logical bob said:
Pard said:
Bob, do you seriously think it is as obvious and true as gravity or the spherical nature of earth?
Well, the fact of gravity is extremely obvious on a day to day basis. For most of human history, though, we didn't know how the planets move or that they are controlled by same force that makes my spilt coffee fall to the kitchen floor. And our current theory of gravity, which says that objects distort the fabric of spacetime, is extremely non-obvious and not at all easy to get your head around. I would therefore say that evolution is more obvious than gravity.
The roundness of the Earth is perhaps easier to spot - the Ancient Greeks knew about it. Looking at the sea in the right conditions you can see that the horizon is curved and you see the mast of an approaching ship before the hull. So because you need less information to appreciate that the Earth is round that's probably the most obvious of the three. It's slightly different, though, because it's an individual fact rather than a theory.
So, from the most to the least obvious: round Earth, evolution, gravity.
OK, I am glad to say that is a far more rational response than I had expected, which is why I did ask you.
Let me explain it from my way, perhaps we can come to some form of agreement, maybe...
I'd think that gravity is more obvious than either of the others. I can demonstrate gravity very easily. Even before they had a word and a definition of gravity I should think people knew that when you jump up, you come down. When you throw something up, it comes down. The history we learn that led to the "discovery" of gravity is rather misleading (referring to gen. science in middle/high school). They had some understanding of gravity, they had too. I am sure, like you said, that they had no idea the same force that kept them on the ground also kept the earth in orbit and the moon. Still, the basic idea of gravity, the stuff that pertains to our lives on a daily basis, is something ever toddler learns at a very early age.
I should think that gravity is far more obvious than evolution. I can demonstrate gravity. Watch me drop something... Watch me fill a bucket with water and spin around (OK, that's inertia, but it can be used to demonstrate gravity)... As for evolution, I'd like to see someone demonstrate how a cell turns into a human, or how a finch evolves over a few generations. It may be able to be shown, but not in the time frame that involves "obvious"!
As for the spherical nature of earth, I totally agree. I'd also like to point out that the Bible speaks of our earth being a ball.
Isiah 40:22 " It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. "
Job 26:10 "He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness. "