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New Lack of Evidence Boosts Certainty of Darwinism

by Scott Ott · 75 Comments

(2007-09-18) — Recent discoveries indicating no direct line of descent from ape-like creatures to modern man have further bolstered anthropologists’ belief that Darwin’s theory of descent-with-modification by natural selection must certainly account for the rise of Homo sapiens.

New research on a pair of recently-unearthed African skulls shows that Homo habilis and Homo erectus most likely did not descend one from another, as scientists have believed for years, but that the two diminutive hominids lived as neighbors during the same epoch. Other recent research indicates that Homo sapiens lived at the same time as Neanderthals.

Far from casting doubt on Darwin’s theory, experts say that the lack of evidence and contradictory discoveries have helped to build “a consensus of certainty in the field.”

“Finding little physical evidence to substantiate the theory only means there must still be a great deal of supportive evidence out there to be found,” said an unnamed editor of the journal Nature, which plans to publish a paper on the African skulls this week. “The more we realize how little we know, the more certain we are that we’re right. As I once read in a scholarly paper somewhere, ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’.”

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Tags: Science

75 responses so far ↓

  • 1 woodnwheel // Sep 18, 2007 at 12:31 pm

    God Bless America!

    Oh, and another thing: FIRST! ;)

  • 2 woodnwheel // Sep 18, 2007 at 12:33 pm

    “scholarly paper” = brilliant!

  • 3 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:31 pm

    Wow such big talk we have here. Scrappleface has been hard to download today and Scott is writing like greased lightning. sigh, I need to go take a nap after reading this post.

  • 4 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    sigh, push on through the homo-apes

  • 5 boberinyetagain // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:36 pm

    All fossils and bones etc…more than 6000 years old were “planted” to keep us guessing. Anyone can see that

  • 6 boberinyetagain // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:37 pm

    ah well, can’t post today but Scott is writing so fast his keyboard must be about to explode anyway!

  • 7 Fred Sinclair // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:28 pm

    “a consensus of certainty in the field.” sorta reminds me of a certain unnamed Senator who in a speechification actually said, “…..the consensus of opinion…..”; another wit(less) idiot refered to the cosensus of scientiest on ‘manmade’ global warming.

    Earlier in the era of early Christianity there was a consensus of wannabee “Christians” who were so convinced of the “rightness” of their cause, that they literally gave their lives in their efforts to twist Christianity into a religion. (can’t be done)

    Religion = “Man seeking God”
    Christianity = “God seeking man”

    Religion and Christianity are diametrically opposed to one another, The “Christian religion” is an oxymoron, much like a glass of “dry water” or a “Christian Democrat”.

    “a consensus of certainty in the field.” instantly alerts me to the knowledge that their is no certainity in the field.

    But, then again, it’s Satire….right?

    Heirborn Ranger

  • 8 Libby Gone // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Jeeze I guess so. Extra coffee in that Energy drink, sir?
    Great material!
    Sorry about 3 threads ago when I appeared to return to the Department of Redundancy Dept. again and third time to recap my previous visits comments repeating deja vue.

  • 9 conserve-a-tips // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:31 pm

    hmm. where’d my post go?

  • 10 Shelly // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:31 pm

    Ms. RW, glad to hear I’m not the only one having trouble maneuvering around Scrappleface. I must say, though, that I like the evolution the site has experienced. I scratch my head in wonder as to what the cause was, though. How do blogsites evolve? What is it that makes them change?

  • 11 Shelly // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:35 pm

    Is this thing on?

  • 12 random // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    Kenewick Man jostles belief that Indians were here first, when it appears that the white guy settled over here about 30,000 yrs. ago.
    Just air whistling through the ears.

  • 13 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:42 pm

    Can I try again all these many hours later?

    I sort of forgot what kind of homo-jomo I was talking about earlier, but bones will be bones.

    Reminds me of the cannibal that was eating a clown. He said to his other fellow cannibal. Hmm, something tastes funny here.

