Religion and evolution

[Humanist_Activist]

25. Some unwarranted assumptions in his list...

1. First, define nothing, current models suggest a point of nearly infinite mass where all 4 known forces were combined into one. Then something happened that expanded this point and broke the 4 forces apart. This isn't nothing.

2. The problem with this one is its again wrong, if you take the 4 forces we have, at least one most likely isn't necessary to have a universe nearly indistinguishable from our own, the weak nuclear force. This only points out an observational bias, we see one universe that is capable of supporting life on one planet(so far), so we assume its finely tuned for our existence. This assumption is unwarranted without other universes to measure it by.

3. This one is somewhat accurate, though evolution didn't really take hold until descent with modification took place, before that it was different(single celled organisms exchanging genetic material and dividing asexually).

4. Most likely correct.

5. Also correct.

6. Again, unwarranted assumptions, neither of these defy evolutionary explanation, he just chooses to ignore it, to make us special. Humans evolved as social creatures, and just like all highly social animals, we developed rules for behavior that increased the reproductive chances of the group(natural selection in action). This included encouraging cooperation and discouraging anti-social behavior, there's safety and security in numbers, after all, and if you can't trust your neighbors, then you are truly alone and chances are, eaten by a lion because your neighbors don't trust you either.

The second point is perhaps more difficult to explain, because he's very specific, which is also unwarranted. Most likely it was the development of conceptualizing the future and our recognition of each other as individuals in addition to attributing personal agency to random phenomenon that lead to the development of superstition. This can't, really, be called "finding God" simply because the concept of God didn't exist in such societies in the beginning, such developments as gods developed much later, right when agriculture really took hold. Before that, ancestor worship, shamanism, and animism were perhaps the first supernatural belief systems of humans.

Also, I don't see what's extreme about rejecting unwarranted assumptions. That's the problem, this isn't and can't be considered common ground when number 6 actually directly contradicts current evidence on evolutionary behavior development, a whole field of study that he rejects out of hand because it contradicts his religion.