Evolution debunked?

Cultural Evolution?

Venomx, is there in fact a thread concerning cultural evolution (with memes) versus genetic evolution? Does genetic evolution have less emphasis now due to the former?

For example, my parents may pass down to me a certain skill that enables me to overcome a physical disability that would otherwise impede me. And Hitler did believe in god, the nazi's weren't atheists. There is an article discussing this here
 
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Supposedly, the Soviet Russians were atheist, but I believe the Nazi's were supposed to be catholic, trying to rid themselves of their plauge, the jews, and they thought that aryans, which is just a few of the nazis, were a superior race meant to dominate over the weak.
 
amen zero mass.... your right

its memes...... the whole jumble scary stories, dangerous contradictions that softens a host into accepting the meme. it also equips the meme carrier with little compassion and consideration further spread the memes. killing if necessary... which is both right and wrong... it is right of course if you are the good guy and the other guy is the bad guy
its all well masked and sweetend with a thick coating of niceness,

religion is dangerous...
 
Memes could be good or bad. I was thinking more like a meme such as study habits. For example, if one person's parents teach them excellent study habits they will excell in school and most likely be more successful, and pass the same study habits on. Or it could be a meme that makes people fear god.
 
"Consider the idea of God. We do not know how it arose in the meme pool. Probably it originated many times by independent 'mutation'. In any case, it is very old indeed. How does it replicate itself? By the spoken and written word, aided by great music and great art. Why does it have such high survival value? Remember that 'survival value' here does not mean value for a gene in a gene pool, but value for a meme in a meme pool. The question really means: What is it about the idea of a god that gives it its stability and penetrance in the cultural environment? The survival value of the god meme in the meme pool results from its great psychological appeal. It provides a superficially plausible answer to deep and troubling questions about existence. It suggests that injustices in this world may be rectified in the next. The 'everlasting arms' hold out a cushion against our own inadequacies which, like a doctor's placebo, is none the less effective for being imaginary. These are some of the reasons why the idea of God is copied so readily by successive generations of individual brains. God exists, if only in the form of a meme with high survival value, or infective power, in the environment provided by human culture."

Source: the selfish gene by Richard Dawkins
 
i saw a documentary one time about hitler he was an athiest....
okay i think im wrong about that one but anyways in the bible it NEVER tells us to persecute anybody
 
2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Not to persecute but there is definite separation. Let us remain on the primary topic of this thread, evolution.
 
Originally posted by Zero Mass
Why do creationists and Christians use comics and cartoons so often to get their message across?

They use it to hook children and the mentally weak.
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It's just like the tobaco companies, gotta' hook 'em while they're young, you know!
 
FreeCycle-

Let us remain on the primary topic of this thread, evolution.
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Yes indeed.

Some interesting discussions are being made about Hitler's religious orientation, but nonetheless the topic is on evolution.
 
o plz mentally weak...........
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that is a very fair statement by mystech that you don't obviously understand. for a non-believer brought up on their parents values, it has taken me near 15 years to become fully and mentally strong in my ideas and beliefs. it is easier for religious people as they are given one strain of thought to chew on and are told to believe in fully. i personally have had to search far and wide, read many opinions, much literature, and discuss open ended philosophy to gain my own personal beliefs- a much harder journey considering the way a young mind is so easily swayed and influenced. anyway- to stick to the thread, i think to have a strong religious belief would have promoted better survival as you can adhere to some form of thought without second guessing yourself- it also provides inspiration in times of hardship, promoting preservation of self and others. in short i believe that it has been natural selection (a form of evolution) that has provided humans with the need to believe in some form of higher being because; how much harder do you fight for something which you believe in? it creates formidable opponents (opponents that hold strong beliefs therefore have a brain that is attuned to this) and so they have survived (killed off competition) to reproduce- passing on the biological trait to believe in a higher being- that is why it is wired so implicitly into human nature- watch the show presented by professor Robert Winston called "Human instinct" and you'll know what i'm talking about- do college biology and you'll know what i'm talking about also.
 
I agree, religious belief is a meme that has been continued because it is so successfull. Edgar, do you ignore the common correlation between parent faith and offspring faith? Of course some people find religion by themself, but not usually if they have been indoctrinated against it.
Every human has the desire for purpose, though there is not one definite means of achieving this end. To christians the purpose becomes trying to live forever, for everyone else it is whatever they can find. CHristianity, pre-packaged and individualised to each region of the world, is an easy way to fill the need for purpose.
 