  • 14 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:43 pm

    alright, forget it then. (raspberries)

  • 15 Fred Sinclair // Sep 18, 2007 at 4:08 pm

    Lady Right Wing: liked the canibal/clown bit, I had however heard about the canibal who went into the woods and passed his mother-in-law.

    Heirborn Ranger

  • 16 EarthenVessel // Sep 18, 2007 at 4:25 pm

    “Finding little physical evidence to substantiate the theory only means there must still be a great deal of supportive evidence out there to be found,”

    LOL. My tone deaf grandmother used to say she had a lot of music in her …because none of it had come out yet! Thanks, Scott.

  • 17 blessedit.com // Sep 18, 2007 at 4:58 pm

    New Lack of Evidence Boosts Certainty of Darwinism…

    New research on a pair of recently-unearthed African skulls shows that Homo habilis and Homo erectus most likely did not descend one from another, as scientists have believed for years, but that the two diminutive hominids lived as neighbors during the…

  • 18 Maggie // Sep 18, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    I thought the Homo boys,Bili and Rex,won the Country Music Award for best male duet.

  • 19 SGT USMC 1ea // Sep 18, 2007 at 5:13 pm

    Cool this post will bring He who wishes to be God-Free. I always love his posts.

    Allo Scrapplers. I am up in Beantown for training and I hate it even though Kerry is not here and is stuck down in Florida Tasering libtards. Sorry if anybody likes Bahston, but after MS this place seems rude, ugly and Godless. I am learning the language though and can tell you that in “Awgus we had a drot” means: “last month it was dry”

    Deus es Semper Fidelis

  • 20 SGT USMC 1ea // Sep 18, 2007 at 5:15 pm

    Waiting for my post to evolve!

  • 21 SGT USMC 1ea // Sep 18, 2007 at 5:18 pm

    I suppose we will unearth my post alongside the next piltdown skull.

  • 22 antodav // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:11 pm

    While I realize that Scott’s article, it’s worth pointing out…the humor in the article is derived from a fundamental misunderstanding of how evolution works. Species along an evolutionary chain don’t follow each other in sequence-in other words, when a new species evolves out of an older one, the older one doesn’t suddenly disappear. Evolution works on a principle of divergence: genetic mutations create a new specimen out of an existing species that is more well suited to its environment than other members of the species. Through reproduction this specimen’s mutations are passed on to later generations, creating a whole new line of creatures who are more well suited to their environment than the ones who came before it. This new species competes with the older species for resources, food, territory, etc.; through natural selection, over time the old species dies out and the new species becomes dominant, until environmental conditions change again, and new genetic mutations emerge, and the cycle starts over…

    It’s perfectly reasonable and even expected that two species, one of which evolved out of the other, would co-exist for some time before the older and less fit of the two species became extinct. Also, it’s not news that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis co-existed for centuries; in fact, many scientists have been trying to determine for years why the Neanderthals lost the evolutionary battle to modern humans, since by most accounts, all other things being equal, they were by far the more fit of the two species.

    Perhaps divine intervention is responsible for humans becoming the dominant species on this planet. Perhaps all of the “random” genetic mutations responsible for evolution over the course of the last 4 billion years were not so random after all (e.g., intelligent design theory). In any case, I think it’s intellectually irresponsible to dismiss evolution entirely in favor of taking Biblical Scripture at its literal face value. There is some truth and merit to evolution in principle, and there are many questions about the development of life on Earth that evolution answers, but Scripture ignores. Every myth or fable has got some grain of truth to it somewhere. That goes for evolution as much as it does for anything else.

