This Remarkable Thing

[LegendarySandwich]

[youtube:2zm8ddcy]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdRCPjXn1DY[/youtube:2zm8ddcy]

[ablprop]

So much beautiful stuff in there I don't know where to begin. I think my favorite part, though, is the quote by Feynman at the end. That was from the same piece in which he describes consciousness as a dance of atoms that weren't here two weeks ago, won't be here two weeks from now, and yet somehow remember. We are last week's potatoes!

I've encountered those who, on learning this message, say it isn't enough. They need the meaning provided from the outside. They need the belief in a purpose that is not theirs. I and they are built differently, I guess, and it makes me sad that for these people the answer isn't education. They've heard the message; it just doesn't work for them. Try as I might, I can't understand that attitude.

Yet, like Macbeth, we must not yield.

[terranus]

Awesome video. I like the part where they talk about patterns emerging out of perceived chaos. I'm working on a research paper right now that has to do with that.

[hackenslash]

Phil is one of my fave youtubers. Excellent stuff indeed.

I have reservations about his usage of the word 'universe' in this context, but at least it's clear what he's talking about.

My personal favourite of his:

[youtube:29nlr1cf]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyjNXdEGjO4[/youtube:29nlr1cf]

[ablprop]

Yes! That's exactly the thing. I've chosen to spend my life doing what little I can to bring people closer to that moment. And it is hard to get there. There are lots of obstacles (religion is only one, but a big one). And because it's so hard, I think it is so important to teach gently.

I think we generally do a good job of teaching gently when it comes to things like cosmology, quantum physics, and relativity. But when we teach the Theory of Evolution, it's so easy to lose sight of the importance of this idea. Why?

I've heard many, many people describe evolution as easy to understand. But it isn't easy. If you doubt that, then consider that Aristotle, Galileo, Isaac Newton, and many, many other brilliant thinkers never figured it out. Evolution is hard. Just like entropy, the Higgs field, and curved spacetime, evolution requires a gentle guide.

I'm grateful to teachers like hackenslash who have taught me gently on this forum, and I hope that I've been a gentle teacher to others. This remarkable thing is, indeed, worth understanding.

[Asmodean]

Evolution is not counterintuitive, however, most of them "great minds" of the past did not have enough reason to start seeing how certain patterns emerge and why. They knew a lot less about how the Earth works than many of us with no claim to a "great mind" do today.

As for understanding evolution, would you please explain what is so "hard" about it..? It's not quantum theory, after all...

[hackenslash]

In reality, the problem is not that evolution is counter-intuitive or difficult to understand, it's the underlying confirmation bias, along with a massive dose of misinformation by well-placed, influential and wealthy propagandists for doctrine. At the root of all of it is the confirmation bias. When you think you already know how something works, you don't look for the answer.

It took somebody like Darwin, who was a very ponderous person, to simply sit and watch until the obvious was made obvious, and it really is obvious when you get down to it.

[LegendarySandwich]

Evolution is hard to understand? Maybe the details or something, but for me, it makes perfect sense. Animals change due to random mutations -- the environment and society favor animals that are a better match -- slowly over time, new species emerge, always evolving. Nothing counterintuitive about that.

[ablprop]

Never mind.

[Asmodean]

Never mind.

*busily not minding*