Russell
Posts: 1082
Joined: April 2005
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A couple quick comments:
| Quote | | (Jeannot: ) - The divergence between chimps and human occurred 15 My ago, IIRC. |
I think the consensus these days is more like 5 My ago. About 50% longer ago for the (human/chimp)-gorilla divergence, and maybe about double that for the (human/chimp/gorilla)-orang utan divergence. Humans are more closely related to chimps (and bonobos) than chimps are related to gorillas.
| Quote | (AFDave: ) WE REALLY DON'T KNOW FOR SURE IF HUMANS EVOLVED FROM APE-LIKE ANCESTORS, AND I'M NOT SURE WE EVER WILL.
Why are we standing up in science classes and teaching kids that Ape to Human Evolution is a FACT? This is dishonest and potentially damaging to society for any number of debatable reasons. |
"We" don't know to your satisfaction, perhaps. But you have demonstrated here that you are not really competent to judge.
I am quite confident that we "know" this as well as other conclusions we call "known" in science - like that the earth is billions of years old, or that ordinary matter is composed of atoms.
Are we "lying" when we teach these things in science class? Should we teach "both theories" about matter: that it is composed of atoms, and that it's not composed of atoms?
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Must... not... scratch... mosquito bite.
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