    Antodav

  • 23 SGT USMC 1ea // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:12 pm

    The Scrappleface site cannot keep up with Scott apparently

  • 24 antodav // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:15 pm

    While I realize that Scott’s article is satire, it’s nevertheless worth pointing out: the humor in the article is derived from a fundamental misunderstanding of how evolution works. Species along an evolutionary chain don’t follow each other in sequence-in other words, when a new species evolves out of an older one, the older one doesn’t suddenly disappear. Evolution works on a principle of divergence: genetic mutations create a new specimen out of an existing species that is more well suited to its environment than other members of the species. Through reproduction this specimen’s mutations are passed on to later generations, creating a whole new line of creatures who are more well suited to their environment than the ones who came before it. This new species competes with the older species for resources, food, territory, etc.; through natural selection, over time the old species dies out and the new species becomes dominant, until environmental conditions change again, and new genetic mutations emerge, and the cycle starts over…

    It’s perfectly reasonable and even expected that two species, one of which evolved out of the other, would co-exist for some time before the older and less fit of the two species became extinct. That doesn’t contradict the theory of evolution at all; it does, in fact, reaffirm its at least partial validity. Also, it’s not news that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis co-existed for centuries; in fact, many scientists have been trying to determine for years why the Neanderthals lost the evolutionary battle to modern humans, since by most accounts, all other things being equal, they were by far the more fit of the two species.

    Perhaps divine intervention is responsible for humans becoming the dominant species on this planet. Perhaps all of the “random” genetic mutations responsible for evolution over the course of the last 4 billion years were not so random after all (e.g., intelligent design theory). In any case, I think it’s intellectually irresponsible to dismiss evolution entirely in favor of taking Biblical Scripture at its literal face value. There is some truth and merit to evolution in principle, and there are many questions about the development of life on Earth that evolution answers, but Scripture ignores. Every myth or fable has got some grain of truth to it somewhere. That goes for evolution as much as it does for anything else.

    Antodav

  • 25 antodav // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    Sorry for the double post. My browser doesn’t seem to want to function properly.

  • 26 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    Testing.

  • 27 its-just-me // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:34 pm

    Re: #22 -
    It’s an OK theory, but I think the crux of the article is that there is an amazing lack of evidence for any of it.

  • 28 MargeinMI // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:35 pm

    “Howdy neighbor!”

    “Ug.”

    Scott Ott: The New Improved Energizer Bunny

  • 29 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:36 pm

    There never has been any evidence of “evolution” and recent discoveries reveal that there is still no evidence of human beings being anything other than human beings.

    And, of course, there never will be.

  • 30 MargeinMI // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:42 pm

    OT:

    c-a-t, Am I to understand that you were kicking cows in Oklahoma over the weekend? I’ve heard of tipping cows for fun, but never kicking them! What did those poor bovines ever do to you?

    PUSHHHHHHHHHHH

  • 31 SGT USMC 1ea // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:44 pm

    Update?

  • 32 Effeminem // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:53 pm

    I don’t know why these scientists keep trying to make a monkey out of me.

    But seriously, I like the theory that Neanderthals interbred with western Europeans a while back. Kawaii!

  • 33 its-just-me // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:55 pm

    Scott’s dog ate my post…

  • 34 Effeminem // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:01 pm

    pop

  • 35 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:10 pm

    Hello?

  • 36 prettyold // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:20 pm

    RE #22 “There is some truth and merit to evolution in principle, and there are many questions about the development of life on Earth that evolution answers, but Scripture ignores.

    Name ONE, Antodave.

  • 37 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:32 pm

    So where are the cave men selling car insurance

    And, thank God Scrappleface is working again. I had my computer tore apart and sitting on the kitchen table thinking it went haywire. I wonder if I put all the pieces back together again.

  • 38 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:33 pm

    push. sigh it must be Scott’s new layout. I think my posts hide behind his

  • 39 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:34 pm

    I’ll be dad burn. I give up

  • 40 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:28 pm

    Sometimes I see 6 comments.

    Sometimes I see 26-and I know there are more than that.

    This occurs in both IE and Firefox and has since the new layout.

    I suspect either an extra punctuation mark or a missing punctuation mark in the code that was changed.

    I like the new layout except that it is too wide; my screen resolution is 1024×768 and I still have to scroll right about 200px to get to the edge.

  • 41 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:29 pm

    Um…..

