On 19/09/2011 9:11 AM, Invisible wrote:
>>>> It's not a figure of speech, it's an inaccurate statement that those
>>>> proponents of so-called "intelligent design" latch onto like leeches
>>>> and say "see, see, there IS a creator!"
>>>
>>> And I really don't care if those fools want to purposely misunderstand
>>> me. They aren't my intended audience.
>>
>> Propagating a misconception doesn't help all the same. It's important to
>> choose words with care.
>
> Nobody worries for one second about saying things like "Word
> misunderstood what I told it to do". Because very few people are stupid
> enough to believe that a computer program like Word actually
> "understands" anything. Similarly, our language is full of such
> short-cuts, who's meaning is obvious. The only reason we're having this
> conversation is that a few nutcases want to pretend that their invisible
> friend made the universe. Well, that's their problem.

There is no need to be rude and offensive.

You said:
“It's also clear that, for example, snake venom is "obviously" designed 
to kill the things that snakes eat.”
And
“I'm just wondering whether fungi deliberately manufacture substances…”
Then
“(Which is /obviously/ what I asked in the first place, to anybody who 
actually understands how evolution works.)”

You have had several people telling you that your choice of words, in 
this matter, is imprecise and does not make any real sense. Believe them 
before you make a bigger fool of yourself than is necessary.
Except when people breed things for specific traits, nothing in the 
animal kingdom is designed. Evolution is random, you are anthropomorphising.


-- 
Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message