Thought Experiments about Evolution, Part 1
A Simple Thought Experiment Regarding Evolution
You find a stone shaped like an arrowhead while on a hike in the woods. The arrowhead appears to be made of stone and is fairly regular on both sides. It has a point at one end and a smooth edge at the other end. It's obviously different from all the other stones you observe on your hike.
Question: Do you assume it was shaped by a human hand, or do you assume it was naturally shaped by wind and rain? How do you arrive at your decision?
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All points of view are welcome. Post your response in the comment field below. I will copy all polite responses into the text of the hub and comment on them when appropriate.
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Comments
psychicdog.net says:
I'd be inclined not to assume anything but research other known axe or spear or arrow heads to see what defines them apart from natural occurences of this shape.
The Old Firm says:
I'd consider such a find in relation to the location of its' finding, and its size.
If
the flint shown is a foot long or weighs several pounds, it's unlikely
to be an arrow-head. If it's two or three inches long and found inside
the rib-cage of a skeleton it could reasonably be assumed
a) To be an arrow or spear head.
b) To be man-made, or at least to be part of a man made weapon.
c) That the person who used it was reasonably competent in its' use.
d)
That the person who used it either did so from a distance or was killed
or seriously wounded in the encounter and that the victim escaped,
(otherwise the weapon would have been retrieved and the body possibly
dismembered.) Another possibility is that the weapon broke off in the
body, which was left or hidden.
e) that if the victim escaped,s/he subsequently died and wasn't found.
The above is assuming that the skeleton was found without any signs of human intervention after death, such as burial.
-
And if it turned up in a tourist trap and there's no way that it could
be secured to a shaft with string it's likely to be a recently made
fake!
Cheers,
TOF
James A Watkins says:
Well,
the arrowhead looks man made but I suppose it could occur naturally. I
will say what I think along a similar line that is more concrete, if I
may.
If I cruised through space for 13 Billion light-years and
there was nothing but a void utterly hostile to life and suddenly I
came to Earth teeming with life including an incredible variety of
species I would immediately know it had been created—not an accident.
DanDnAZ says:
16 seconds ago
My
thoughts are that the events that would form such a piece without human
intervention is very small, almost to the point on immeasurable. It
becomes hard for me to reconcile “chance” in this. I see a creator in
this, probably a craftsman of some type.
Seems strange, but this
also the same view I have when I look at the world. There has to be
some intelligent design in the things around us.
maven101 says:
Very
interesting question...Whether or not it is assumed to be man-made or
natural is really a matter of faith...It is what it is; an unusually
shaped stone. Any assumptions made would be educated guesses, but a
guess nonetheless, based on faith in a priori knowledge ...material,
location, history, and commonality...
Camus has said " This
heart I can feel, therefore I know I exist; this world I can see,
therefore I know it exists; there ends all my knowledge, the rest is
construction.."....Larry
Aya Katz says:
Assuming
that you are new to the planet where you found the arrowhead, it would
make sense to investigate if there are skeletal remains in the general
vicinity where the arrowhead was found. If there is fossil evidence of
the existence of sentient beings who might have made the arrowhead, and
they have left behind other specimens of material culture, then there
is a better chance that the arrowhead was made by an intelligent being.
If, on the other hand, there is no evidence of life, past or present,
on a barren planet where you found what appears to be an isolated
arrowhead, then there is a good chance that it was created by erosion
and other natural forces.
By the same token, when trying to
decide whether existing life forms were created by a divine intelligent
being or evolved naturally, one would do well to look for fossil
evidence of these divine super-beings who might have created the
existing life forms. If there is no physical evidence of any such
divine beings ever having been around, then chances are that the life
forms we know developed naturally.
ledefensetech says:
There
should be indications that the "arrowhead" was shaped by sentient
beings and not natural. For one thing, arrowhead tips are flaked so
that the edges of the weapon are sharp. Now while you may get a piece
of flint that has a sharp edge, the probability of it being naturally
shaped is the next best thing to zero.
Natural forces tend to
blur and soften the edges of things. Even mountains like the Rockies
will one day look like Appalachia. Only sentient beings create sharp
lines and points like you'd find on an arrowhead.