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Summary Of The Greatest Show On Earth By Richard Dawkins

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The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution written by Richard Dawkins sets out to convey his most compelling evidence for biological evolution. In several of his previous books about biology and religion, Dawkins assumed that his audience understood and accepted the evidence for evolution. Dawkins offers evidence from the fields of paleontology, embryology, anatomy, genetics, artificial breeding and geography for the ‘fact’ of evolution. This book serves to explicitly present proof for biological evolution to those who doubt evolution.
Dawkins begins the book by stating that one of the major problems facing the scientific community is that a significant number of people do not believe in evolution. He relates the example of a history teacher, whose students refuse to accept that the Roman Empire …show more content…

There are several instances in the book where he takes shots at religious ideas like creationism and the Intelligent Design. These antagonistic and condescending remarks may not appeal to the audience he hopes to persuade. Additionally, to refute the creationists, who dismiss evolution as ‘just a theory’, Dawkins insists that evolution is an undeniable fact. The theory of evolution is constantly changing, and it’s still far from being complete. Because the theory of evolution is still changing, there are persons who will not accept evolution strictly as a fact. One possible way to circumvent this problem would be to think of evolution as both a theory and a fact under different conditions. This idea is based on the distinct between evolution as history and evolution as science. Evolution can be deemed as a historical fact based on the justification that living things and fossil evidence reveal that evolution has occurred. But evolution is not a scientific fact because it is not a final and absolute truth; evolution is likely to change, just like any other scientific

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In the video featuring “Night Line’s” Ted Koppel who informs the audience in the episode “Battle Between faith and Science” what is going on in a small town because of a statement about Evolution. This controversy is over the theory of Evolution being the only theory taught in the Dover school. Some of the parents believe that Evolution is wrong and should not be a part of the curriculum taught in schools while others think it should be the only theory taught. Thirty-five percent of the population thinks there is no proof of Evolution while thirty-five percent thinks there is proof. The school board decided to place a sticker on the current science book that says Evolution is only a theory.

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"Each individual has his own way of interpreting Dawkin 's

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In his article God’s Utility Function, Dr. Richard Dawkins brings the Darwinian Theory of natural selection down to a different level. Dr. Dawkins asks the age-old questions “Why are we here? And what is the purpose of life?”. In answer, he presents his theory of natural selection that is more fundamental than the traditional Darwinian view. Instead of looking at life from the perspective of complete individual organisms battling for survival, Dr. Dawkins hypothesizes that everything in life has to do with a battle for survival of the genes that comprise each organism.

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Over the eras, many scientists have expressed concerns with Darwin's evolution theory and in "Was Darwin Wrong?" by David Quammen one can learn about the proof behind the theory of evolution. Many people do not believe in evolution due to an overall unawareness about the theory and religious upbringing. However, Quammen clarifies the truth behind evolution in his article. The article states five positions of evidence biogeography, embryology, morphology, paleontology, and the bacterial resistance to antibiotics discovered in humans.

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However, all bias aside, we can see that there is more understanding of science and the scientific method than first thought. All things considered, the author recognizes that evolution is a theory, acknowledges the research science has done, as well as some of the observations arising from those findings, and encourages the student ask questions while keeping an open mind. They even seem to have a kind-of, sort-of grasp on micro and macroevolution. Now, we must ask why anyone with a basic understanding of these things would desire such a disclaimer and if there are warnings on any other education

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Introduction: Significant people in human history are often known by the statements they make. Whether it's Martin Luther King stating that he has a dream or Abraham Lincoln reminding us all that a score equals twenty years, we remember the statements of iconic individuals. Those statements often live on long past the originator of the statement. It is no wonder, then, that Richard Dawkins has made several statements that are etched in the minds of skeptics and unbelievers of the Christian faith.

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DAWKINS’S MAIN ARGUMENTS Dawkins’ main arguments are that science has made God needless. Science will eventually explain why everything seems to be the why they are and why certain things exist. For example, science has shown us that the variety of organic life can be explained through natural processes, like natural selection and random mutation. This means that there is no requirement for any supernatural creator or designer of organic entities. Although science does not have an explanation for everything – like where did the beginning of the universe come from and where did the beginning of life from non-living matter come from – the time will eventually come that, through research, progress will be made and

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I accept as true with Dawkins statements and do not forget them legitimate criticisms because a number of the notions in God have to do with blind faith without proof and medical evidence. In truth according to logician William L. Rowe, " within the popular experience, an agnostic is a person who neither believes nor disbelieves in God, while an atheist disbelieves in God. Within the strict experience, however, agnosticism is the view that human motive is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the notion that God exists or the notion that God does not exist. Up to now as one holds that our ideals are rational best if they may be sufficiently supported by using human motive, the person who accepts the philosophical role of agnosticism will keep that neither the notion that God exists nor the notion that God does not exist is rational '' (Rowe,1998). This grievance of christianity and the blind faith in the back of it as implied by using Dawkins and Rowe do keep

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The book “Darwin’s Doubt” by Stephen C Meyer attempts to negate the negativity surrounding the theory of intelligent design by giving a creationist’s perspective on the different issues surrounding the controversy and provide an argument for the legitimacy of intelligent design from a scientific and rational viewpoint. The book is broken into three different sections part one titled “The Mystery of Missing Fossils”, part two titled “How to build an animal” and part 3 titled “After Darwin. What?” Part one of the book focuses on the lack of validation and evidence hence the name “The Mystery of Missing Fossils” and gives a very brief introduction to the problems of missing fossils, missing phyla, and just general missing validation of the evolutionary

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As Dawkins, a famous astrophysicist and astrobiologist Carl Sagan probes the reasons of increasing popularity of pseudoscience in his article “Does Truth Matter: Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization”. Sagan points out the

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He contests Darwin's concept of survival of the fittest by stating that “Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ is really a special case of a more general law of ‘survival of the stable’.” , this statement holds a lot of value as stability is constant and almost everything that is used is stable. In the case of replicators (considered a basic unit of evolution), they played an extremely important role in history as we know it; replicators had the unique ability to replicate themselves which most life at the time did not have. Dawkins further states that the existence of mankind is due to replicators, but that these replicators were not all the same. Dawkins states that there are very specific factors that can cause great differences in replicators.

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Richard Dawkins' work on the theory of evolution and the process of natural selection provides enough evidence to understand how living things have

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Evolution is the “concrete of biology” (Clemmitt, 2005, p. 339). “Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit so that we can get intelligent design, which really means the reality of God before the academic world and into the schools” (Clemmitt, 2005, p.

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By saying that if you were to drop a stone, and it falls to the ground. Logically and scientifically explained it would be because of gravity. And you would not say that it was being pushed down by a God, just because we do not understand it. In respect to evolution, Dawkins replied. Dawkins replied to Lennox on his accusation that the principles of going from simple to complex is the belief of the atheist.

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Students are encouraged to form their own opinions and think open-mindedly based on the information presented to them, yet in the topic of life’s origins, they are no longer being afforded this opportunity because of the ban on the teaching of creationism. Creationism should be taught in schools because it does hold validity with several well-respected scientists and utilizes evidence observed by scientific studies to accurately support its main aspects. Critics often dismiss creationism as a hoax that lacks serious thought and accreditation from accomplished scientists. However, several well-respected scientists agree with the theory of creationism as a rational explanation for the

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