+asimov&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Gillian-Flynn/dp/0307588378/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=3CFDSBUJ5BQBR&keywords=gone+girl&qid=1554250625&s=gateway&sprefix=gone+giel&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Green-Eggs-Ham-Dr-Seuss/dp/0394800168/ref=nodl_
"The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins. It is a very easy to follow book about evolution, how it works, and why we know it's fact.
Buy her a copy of The Greatest Show on Earth.
Right here is a good place to start.
Origin can seem pretty dated and tough to understand for people today. There are much better books out there which are much more up to date, and easier to understand.
Your Inner Fish
Why Evolution Is True
The Greatest Show On Earth
I would echo the other commenters' advice about keeping your sanity and surviving the next few years.
My addition to this discussion is book recommendations. If you want to learn more about evolution, check out the books Why Evolution Is True by Jerry Coyne, The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins, and Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5 Billion Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin.
Reading these books will pretty much inoculate you against creationist bullshit (pardon the vaccination pun), and give you a great foundation in understanding one of the most basic facts of science --- evolution.
We all wish you the best as you navigate these difficult years. Please use this sub as much as you need! :)
OK, folks may call me a nut, but you might want to try Evolution by Loxton. It's for younger readers, but you could literally jumpstart yourself in an hour.
Then, read Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne as well as The Greatest Show on Earth by Dawkins.
Honorable mention goes to Dawkins' An Ancestor's Tale.
Check out the Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism.
Check out a copy of the books The Greatest Show on Earth or Why Evolution is True from a library. You can also get one of them for free on Audible, but you will miss out on the citations and diagrams.
See if you can watch or read The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking. I watched the miniseries, it's pretty good. It used to be on Netflix but no longer is.
Cosmos is great, and is on Netflix. If you want to watch videos about Cosmology just type in one of the popular physicist's names, Brian Greene, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss (his Universe from Nothing book is really great, so are his lectures about it), Sean Carroll etc.
Let me know if you want to talk, I'm always up for it.
> Here dy'd their Parents' hopes and feares
> Once all their joy, now all their teares.
Wow. See, if the epitaph had been trite or overly-euphemistic in order to preserve the reader's comfort, a link would be broken here. I'm glad the author didn't do it. History like this connects us to our basic humanity and thus back to each other, I think.
Or even beyond humanity. Richard Dawkins pauses to eulogize an Australopithecus child and its mother (they were early homonids) in one of his books. The child was eaten by an eagle:
> “Poor little Taung Child, shrieking on the wind as you were borne aloft by the aquiline fury, you would have found no comfort in your destined fame, two and a half million years on, as the type specimen of Australopithecus africanus. Poor Taung mother, weeping in the Pliocene.”
Dawkins - Greatest Show on Earth
Zimmer - At the Water's Edge
Stein - The Evolution Book
The last one is actually a high school level book, but it helped me a lot when I first ditched Christianity.
I'm sorry to say it, but your arguments are based on ignorance. Please take physics/biology/chemistry classes. Anyway (I'm going to quote you, because there are multiple questions per point):
> the big bang theory. as it states, it is a theory, yet people take it as truth.
Yes, and with reason. There is scientific evidence for the big-bang theory. Please note that 'theory' and 'theory' are two completely different words.
> In no way has it explained how, from "nothingness" became everything.
No it hasn't. Does your god explain it? I don't think so. And although science can't explain what exactly causes nothing to be something, we do observe it. Remember: the total energy of the universe is zero.
> if a big bang really did occurr, why is the matter in the universe clumpy, not evenly distributed?
Matter pulls matter together. Please take a physics class or read this.
>why haven't the laws kept on evolving?
Why should it?
> no-one has ever been able to produce heavier elements,
Of course we have. Please see the periodic table.
> to make the heavier elements you need incredible heat and pressure(stars) but to make the stars you need heavier elements.
No, stars are made up of Hydrogen which fuses into Helium. You don't need heavy elements to form stars. As a matter of fact, stars only form when light elements gather. When stars die, heavier elements form. These explosions are called supernovas.