  • 42 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:39 pm

    Maybe not a code problem-it may just be freaking out because there’s like 200-300 links on this page.

  • 43 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 18, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    WOW! LOOK! 42 comments.
    :shock:
    I wonder if they’ll still be there after I click Submit…..

    Okay.

    Here goes…..

  • 44 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 18, 2007 at 10:10 pm

    Anyone home yet?

  • 45 My word // Sep 18, 2007 at 11:03 pm

    Huff, puff, huff, puff…when will it stop? Just a chance to rest, that’s all I ask! Us ’seasoned citizens’ need time to catch a breath and ponder all that we have surveyed.

    Scott, from what I can tell, you’re out of ink and need to change your cartridge. Please wait a day or two…unless more breaking news makes that impossible.

    Great writing.

  • 46 My word // Sep 18, 2007 at 11:12 pm

    Save a seal, club a liberal!!

    I’ll be back next month after my comment gets posted. Boy, the time warp dance had nothing over this site.

    “…When will it every be?”

  • 47 Scott Ott // Sep 19, 2007 at 6:34 am

    [Editor’s Note: A harmonic convergence of events may be responsible for the difficulty some readers experienced viewing and commenting on ScrappleFace yesterday. Contributing factors included:
    1) A link to this site from InstaPundit.com, creating higher-than-normal traffic volumes;
    2) a reconfigured page design, relying heavily on the vast satire database at ScrappleFace; and
    3) an inadequate setting on the aforementioned database.
    We have a moderate level confidence, based on informed wishful thinking, that you’ll experience no recurrence of these distracting phenomena. We ask your forgiveness, if not your indulgence.]

  • 48 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 6:49 am

    Thank you, Scott.

  • 49 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 6:51 am

    Trying.

  • 50 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 6:53 am

    Sorry, but I’m still experiencing the same phenomenon.

  • 51 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:07 am

    It sure is nice to see Simpson in a jail cell.

    Now, with the new charges, I hope the bail is high enough to keep him there.

  • 52 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:16 am

    Whoopee, the bus is moving again.

    A new Carter Edwards story at the cafe

    THE LAST TURN IN THE BEND TO NOWHERE

    http://shellyscafe.blogspot.com/

  • 53 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:17 am

    well maybe

  • 54 Shelly // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:22 am

    Well, I guess post #47 answers my question in #10. Someone actually created this site and is directing it as we speak. Who’da thunk it. :-)

    Ditto prettyold’s comments in #36. I’m not as faithful to things that are true in principal as I am to those which are true in reality. This news shows the need for the Darwin bunch to cling to the principal, because the evidence continues to go against them. The fact that this has been consistently true doesn’t ever lessen their fervor. And they question people who have “faith” in something that can’t be “proven.”

  • 55 Shelly // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:23 am

    Jameson, me too. I wish we could live together as neighbors during this epoch!

  • 56 Libby Gone // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:29 am

    The only true form of evolution is human perception.

  • 57 Shelly // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:33 am

    Speaking of living as neighbors, check this out:

    http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001517.html

    It’s the second part of a story about Anbar, complete with many inspiring pictures, entitled “Hell is Over.” It will require a willing suspension of disbelief. ;-)

  • 58 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:42 am

    Now, I know I made three comments about an hour ago but they are not visible here (not that any of my comments are of any significance but I like to read what others are saying).

  • 59 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:53 am

    “Avast belay, yo ho, heave to,
    A-pirating we go
    And if we’re parted by a shot
    We’re sure to meet below!”

    “Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life,
    The flag o’skull and bones
    A merry hour, a hempen rope,
    And hey for Davy Jones.”

    Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr…..

    Just call me Slouchin’ Jameson Dread.
    :shock:

  • 60 Shelly // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:12 am

    I failed to make the eleventeenth notation on this thread, and apologize for my oversight, but I will mention now that Congress is weighing in at 11% - their approval rating. I wonder what OJ’s approval rating is. Even he has supporters.

