Why do creationists have their pants tied in a knot ever Evolution?  Those devout believers wish to continue thinking that man and the rest of the animal world are somehow magically divided.  Our language reflects this pretty well, marking everything that isn't man-made as natural and everything that is as "artificial".  Speaking as a naturalist, I find this pretty foolish.  Evolution has shown that man and other animals have a common ancestor, biology shows we are made of the same 'stuff' as other species.  We are natural beings, and though we should be rather proud for the level of potential intelligence and civility, we shouldn't loose sight that there is no magical wall that divides man from animal.

I recently made a quip about peacocks mating habits resulting in the males tail feathers as 'peacock-o-ficial" but I am rather serious about the word "Anthroficial", or something like it.  Not a word with the context of "made not of nature but of man" but instead "From nature, or to be more specific, humans".  Ultimately "Artificial" and "Anthroficial" mean the same thing, but the context of "Artificial" is, frankly, unscientific... suggesting that somthing has been taken *out* of nature by alteration from human hands. I know it may sound petty, and maybe it is, but language helps shape our concepts, and our concepts need some help.

 

Anyway, I mostly look forward to critiques, somthing I love about this place.