> nobody has any idea how you would create a star, not even the slightest.
Again, ignorance. See this page.
> if it were any older, it would have been so close to almost touch the earth.
Sunday school fairy tales. The moon moves away from us with a speed of 3.8 cm a year and is positioned 363,345 km (minimum) from us. Thus, it could be 10 billion years old. And no, we're not sure how the moon formed, current theories seem very unlikely. Anyway, this isn't a reason to believe in a genocidal deity.
> jupiter has moons that rotate both ways, right-hand and left-hand. nobody has any idea why is it like that.
Evidence, please.
> life started from nonorganic materials and somehow became living. no-one has ever observed this happen, neither have they ever been able to reproduce the aminoacids(building blocks of life) needed to build life in a laboratory.
That has nothing to do with evolution. Next.
> species start having offspring that are not like the parents. have you ever seen a dog produce a non-dog? sure there are different dogs, but in the end they are dogs. it has never been observed that birds start suddenly hatching lizards.
You're trolling, right? Please, read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.
Oh, and btw; I'm sorry for my fellow-atheists are calling you names. Please, not all of us are like that.
If you find you like reading Dawkins ... and you're curious to read some awesome layman biology I would also recommend "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution" - Richard Dawkins.
It is mind blowing. I had no idea how really developed and nuanced the evidences for biological evolution are. And how misunderstood it is by the general public. Great book!
I tend to agree with your assessment. In Richard Dawkins book Greatest Show on Earth He talked about a Fox breeding experiment that was attempted. Foxes that show the most affection and acceptance to humans where graded on a scaled of 1-4 or something like that. Foxes that where the most accepting of humans, where subsequently breeded with other foxes of the same trait. What was shown that the offspring carried more of this trait, till eventually several generations in, almost all the offspring where completely accepting of humans, and show no defensive or natural fear of humans.
Another interesting outcome of this experiment, was that the more docile the fox offspring where, the more floppy their ears got. It seems that docileness gene is directly related a gene that determines the rigidity of the ear, in foxes.
There are definatly genes in domesticated dogs that make them more accepting of humans, that's not to say Wolfs cannot be trained to be domesticated, but the acceptance from birth, was the purpouse of this experiment.
Evolutionary Biology is fucking awesome.
Dawkins: The Greatest Show on Earth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1416594795
The Lenski experiment is my favorite example. For more, read The Greatest Show on Earth.
> We have eye witness testimonies.
We supposedly have eye witness testimonies, because almost none of the witnesses (besides the apostles) are named, nor are they alive, and their "testimonies" were recorded many decades after Christ's supposed ascension. Besides that, witness testimonies are not enough to prove that supernatural events are even possible.
> There was a detective who works cold cases, and would convict people of crimes based on people's testimonies. He was an Atheist investigating the case for Christ. He found that the people's testimonies lined up, and he would consider them as viable evidence in court, and he came to the conclusion that it was all real.
There are many authors like this one, who think they have the silver bullet that will prove their religion, be it Christianity or Islam, who eventually engage in all sorts of fallacies and provide nothing of substance. I haven't read this guy's book to be honest (Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels), but I have read other books by Christians who claim that they can prove the "truth" of Christianity. Short summary: they haven't.
The fact of the matter is that these books do not stand to scrutiny. Have you ever read anything written by Bart Ehrman, or other real scholars? They would vehemently disagree with that guy's conclusions.
Bart Denton Ehrman is an American professor and scholar, currently the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is one of North America's leading scholars in his field, having written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also achieved acclaim at the popular level, authoring five New York Times bestsellers. Ehrman's work focuses on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the development of early Christianity.
-- from WikiPedia
You should also read stuff by:
and other scientists if you want to see what science actually has to say about reality and about how grossly wrong the Bible is when it tries to make pronouncements on our physical reality.
> Why do you not believe in the gospel accounts? They were hand written accounts by people who witnessed an event, or people who spoke to those people.
