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Overnight Video: Jonathan Coulton, Nobody Loves You Like Me

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dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸3/01/2012 9:32:25 pm PST

Neither is a legitimate subject for science since neither can be subjected to observation and cannot be reproduced

evolution is a fact. darwin proposed a theory as to how it operates

if you deny that the fossil record demonstrates that evolution is a fact, either you fall down a rabbit hole of epistemological theorizing about “how do we know what we know?”, or you take an acid trip in a fairy tale land where god waves his magic wand to make reality whatever he wants it to be, and nobody is allowed to ask how you prove god by subjecting him to scientific observation

it all reminds me of the famous story about bishop berkeley - who, most appropriately, the people’s republic of berkeley is named after - and samuel johnson:

After we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley’s ingenious sophistry to prove the nonexistence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it — “I refute it thus.”

so, we might respond the idea that evolution cannot be proven by taking a large dinosaur jaw and whacking some creationist upside the head while saying “i refute it thus!”