:m:

Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain,Democritus,David Hume,Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,James Madison,Auguste Comte,John Stuart Mill,Karl Marx,Susan B. Anthony,Thomas Henry Huxley,Andrew Carnegie,Friedrich Nietzsche,Thomas Edison,Sigmund Freud,Marie Curie,Virginia Woolf,Ernest Hemingway,Carl Sagan,John Lennon,William James Sidis(considered the smartest person to ever live on earth).....yes the atheists

Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Muslim Terrorists, The Visitor:D ,Edgar:D and all those who established the holy wars and practiced the ills of humanity throughtout history........yes the religious.

Which side do I personally subcribe to..........Take a guess.
 
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Originally posted by DefSkeptic
:m:

Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain,Democritus,David Hume,Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,James Madison,Auguste Comte,John Stuart Mill,Karl Marx,Susan B. Anthony,Thomas Henry Huxley,Andrew Carnegie,Friedrich Nietzsche,Thomas Edison,Sigmund Freud,Marie Curie,Virginia Woolf,Ernest Hemingway,Carl Sagan,John Lennon,William James Sidis(considered the smartest person to ever live on earth).....yes the atheists

Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Muslim Terrorists, The Visitor:D ,Edgar:D and all those who established the holy wars and practiced the ills of humanity throughtout history........yes the religious.

Which side do I personally subcribe to..........Take a guess.
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Deflate that ego there for a minute there. There have been atheists that have done horrible things as well, like the chinese government, and that tibet situation there was. And that square in beijing. Theism has made contributions to society, for example, the religous teachings of most religons. There has also been theist scientists that have made great contributions to science, like Isaac Newton.

Painting a picture that atheists are the only ones to do great things while theists have done nothing but murder is rather incorrect, to say the least.
 
man of jade-

Deflate that ego there for a minute there
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:confused:

There have been atheists that have done horrible things as well
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Yeah, no shit

Painting a picture that atheists are the only ones to do great things while theists have done nothing but murder is rather incorrect, to say the least.
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Another no shit statement, thanks for the brilliance. My goal was to list some prolific atheists to be proud of, my bad for painting a lopsided picture there. Yes atheists have done many horrible things in the past, and yes religious people have done many great things also, this is a given that any reasonably intelligent person knows. Its just that many people try to paint a misconstrued picture of atheists and the religious that would mirror what i did, only in favor of the theists. Both extreme views are obviously wrong. Sorry for my arrogant behavior.

By the way this is not my first post.....used to post under MooseKnuckle, so ive been here for a while.
 
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Originally posted by man_of_jade
Theism has made contributions to society, for example, the religous teachings of most religons.
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:confused:
wow that was really weak!
 
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Originally posted by atheroy
that is a very fair statement by mystech that you don't obviously understand. for a non-believer brought up on their parents values, it has taken me near 15 years to become fully and mentally strong in my ideas and beliefs. it is easier for religious people as they are given one strain of thought to chew on and are told to believe in fully. i personally have had to search far and wide, read many opinions, much literature, and discuss open ended philosophy to gain my own personal beliefs- a much harder journey considering the way a young mind is so easily swayed and influenced. anyway- to stick to the thread, i think to have a strong religious belief would have promoted better survival as you can adhere to some form of thought without second guessing yourself- it also provides inspiration in times of hardship, promoting preservation of self and others. in short i believe that it has been natural selection (a form of evolution) that has provided humans with the need to believe in some form of higher being because; how much harder do you fight for something which you believe in? it creates formidable opponents (opponents that hold strong beliefs therefore have a brain that is attuned to this) and so they have survived (killed off competition) to reproduce- passing on the biological trait to believe in a higher being- that is why it is wired so implicitly into human nature- watch the show presented by professor Robert Winston called "Human instinct" and you'll know what i'm talking about- do college biology and you'll know what i'm talking about also.
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I find that insulting! It took me until ~13 years. gr.
 
Testing...

Quick question: Why are some people very dark skinned? Why are some people olive skinned? Why are some people very pale in colour with blonde hair and blue eyes? What distinguishes whether someone comes out one colour or another?

Why is it people from hotter climates are darker skinned whereas people from colder climates are lighter skinned?

I'll reply when there's an answer
 
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