The Creation/Evolution Debate Critical Thinking in Science The Creation/Evolution Debate

Topics What is critical thinking? 10 logical fallacies An amazing case study in deception Amazing creatures

Thinking About Thinking! Critical thinking is the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better What did he say?

The Purpose of Critical Thinking Critical thinking involves the use of questioning or inquiry techniques The purpose of critical thinking is to: Achieve understanding Evaluate view points Solve problems This is why evolutionists do not want critical thinking in the biology class

PART 1 10 tactics and logical fallacies used to discredit creation and promote evolutionism

Fuzzy Words 1 We believe, we think Given enough time, it will happen Might work Must have… “Those life forms must have evolved in the absence of oxygen,…” Biology, Miller and Levine, 2002, p. 426. Could possibly have been My guess is Seems like

Half Truth Half true and half false 2 Half Truth Half true and half false Often more effective than the complete lie The Second Law of Thermodynamics only applies to isolated systems, so it is not relevant to evolution, because the earth is an open system.

Bandwagon www.AnswersInGenesis.org www.ICR.org 3 Bandwagon The appeal to “everyone agrees” All scientists accept evolution No real scientist accepts creation www.AnswersInGenesis.org www.ICR.org

4 Ridicule Attempting to provoke a dislike against a person or idea by name-calling Creationists are troglodytes and flat-earthers.

5 Either-Or Fallacy Presenting only one possible solution when others are justified If we teach creation then we will have to teach every other creation myth.

6 Analogy Improperly drawing parallels while ignoring pertinent differences Evolution is a fact like digestion or gravity.

Shifting the Burden of Proof 7 Shifting the Burden of Proof Forgetting that it is your responsibility to prove a claim, not your opponents to disprove it. The claim that creation has no proof and therefore should not be taught, when evolution has never been proven or is even capable of proof.

8 Equivocation Confusing the issue by using vague terms or changing the definitions of words Changing the definition of science to support only evolution Not defining terms such as natural selection or microevolution

Bluffing Appearing to know more than you do 9 Bluffing Appearing to know more than you do Making the claim that the fossil record is full of transitional fossils Dinosaurs evolved into birds.

Appeasement The appeal that we're not really so different 10 Appeasement The appeal that we're not really so different Most religions don’t have a problem with evolution.

Lucy and the Australopithecines An Amazing Case Study in Deception Lucy and the Australopithecines

Critical Thinking What we see and read in textbooks is not always what was found or real

What do you notice about this picture? Pictures and Reality Artistic conception Australopithecus africanus What do you notice about this picture?

Evolutionary Preconception John Gurche, artist, National Geographic, March, 1996 p. 109. “I wanted to get a human soul into this ape-like face, to indicate something about where he was headed.”

Lucy: Two Questions What was found? Did Lucy walk upright? Note: Lucy is our ancestor

What Was Found? Lucy discovered in 1974 About 40% of the fossil was found Claimed to be 3.5 million years old Claimed bipedal Picture of Lucy from: Biology: Understanding Life Third Edition, 2000

Lucy How do they know? No foot bones

Did Lucy Walk Upright The rib cage The pelvis Leg and foot bones To determine if Lucy walked upright three areas of anatomy can be examined The rib cage The pelvis Leg and foot bones

Rib Cage Ape ribs are conical shaped Human ribs are barrel-like Human: Barrel-like Ape: Conical shape

Lucy’s Rib Cage Peter Schmid (paleontologist at the Anthropological Institute in Zurich) Quoted from Origins reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin “I noticed that the ribs [Lucy] were more round in cross-section, more like what you see in apes. Human ribs are flatter in cross-section. But the shape of the rib cage itself was the biggest surprise of all. The human rib cage is barrel shaped, and I just couldn’t get Lucy’s ribs to fit this kind of shape.”

Lucy’s Rib Cage Brad Harrub (Ph.D. Anatomy and Neurobiology) and Bert Thompson (Ph.D. Microbiology), The Truth About Human Origins, 2003, p. 47. “In Lucy’s case, her ribs are conical, like those found in apes.” Human Lucy

Chimp vs. Human Pelvis Chimp Human

Lucy’s Pelvis J. Stern & R. Sussman, “American Journal of Physical Anthropology,” 1983, pp. 291 & 292. “The marked resemblance of AL 288-1 (Lucy) to the chimpanzee is equally obvious… It suggests to us that the mechanism of lateral pelvic balance during bipedalism was closer to that in apes than in humans.”

Knee Joint of A. afarensis 15° carrying angle (valgus) Human = 9° Gorilla = 0° Chimp = 0° Critical Thinking Orangutan = 9° Spider monkey = 9°

How Evolution Hinders Critical Thinking and Science Rib cage Pelvis Carrying angle Lucy could NOT walk upright How Evolution Hinders Critical Thinking and Science Footprints in History

Which footprint is human? Apes and Humans – a Test Human This is not hard to distinguish Which footprint is human?

Who made these footprints? Laetoli Footprints Footprints discovered in 1978 in Laetoli, Tanzania. The footprints were dated at 3.5 million years old. Who made these footprints?

Ape and Human Footprints Human Shape Ape (Lucy) Human Laetoli footprint

Who made these footprints? Human Footprints Tim White, “Evolutionary Implications of Pliocene Hominid Footprints,” Science, April 1989, p. 175. “The uneroded footprints show a total morphological pattern like seen in modern humans.” Who made these footprints?

Lucy’s Feet David Catchpoole, Ph.D., “New evidence: Lucy was a knuckle-walker”, www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4256news5-5-2000.asp “…anatomist Dr. Charles Oxnard has shown that the big toe [Lucy’s] actually sticks out as in chimpanzees.”

