Biology has one purpose and one purpose only.

[phands]

Excellent.....

Biology has one purpose and one purpose only.





Scientific advancement? Exploring the unknown? Solving the world’s biggest problems? No, no, no. Every time a fruit fly reproduces, someone laughs at the Creation Museum.


(via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)

http://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/...nly-reason-anyone-studies-science-these-days/

 

[Tigers!]

Perhaps you'd care to elaborate on

Every time a fruit fly reproduces, someone laughs at the Creation Museum.

 

[Jobar]

"A zygote is a gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the
purpose of the universe."
-- Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"

 

[Treedbear]

"A zygote is a gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the
purpose of the universe."
-- Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"

I broadly agree with that. With the understanding that purpose does not mean the same as intent.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Perhaps you'd care to elaborate on

Every time a fruit fly reproduces, someone laughs at the Creation Museum.

Make sure you use small words.

...and type slowly.

 

[Tigers!]

And still I am not the wiser.

 

[ruby sparks]

"A zygote is a gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the
purpose of the universe."
-- Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"

I broadly agree with that. With the understanding that purpose does not mean the same as intent.

Yes. Or 'design' (with the same caveat). Teleology alert otherwise.

Better to say, I think, that the universe has no purpose at all.

 

[phands]

And still I am not the wiser.

Fruit flies have ben used for something around 100 years to study evolution. They reproduce fast, unlike humans, and are easy to care for. I have a friend who got her PhD in evolution from UCSF, she often jokes that she got it for feeding fruit flies.

Creationist cretins often try to ignore or downplay Drosophila studies, hence the comment.

 

[Treedbear]

"A zygote is a gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the
purpose of the universe."
-- Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"

I broadly agree with that. With the understanding that purpose does not mean the same as intent.

Yes. Or 'design' (with the same caveat). Teleology alert otherwise.

Better to say, I think, that the universe has no purpose at all.

I don't agree with that last part. We assign purpose to what naturally results from something occurring. Otherwise the word has no meaning and should be eliminated from the lexicon. Better just to reclaim the true meaning from the Platonic regime.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

But saying the universe has or doesn't have purpose refers to objective purpose which it was designed for, not a subjective one that people just assigned to it. For instance, the objective purpose of a phone is to allow for communication with others. If somebody only uses it as a paperweight, they are not using for the purpose it was designed for and it does not stop it from still being a communication device.

Similarly, when someone says that there's no purpose to the universe, they mean that it wasn't designed for any specific function or goal and it just kind of is. The fact that it's able to have both life forms and supermassive black holes within it is unrelated to any discussion of the purpose of the place. If you have a phone which doesn't allow you to make calls, you have a non-functional phone, regardless of how well it works as a paperweight since it doesn't perform the purpose it was designed to have. On the other hand, if you have a universe without life, black holes, nebulas or any other properties of the universe, you still have a fully functional universe since there is no purpose that the universe was designed to have.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Great.
So if Trump gets everyone in the world killed in a nuclear exchange, we can't get our money back, because the world does not have the PURPOSE of having life forms on it.

Just fucking great.

 

[rousseau]

More and more I'm noticing the distinction between secular Canadians, and secular Americans.

Talking about religion and making creationists look stupid would be a pretty rude thing to say in Canada. But this forum gives me the impression that religion is akin to war in the States.

I get it, religion has negative impacts. But I still think there is room to respect religion and the religious, even if you're still advocating for religion's decline.

 

[abaddon]

... this forum gives me the impression that religion is akin to war in the States...

It always has been akin to war. Many refugees of Europe's religious bickering were declaring their new country, the US, is a Christian nation from the start. Atheists have been derided as immoral unpatriotic vermin from the start of this country to today. So the call for atheists to be more polite is a bit lopsided.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I get it, religion has negative impacts. But I still think there is room to respect religion and the religious, even if you're still advocating for religion's decline.

I'm not advocating religion's decline, though.
I'm advocating the decline of religion's influence on secular society.
Such as attempts to teach religion's superstitions as science in the classroom.

 

[rousseau]

... this forum gives me the impression that religion is akin to war in the States...

It always has been akin to war. Many refugees of Europe's religious bickering were declaring their new country, the US, is a Christian nation from the start. Atheists have been derided as immoral unpatriotic vermin from the start of this country to today. So the call for atheists to be more polite is a bit lopsided.

I guess that's where the differentiation between the U.S. and Canada comes into play. In most regions of Canada we just don't talk about religion.

I can see where you might want to be aggressive in the U.S... but honestly, what impact are you having by calling someone stupid?

 

[Treedbear]

nc

 

[bilby]

... this forum gives me the impression that religion is akin to war in the States...

It always has been akin to war. Many refugees of Europe's religious bickering were declaring their new country, the US, is a Christian nation from the start. Atheists have been derided as immoral unpatriotic vermin from the start of this country to today. So the call for atheists to be more polite is a bit lopsided.

I guess that's where the differentiation between the U.S. and Canada comes into play. In most regions of Canada we just don't talk about religion.

I can see where you might want to be aggressive in the U.S... but honestly, what impact are you having by calling someone stupid?

Ridicule is a very effective means to prevent the recruitment of new people to an idea or ideology.

Calling someone stupid won't make them change their minds; But it does indicate to their children and their peers that their ideas are not universally respected truths - and that's a valuable public service.

Anyone who claims that their ideas are never to be belittled, or even questioned, should therefore be laughed at as often, and as publicly as possible.

 

[Rhea]

Anyone who has ideas based on personal belief that are forced on others ...

Anyone who claims that their ideas are never to be belittled, or even questioned, should therefore be laughed at as often, and as publicly as possible.

Amen.

 

[Tigers!]

And still I am not the wiser.

Fruit flies have ben used for something around 100 years to study evolution. They reproduce fast, unlike humans, and are easy to care for. I have a friend who got her PhD in evolution from UCSF, she often jokes that she got it for feeding fruit flies.

Creationist cretins often try to ignore or downplay Drosophila studies, hence the comment.

I have a little familiarity with the fruit fly uses. Quite fascinating.

What I do not understand is how your conclusion

someone laughs at the Creation Museum.

is supports by your premise

Every time a fruit fly reproduces,