That was beautifully put, Ron.  Well done.

Jim Swayze
www.fireholecanyon.com
Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 22, 2009, at 1:11 AM, "Ron Hoggan, Ed. D." <[log in to unmask]>  
wrote:

> It is common to scorn ideas that are not congruent with current  
> majority
> beliefs and values. On the paleofood list, evolution is usually  
> considered
> to be the foundation of the nutritional strategies we endorse. That  
> doesn't
> make our conception of evolution or any other theory of evolution  
> the final
> word. It is, as William has pointed out, a theory. Even among those  
> who
> subscribe to this theory, there is considerable disagreement about  
> many
> facets of this theory.
>
> I happen to believe that the theory of evolution, in my limited
> understanding, is the best explanation I've encountered for the many
> observations of speciation, adaptation, etc. etc. However, I'm not  
> prepared
> to accept the notion that it is some inarguable TRUTH. I want to  
> stay open
> to new possibilities. In the interim, and for practical purposes, I  
> proceed
> as if evolution is a fact, but that doesn't make it a fact. I
> whole-heartedly endorse William's expressed skepticism about  
> evolution; not
> because I agree with him that there is no evidence to support the  
> theory of
> evolution - there is a plentitude of evidence that supports it - I  
> support
> him because there was once considerable evidence supporting the  
> notion that
> the earth was flat.
>
> Inaz Semmelweiss was put in an insane asylum because he thought that  
> the
> deadly child-birth fever was transferred from one obstetric patient to
> another by doctors who didn't wash their hands. Semmelweiss was  
> beaten by
> the guards when caught trying to escape. He died of the injuries  
> sustained
> in that beating. Half a century later, Louis Pasteur got all the  
> glory for
> the same insight.
>
> A contemporary of Semmelweiss, Stanislas Tanchou, studied cancer  
> deaths and
> came to the silly conclusion that cancer increases with  
> civilization. The
> more civilized the lifestyle people adopt, the greater their risk of  
> cancer.
>
>
> We have persecuted outliers and dissenters for millennia. Yet it is  
> almost
> always those who think otherwise that make new discoveries and lead  
> us to
> new understandings.  If we can't celebrate dissenting voices, let's  
> at least
> tolerate them on the basis of the many contributions that have been  
> made by
> their counterparts in the past. What you call "backwoods, eccentric
> comments" may someday be heralded as a heroic insight.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Ron
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List  
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Kenneth Anderson
> Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 7:34 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: evolution holds health lessons- Dr. Meller's new book (9)
>
> William wrote : "Human evolution is still a hypothesis, until someone
> finds some evidence."  ?????
>
> William is mildly amusing with his backwoods, eccentric comments, but
> to deny evolution??  Why is this guy so prominent on this Digest?
>
> Ken