  • 61 Anonymous // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:18 am

    made a trip to the creation museum in Glen Rose TX last weekend. No better evidence on creation than down there.

  • 62 Darthmeister // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:27 am

    Remember, the more contradictions and questions are raised about evolutionary theory and human origins, the more accurate the theory becomes … even though large sections of it may be overturned with new “discoveries” next year.

  • 63 conserve-a-tips // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:31 am

    Marge, no I wasn’t kicking cows (I’m not big enough)- the cows were kicking when the train whistle spooked them. It was kinda cute. Haven’t been cow tippin’ either!

    I posted something last night, but evidently it got lost in the etherworld. And nobody else’s posts were up either, so this morning I was surprised to find a plethora of posts. How fun to read. Scott, these things just happen, don’t ya know.

    Heh, if you want to see a video of Murtha being confronted about his stand on Haditha, this kid cornered him pretty well! Notice the kid’s smirk at the end.

  • 64 Darthmeister // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:33 am

    Once evolutionists find the fossil remains of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, the Theory of Evolution will have been proven once for all.

    BTW, does anyone remember anyone of the Flintstones ever going to church? That right there proves primitive man understood he was the product of random forces and chance molecular collisions and not created by a transcendant God. Disprove that you Neo-con KKKreationists!

  • 65 Darthmeister // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:33 am

    … push.

  • 66 Mustard Seed // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:47 am

    I sure hope the creator of this site hasn’t left it to evolve on its own. The problems you are facing suggest the evolution will continue its downward, not upward, unless the creator steps in.

    “Faith is the assurance of thing hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. That hope however is build on the evidence pf God’s handywork seen in his creation, special revelation, and expereince from seeing His had a work. It is hope build on evidence not the lack thereof.

    Faith without some evidence is foolish blind faith, i.e. the theory of evolution.

  • 67 Mustard Seed // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:48 am

    I sure hope the creator of this site hasn’t left it to evolve on its own. The problems you are facing suggest the evolution will continue its downward, not upward, unless the creator steps in.

    “Faith is the assurance of thing hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. That hope however is build on the evidence of God’s handywork seen in his creation, special revelation, and expereince from seeing His had a work. It is hope build on evidence not the lack thereof.

    Faith without some evidence is foolish blind faith, i.e. the theory of evolution.

  • 68 Mustard Seed // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:52 am

    push

  • 69 Shelly // Sep 19, 2007 at 10:04 am

    Anybody else notice that Murtha doesn’t seem to have the foggiest notion what this man is asking him about? He loves his precious troops so much he doesn’t pay any attention whatsoever to what is happening to them.

  • 70 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 10:19 am

    Yaaaaarrrrr!

    Avast, Mateys! Fred cracks a good punch line.

  • 71 Considerettes - Conservative commentary served up in bite-sized bits » Evolutionary Theory Challenged By Fossils // Sep 19, 2007 at 12:51 pm

    […] Ott at ScrappleFace nails it as usual. Far from casting doubt on Darwin’s theory, experts say that the lack of evidence and […]

  • 72 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 19, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    I would like to add, if I may, in regard to the above reference to Hebrews 11:1, that Faith and Hope are distinct from each other on several levels, particularly:

    “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—”~~Ephesians 2:8

    My Faith (tangible) was given to me by Almighty God-my Hope and Assurance (intangibles) are based upon that Faith.

    I would never even have “believed” had it not been for that glorious Gift of Faith. Hallelu Yah!

  • 73 SGT USMC 1ea // Sep 19, 2007 at 5:04 pm

    poussez!

  • 74 prettyold // Sep 19, 2007 at 7:31 pm

    Hey ,what’s with all this “push” stuff? Is somebody having a baby? If so , they also have to be told to breathe.
    If it’s a boy ,can we name it Scott?

  • 75 Webelf Report Blogroll « The WebElf Report // Sep 20, 2007 at 10:29 am

    […] SCRAPPLEFACE: “New Lack of Evidence Boosts Certainty of Darwinism” …. (scrappleface) […]

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