That's the claim, not the evidence. It's people claiming to have witnessed supernatural events for which they have no evidence, and even more than that, all these witnesses are long dead. We have nothing but third hand accounts of people from 2000 years ago claiming to have seen or heard wildly fantastical things for which we don't have any evidence that they are even possible.
Heck, we literally have millions of people still alive who swear that they have encountered aliens or have been abducted by aliens - this is a much better evidence than your supposed witnesses who are long dead by now - and it's still not nearly enough to prove that these aliens actually exist and that they have indeed been abducting people.
> Some of the things Jesus spoke about is verifiable today. As I have pointed out about the Holy Spirit guiding people, and people being able to heal and cast out demons in Jesus' name.
Many of Buddha's teachings are verifiable and valid today, yet that does nothing to prove Buddha's claims of the supernatural. Besides, you first have to demonstrate that there are such things as demons before even making a claim of being able to cast them out. Bring one of these "demons" into a research facility and then we'll talk. Otherwise, you're no different than the alien abduction people or the Bigfoot hunters.
For my part, I'd believe that Santa Claus was real if I could objectively, scientifically, and reliably demonstrate such a claim. I'd believe that Vishnu, Horus, Odin, or Zeus were real for the same reasons. In fact, I can conjure up any number of fanciful scenarios in which strange, supernatural claims could be verified and "believed" by atheists, because that's how we operate: we believe in reality, however strange it may be. Just because such a fanciful scenario can be imagined, however, doesn't give that scenario any sort of validity. Your claims are as baseless as someone that wants me to believe they have an invisible and undetectable dragon in their garage that will burn my invisible and undetectable spirit FOR ETERNITY if I don't fork over 10% of my income and obey their every incomprehensible and often immoral edict. So put yourself in the position that you so "cleverly" thought you'd put us in: what would change your mind?
Oh, wait ... you don't even want to question your "faith"? That's what I thought.
edit: Watch this, pause, and reflect on your beliefs.
These two books are basically a template. Take notes.
I went through the same sort of thing as you. All I can really say is to keep pursuing the facts and the evidence. People will try to discourage you for one reason or another, but don't let them. If the Christian god exists, you've done nothing wrong by asking questions because he values the truth.
Since you mentioned your friends and family being YECs, I strongly recommend reading the Talk Origins archive if you haven't seen it yet. It has a great list of Creationist claims and the evidence against them. If you're interested in learning more about Evolution, I'd also recommend The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins. It's the book that made me start questioning Christianity and to this day it remains one of my favourites.
For straight volume of (text) information on evolution vs. Creationism, the TalkOrigins site is a great resource. Maybe not directly suitable for your dad but a good source of rebuttal material, in case you weren't aware of it.
For another recommendation just a bit off the mark, I hear high praises about Dawkins' book The Greatest Show On Earth.
Richard Dawkins's latest book covers this in detail: The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution.
Coyne's book is fine for a quick read, but I think the best recent overview is Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. If you're looking more for philosophy than biology, Dennett's Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life is an excellent read even if it is 15 years old now.
Had the same problem (although, I went to Christian boarding school, not home schooled).
Learning about evolution and why we know it is true taught me a lot about the scientific method and epistemology - that there are things we can /really/ know and not just believe them because of our "gut" or because someone told us.
A couple videos that helped on my journey:
Our Origins Made Easy : The scientific method and the need for evidence is especially well presented.
Foundational Falsehoods of Creation
There are many good books on the subject also ("The greatest show on earth" by Richard Dawkins).
You will be amazed.
​
Edit: Start with the videos. As you get the basics, move on to talkorigins, books, and other things - your interest will fuel the search. The biggest thing you will gain is that 'how to think' is more important than 'what to think'. It's one thing to take someone's word for it that evolution is true. It is completely different to learn why it is true. This will change the way you think about many things.
Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne (a professor in biology), and The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins (an evolutionary biologist too) outline the evidence for evolution in a clear and easy to understand way, and explain the basics of evolution as well.
