We're not sure about the rights arrangement here [I assume he means copyrights and intellectual property rights of the various BBC, PBS, Discovery Channel, National Geographic videos utilized for this YouTube channel] . . . It's great for students, folks who want to brush up and perhaps those who need a little convincing that science is, you know, real.Come again? ". . . those who need a little convincing that science is, you know, real." Alright. I'm game. I'll give this a quick whirl. Come along with me, click the EvolutionDocumentary link.
The opening video is "Comparing the Human and Chimpanzee Genomes" and the narrator begins by saying,
Humans and chimpanzees parted company in evolution about 6 million years ago from a common ancestor [CCS|Tree & The Seed is already suspicious].The narrator goes on to discuss the similarities between the human and chimpanzee genomes. He points to a visual display that has symbols representing the genome data. They've created a matrix with series of parallel rows, a running comparison of the human genome against the chimpanzee genome. The columns are populated with elements/entries which symbolize the various human and chimpanzee genome data.
The presuppositions are glaring. Just let the tape roll and you will catch them. The Narrator says,
All away along here they are identical. . . . Follow along this row here--chimp/human, chimp/human--identical, identical, identical, there's a difference. . . . all the same, all the same, no difference at all between the human and the chimpanzee . . . now we see a difference . . .Identical? Identical? Difference? Identical? Identical? No difference at all . . . now we see a difference? Hold the phone. Let me get this right. You're telling me that something can be both identical and different? I thought those were mutually exclusive? So you dump all of this data on me and, Wham!, I'm just suppose to believe in Evolution? And if all of this isn't already confusing enough, the Narrator closes with an absolutely startling, jaw-dropping presuppositional disclosure. He says,
Almost all of the human genome and the chimpanzee genome is identical. A tiny number of differences account for all of the really quite large differences that we see between humans and chimpanzees.I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but I will tell you what all of this means. It means that the argument for evolution, from the genome standpoint, has nothing to do with "science that just looks at the hard facts," which is a mythical idea if there ever was one. When this guy talks we learn more about what he thinks and what he presupposes to be true than what we learn about genomes. This Narrator is a talking head for EvolutionDocumentary. "Hard facts" did not convert him to be so inclined towards evolution. "Hard facts" are a laughable concept, but for the sake of argument, assuming there is such a thing as a "hard fact", then rest assured readers, and know that it was not genome"hard facts" that convinced this man. Yes, proof is in the pudding, but it aint' here. Rather, he already presupposed the truthfulness of evolution (contra the Narrator, I presuppose that God created the world in six days, that there was a real, literal Adam and Eve, etc., and I believe all of that on the authority of God's word--I believe it because God cannot lie).
The Narrator carries his presuppositional sensibilities with him. He is a walking (upright), presupposing interpreter, and a technical education can't change that for anyone, not one lick. A "blank slate" has never walked up to human genomes and chimpanzee genomes and thought out loud, "Well, let's figure out what we have here?!?"
The Narrator said, "A tiny number of differences account for all of the really quite large differences that we see between humans and chimpanzees" . . . and in the face of all of the "quite large differences" he suggests that this means that 6 million years ago we shared a common ancestor. The theory of evolution presupposes that a mythical, common ancestor existed, so I am not surprised that an evolutionist sees genomes and thinks "common ancestors"--to the guy with a hammer, everything is a nail. If only a small number of differences account for the really quite large differences, then why go to such lengths, and attribute importance to, discussing the large number of similarities? Isn't it just a wash or moot point? Seems to me that quantity doesn't determine quality, and if that is the case, then couldn't someone argue this from the other direction? E.g., "Well, such-and-such a things have next to nothing in common, well, that is, except for these few similarities which account for the really large number of defining attributes, and since they have that minority in common with one another it means that this carrot and the Sun have a common ancestor 6235697891 years ago. It has to be true. They are both the color Orange." Yes, consciously hyperbolic, that.
I will not watch the 300+ videos. I may watch a few of them, but not all. This opening video is not compelling. Logically this stinks. Please bear with me, the end is near. We will use symbols. Human genome = H. Chimpanzee genome = C.
H = H
C = C
Pretty basic. However, there is one more thing. The Narrator in his own words said that the human genome is not the same as the chimpanzee genome. He said there are tiny differences that account for all of the really quite large differences we see between humans and chimps. This means that . . .
H ≠ C
The human genome is not the chimpanzee genome. Yes, I know there are similarities. But as a whole they are not identical. They are not exact. If you look at two things that are not exact in order to argue that the similarities between the two inexact things infers that so many millions of years ago there was an exact common ancestor, then you are wasting my time. Give me a break. You want me to place my faith in your judgment? I do not think so. In the words of my two year old, "No, Not! No, Not!"
If H ≠ C, then what you have is 0 identicalness. That is a zero. It is meaningless to look at similarities between two inexact things and deduce a common ancestor 6 million years ago. To quote Ayn Rand, who was addressing a totally different topic, "If you write a line of zeroes, it's still nothing." Got that? Evolution is nothing.
0 identicalness + 0 identicalness + 0 identicalness + 0 identicalness + = nothing identicalness
However, today we see Much Ado About Nothing . . .
0 identicalness + 0 identicalness + 0 identicalness + "scientific" interpretation of genomes by a God-hater-who-does-not-take-God-at-his-word = 6 Million Year Old Common Ancestor Identicalness
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