Common misconceptions

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by SlyPokerDog, Aug 23, 2014.

  1. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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  2. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    It is commonly claimed that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made object visible from the Moon. This is false. None of the Apollo astronauts reported seeing any specific human-made object from the Moon, and even Earth-orbiting astronauts can barely see it. City lights, however, are easily visible on the night side of Earth from orbit. Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt has been quoted as saying that "the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles (290 km) up." ISS commander Chris Hadfield attempted to find it from space, but said that it was "hard as it's narrow and dun-colored
     
  3. PDXFonz

    PDXFonz I’m listening

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    Here's another one: Mods don't make rookie mistakes.

    Edit: I think I had heard the first one. Had no idea about the second!
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2014
  4. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    The word theory in the theory of evolution does not imply mainstream scientific doubt regarding its validity; the concepts of theory and hypothesis have specific meanings in a scientific context. While theory in colloquial usage may denote a hunch or conjecture, a scientific theory is a set of principles that explains observable phenomena in natural terms. "Scientific fact and theory are not categorically separable", and evolution is a theory in the same sense as germ theory or the theory of gravitation.
     
  5. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Evolution does not attempt to explain the origin of life or the origin and development of the universe. While biological evolution describes the process by which species and other levels of biological organization originate, and ultimately leads all life forms back to a universal common ancestor, it is not primarily concerned with the origin of life itself, and does not pertain at all to the origin and evolution of the universe and its components. The theory of evolution deals primarily with changes in successive generations over time after life has already originated. The scientific model concerned with the origin of the first organisms from organic or inorganic molecules is known as abiogenesis, and the prevailing theory for explaining the early development of our universe is the Big Bang model.
     
  6. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    We intentionally make mistakes just to trick you into believing we're human.
     
  7. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    You write well, Sly. I'm sure you'd have an attribution if it weren't yours.

    I've always read it's from Earth orbit, not the Moon, and only for astronauts who see better than 20-20. It's easy for an author to shoot down something he makes up. That was you, Sly. Why did you invent this tale?
     
  8. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    The one that really pisses me off is the misuse of "Beg the Question". Fortunately, there's this.
     
  9. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    PapaG's head just exploded.
     
  10. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Nothing would be lost. Our culture has adapted.

    Using their example, "I think he is unattractive because he is ugly," sure, in the past you could say "Begging the question!"

    However, now you can respond as such: "[citation needed]"
     
  11. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    As many mainstream scientists agree, the theory of creation cannot be ruled out. Just like the theory of evolution or the Big Bang.

    In some regard, the theory of genesis and the Big Bang are compatible.
     
  12. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Vomiting was not a regular part of Roman dining customs. In ancient Rome, the architectural feature called a vomitorium was the entranceway through which crowds entered and exited a stadium, not a special room used for purging food during meals.
     
  13. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Napoleon Bonaparte (pictured) was not short; rather he was slightly taller than the average Frenchman of his time. After his death in 1821, the French emperor’s height was recorded as 5 feet 2 inches in French feet, which is 5 feet 7 inches (1.69 m). Some believe that he was nicknamed le Petit Caporal (The Little Corporal) as a term of affection. Napoléon was often accompanied by his imperial guard, who were selected for their height - some suggest that this could have contributed to a perception that he was relatively short
     
  14. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Evolution does not attempt to explain the origin of life or the origin and development of the universe. While biological evolution describes the process by which species and other levels of biological organization originate, and ultimately leads all life forms back to a universal common ancestor, it is not primarily concerned with the origin of life itself, and does not pertain at all to the origin and evolution of the universe and its components. The theory of evolution deals primarily with changes in successive generations over time after life has already originated. The scientific model concerned with the origin of the first organisms from organic or inorganic molecules is known as abiogenesis, and the prevailing theory for explaining the early development of our universe is the Big Bang model.
     
  15. julius

    julius Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    [video=youtube;kxIGlMrrhQM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxIGlMrrhQM[/video]
     
  16. TradeNurkicNow

    TradeNurkicNow Resident OT Section Crank

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    Let's revisit this part:

    and now please explain how the "theory of creation" is anything like the theory of evolution.
     
  17. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Interesting... So the theory of abiogenesis shall be discredited then?
     
  18. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Let's get this straight hoojacks...

    You want to discredit creation because you believe that you cannot set the theory on principles that explains "observable natural phenomena". Yet abiogenesis has never been observed, which is the foundation of evolution.

    As the saying goes... Cut the head off the snake and the entire thing dies.

    Your snake = life existed by chance and evolved naturally.

    Your snake head = abiogenesis

    Since you want to discredit creation based on the concept that it must be observed naturally, would also discredit abiogenesis in the same regard.

    So are you saying that abiogenesis and creation are not "scientific"?

    Personally I don't argue that evolution did not exist, but I just argue how genesis could have been the snake head. Add a creator and the entire evolution concept can be valid.
     
  19. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    It's not the foundation of evolution. Abiogenesis is a scientific hypothesis while evolution is an independent scientific theory. Evolution describes how life developed after it arose--it does not attempt to describe how life arose nor is the theory of evolution based on any specific hypothesis for how life arose.
     
  20. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Okay fine... We can both agree that evolution existed and is still happening as we speak.

    We can take it completely out of the equation.

    Now let's ask the question... What was the egg? Abiogenesis or creator?

    Both have not been observed as hoojacks said, therefor both are just as valid. If abiogenesis is scientific, then "let there be light" by a creator is just as scientific.
     

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