You need to learn the theory of evolution as well and not just the evidence for it. The University of Berkley has a great online Evolution 101 short course that you can view here.
Once you understand evolution and see the evidence we have for it, you'll be able to educate your dad on it in an enthusiastic way, and not in a confrontational one.
Here are some cool videos for you(not really informative about the makeup of cells but nonetheless might interest you enough to read the amazing books that I've listed below! The microcosmos really is a whole 'nother world!):
Kinesin Walking Narrated Version:
http://youtu.be/YAva4g3Pk6k
This is a better model. Notice how the 'legs' shake around violently until it snaps into place. Sometimes the random motion of the jiggling atoms(these aren't shown. Imagine the Kinesin molecules shown in a sea of water molecules, all jiggling about ferociously. The 'invisible' water molecules are bumping up against the Kinesin, and it's evolved to work with the random motions) makes it step backwards! But the ATP/ADP process makes it more likely to step forward than backwards(an evolved process). This is explained well in the book Life's Ratchet below.
Molecular Motor Kinesin Walks Like a Drunk Man:
http://youtu.be/JckOUrl3aes
Here are some amazing book to read. Seriously read all of these, preferably in the order listed to get the best understanding. They will blow your mind many times over. Many, if not all, may be at your local library.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691125759
Quarks: The Stuff of Matter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0465067816
Thermodynamics:A Very Short Introduction
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0199572194
Life's Ratchet:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0465022537/
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1416594795
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307275175p
I would also recommend taking a biology and maybe a chemistry class at your local community college, if possible. My biology class started with the smallest stuff, atoms(technically not the smallest, but whatever), and worked its way up through the chain of sizes up to the biosphere. It was very informative and there were a few people in their 40s(a guess) that really enjoyed the class. So you can do it, too!
sigh
I'll just leave this here. Enjoy.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Evolution-True-Jerry-Coyne/dp/0143116649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348352250&sr=8-1&keywords=jerry+coyne+why+evolution+is+true
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594795/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348352282&sr=1-1&keywords=the+greatest+show+on+earth
For evolution I recommend The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. Awesome book imo!
"My teacher said something about even though evolution is widely accepted it has not been fully proven yet."
Your teacher is moron. Evolution is not "widely accepted," it's a scientific theory that is supported by overwhelming evidence and data. He might as well say gravity is "widely accepted."
Do not respect someone who is knowingly trying to deceive you. You are an adult, and you have a right to question and judge whatever anyone says to you. There are libraries filled with book on evolution, however, there is always this book
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594795/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1425511291&sr=8-10&keywords=Evolutionary+Theory
I honestly get frustrated with this. People don't seem to grasp that without evolutionary theory, simple things we take for granted would not exist. We would all be dead much, much earlier without modern medicine, which only exists because of our understanding and application of evolutionary theory.
my advice is to buy your mother-in-law one or all of these books:
• jason rosenhouse's among the creationists
• richard dawkin's the greatest show on earth
• jerry a. coyne's why evolution is true
• bill nye's undeniable: evolution and the science of creation
edit: a word.
You should pick up a copy of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, by Richard Dawkins. The chapter where Dawkins talks about dogs should help you understand better so that you can easily explain to your friend in terms he can understand.
This is a decent overview of human evolution, though a physical anthropology course is going to cover human evolution in much more depth and with a greater focus on the evidence and methods.
For evolution in general I don't think there is a better resource for the layman than The Greatest Show on Earth.
One reason centipedes can't evolve into dogs is because dogs already exist. Over enough time, centipedes might evolve into dog-like creatures, but they'd be unrelated to dogs as we know them today, no matter how similar they looked. The same applies to all the other examples provided.
For a good book on how evolution works, check out The Greatest Show on Earth.
I suggest The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.
Awesome, it's great you're so proud of her!
Haha knowledge that leads to everlasting boredom! Book studies were the worst, I always felt super obligated to study extra hard because there were so few people that often nobody would answer!