What will the evolutionists do? A Dilemma The footprints in Tanzania are human in shape Lucy’s feet are ape-like The footprints are 3.5 million years old therefore they cannot be made by humans What will the evolutionists do?

Lucy: What Nice Feet You Have Drawing from Life: The Science of Biology, Purves, Orians, and Heller, 1992, p. 604.

Lucy: Saint Louis Museum Human foot on Lucy

Evolution Rejects the Evidence “Professor Betsy Schumann, evolutionist expert, admits that the statue's feet ‘probably are not accurate’, but when asked whether the statue should be changed, she says, In other words, evolution must use bad science to deceive people Creation ex nihilo, Dec 1996, p.52. ‘Absolutely not’.”

Why aren’t students told about this? Confusion about Lucy Robert Boyd and Joan Silk, (professors of anthropology), How Humans Evolved, 2000, pp. 331-334. “Anatomical evidence indicates that A. afarensis was bipedal…” …some anthropologists are convinced by the anatomical evidence that A. afarensis was not a modern biped.” Why the confusion? Why aren’t students told about this?

10 Unique Characteristics Fine balance Flat face Upright skull Straight back Fully extendable hip joints Angled femur bones Fully extendable knee joints Long legs Arched feet Strong big toes All these deal with being bipedal FINE BALANCE: Requires a fine sense of balance. The inner ear has a network of fluid-filled canals which contain sensors which are sensitive to movement and gravity. The sensors consist of fine hairs which send out signals to indicate direction and speed. Humans have a more complex inner ear design than apes FLAT FACE: So their eyes have a field of view which extends down to the ground in front of the feet. UPRIGHT SKULL: the position at which the spinal cord enters the skull. In humans it is located at the bottom of the skull. This means the most natural position for the head is looking forward in the upright position. STRAIGHT BACK: This is ideal for upright posture because the torso and head are directly above the hips in the standing position. Apes have a curved back. FULLY EXTENDABLE FEMUR BONES: When looking from the front humans have femur bones which are angled inwards as they come down from the hip. This has the effect of making the knees and feet closer together. Having feet closer together keeps the feet nearly under the center of the body and gives stability during walking and running. During walking and running the body is supported by one leg at any instant and so the body can topple over if the legs are not right under the body. If the feet were not close together then the body would be thrown from side to side FULLY EXTENDABLE KNEE JOINTS: VERY LONG LEGS: The length of human legs is about half the total body. This makes it possible to walk and run for long distances with relative ease. In contrast, apes are only about a third. ARCHED FEET: The human foot is arched between the ball of the foot and the toes. The foot has around 26 bones and many muscles and ligaments, tendons and nerves so the foot can flex between the heel and the ball. The arched structure of the foot makes it easy for a person to press down on the ball for the foot which is important for balance and control. This ability is also important for movements such as standing on tiptoe, running and turning. It also helps absorb shocks during walking and running. In contrast the feet and hands of apes are like hands suited for grasping. STRONG BIG TOES: This feature is important for walking and running. For each step, the final push from the ground comes from the big toe. In order to propel the body forwards in a controlled manner, the big toe must be very strong. Apes have a toe designed for grasping. They cannot make a firm push from their big toe.

Textbooks and Accuracy 2 Eye socket 3 Flatter face 1 Teeth Biology: The Web of Life, 1993

Amazing Creatures That Defy Evolution

Giraffe

Leviathan Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Job 41:19

Chemical storage chamber Bombardier Beetle Chemical storage chamber

Woodpecker Hard beak Special tail feathers Special cartilage Tongue Barbs Glue Long

Chuckwalla Lizard

Chuckwalla Table Manners Pass the pepper and chuckwalla please Chuckwalla and salt

Chicken Egg Each shell has about 10,000 tiny holes or pores Question: How does the chicken form a shell around a soft, messy egg and design the shell with pores? Blood vessels

Chicken Egg Nineteenth day the chick is too big The “egg-tooth” Each step of the chicks development defies evolutionary thinking

True Science The history of astronomy The history of geology The history of biology The history of anthropology

Tuning Up Our Baloney Detector Let’s go baloney hunting False information Misleading information Deception by omission Pure baloney

Biology: Visualizing Life, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1998, p. 221. “Another important find was the footprints of a group of bipedal animals… They reveal small but very humanlike feet,…” Baloney Detector Baloney

Biology: Principles and Explorations, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2001, p. 307. “Lucy’s leg bones indicate that she must have walked upright. She stood about 1 m (3 ft) tall.” Baloney Detector Baloney

Biology: Concepts and Connections, 2000, p. 404. “Some 3.7 million years ago, several bipedal (upright-walking) human animals of the species Australopithecus afarensis left footprints in damp volcanic ash in what is now Tanzania in East Africa.” Baloney Detector Baloney

Biology, Miller and Levine, Prentice Hall, 2000, p. 757. “But all researchers agree on certain basic facts. We know, for example, that humans evolved from ancestors we share with other living primates such as chimpanzees and apes.” Baloney Detector Baloney

Artist’s depiction of an australopithecine family Biology Concepts and Connections, Campbell, Mitchell, and Reece, 2000, p. 404. Baloney Detector Baloney

Baloney “An animal dies and sinks into shallow water.” Prentice hall, Science Explorer: Earth Science, 2002 “An animal dies and sinks into shallow water.” Baloney Detector Baloney

Scientific American, July, 2002 UN- Scientific American, July, 2002 “… laying the foundation for cellular biochemistry. Astrochemical analysis hint that quantities of these compounds might have originated in space and fallen to earth in comets, a scenario that may solve the problem of how these constituents arose under the conditions that prevailed when our planet was young.” Baloney Detector Baloney

Colossians 2:8 (A Warning) Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ

The Real Issue

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33

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