Don't be so sure that your family will keep abandoning you, it's possible sure, but there's always hope! Often they're surprised that you can leave the witnesses and live a normal, or even better than normal life (of course there's always the "blessed by satan" get out clause) but they do expect people who leave to get aids and die from a heroin overdose.
It's easy to prove them wrong! Either way though, you have your own family to look out for and you can learn what not to do!
On to the suggested reading. I've mentioned many on here before but I don't expect everyone to be aware of it all so here goes:
Reading (I have a kindle and love reading, but they're all available for ebook and in paperback)
Web
Pocasts
(all on iTunes etc, i like them because I can listen at work or download to my phone)
That's about it for now, if you soak all that in / want more / have suggestions let me know, and I'd love to hear what you think! :)
Please provide links to relevant peer reviewed studies, that back up your claim.
Evolution is a core element of modern biology. It has been supported by an overwelming amout of data from the fossil record, to dna sequencing. Further the underlying process of random mutation and non-random selection has been succesfully applied to solve all sorts of computaional and engineering problems.
Here is an entire book written by a biologist which presents some of the evidence for evolution. It has a comprehensive bibliography: https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594795
The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins is a really good book on why we think evolution is true, and says virtually nothing about theistic beliefs. It's entirely focused on the science and evidence of the topic.
Did you try the FAQ?
Especially this: http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/
With it you should be able to reduce almost any book he can find to a tattered ruin
Why Evolution Is True
The Greatest Show On Earth
Your Inner Fish shows a successful prediction of evolution as well as the myriad pieces of evidence in our own bodies
I like them both and have strong points that compliment each other. I would suggest reading both and then moving on to The Greatest Show on Earth, The End Of Faith and Unweaving the Rainbow in no particular order, but all great books in their own right.
The Greatest show on earth by richard dawkins is all about evolution...
any how this post is odd.
As for reproduction. The first cell wasnt in any kind of competition it had so much abundance of resources that a reproduction was innevitable. They werent eating eachother and to a single cell organism the food source was limit less.
Some interesting things on EVO's side are "Ring Species"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_support_for_evolution
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/lines_01
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence
http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-index.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-intro-to-biology.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/15-answers-to-creationist/
https://youtu.be/Uga0QaKsdCk?t=9m22s
https://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniversary----Introduction/dp/0199291152/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1474150851&sr=8-4&keywords=richard+dawkins
https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Show-Earth-Evidence-Evolution/dp/1416594795/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1474150851&sr=8-5&keywords=richard+dawkins
Sir, you clearly do not understand the science of evolution. I am no expert, therefore do not deem myself a qualified teacher. Perhaps this will help.
I'm not sure what we need to do about the "stupid people" and that serving as proof of deities.
> The Bible was still legit
Take some time to learn about the history of the bible. For example, you can take the Open Yale Courses on Religious Studies for free.
Read Who Wrote the Bible by Richard Elliott Friedman
Also read A History of God by Karen Armstrong
Next, learn some actual science. For example - spoiler alert: evolution is true. Visit Berkeley's excellent Understanding Evolution Website.. Or, if you're pressed for time, watch this cartoon.
Read Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
Read The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
Learn about the origin of the universe. For example, you could read works by Stephen Hawking
Read A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Learn about critical thinking from people like Michael Shermer, and how to spot logical fallacies.
On the Origin of Species is an awe-inspiring book that was so far ahead of its time it immediately caused furore among the scientific and especially religious establishment at the time.
There are more current reads if you want, for example The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Richard Dawkins).
A really good book to read is The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins
> There is evidence for a designer...
Give me one piece of actual evidence, then go collect your Nobel Prize.
> There is not millions of data that supports evolution. You're pulling statitics out of your ass now.
Angry creationists are hilarious. I said "mountains," not millions. Reading is a skill. The evidence supporting evolution is overwhelming -- I suggest you give The Greatest Show on Earth a quick read, and then you can tell me about my blinders.