Definition:
A statement and its negative cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. More simply, something cannot be both true and false simultaneously (at the same time and the same place).
[Note that this is not a scientific law that we can prove; it is a law of philosophy established by Aristotle from simple reasoning.]
Evolution’s Position:
I will select 2 examples for discussion:
- The universe expanded (or exploded) out of nothing.
- Life came out of non-life primordial soup.
Given:
All scientific laws must be compatible. Two scientific theories that are incompatible mean that one or both are wrong. They cannot contradict each other.
Question:
Does the Theory of Evolution conflict or contradict this Law of Non-Contradiction? Can the Theory of Evolution be a theory?
Discussion:
In logic, the Law of Non-Contradiction is the second of the so-called four classic laws of thought. The oldest statement of the law is that contradictory statements cannot both at the same time be true, e.g. the two propositions “A is B” and “A is not B” are mutually exclusive. This is the statement of the law given by Aristotle. It takes no account of the truth of either proposition; if one is true, the other is not; one of the two must be false.
I imagine that you had this exact same experience. You go into your child’s room and see him/her bouncing on the bed. What do you say? “That bed is not a trampoline!” (either a bed or trampoline) Then you go on with something about getting off the bed or breaking the bed or breaking your neck or something else. Can you think for another example when you indirectly explained the law of non-contradiction to your child?
Personally, an example that comes to my mind is when I told my beloved son, “That the knife in your hand is not a toy!” (Either a harmless toy or a harmful knife that cut flesh.)
The fact is that we would not survive long if we did not live by this law. Furthermore, there could not be science with out this law. Even though there are people who live by this law, they deny that it is universal. I don’t get why or how they can justify denying the law of non-contradiction for two reasons.
- First, each word we have clearly identifies (see the Law of Identity) an object without contradiction. The sky is “blue” and the sky “is NOT blue”. They cannot contradict by definition or we could not have clear communication. We even have adjective to help us eliminate apparent contradictions such as “light blue”.
- Second, no one can survive in a world with contradictions. You teach you child to look both ways before crossing a street. Why? You understand the law of non-contradiction says that a safe street crossing cannot be a NON-safe street crossing.
Now, how does the Law of Non-Contradiction apply to Is Evolution A Theory?
Here are three examples:
- With reference to the theory of evolution’s big bang or the singularity event, you can’t have nothing and then have something (or NOT nothing) at the beginning of time and the universe. How did something come out of nothing? There was nothing there.
- With reference to the theory of evolution’s life coming out of primordial soup, you can’t have inorganic soup (or mud) and organic soup at the same time in the same place. Setting organic chemistry aside, the chemicals were either life or non-life. They may have been organic but that is not life. The chemicals cannot be both life and NOT life. Life has 8 properties that chemical do not possess.
If you question my statement, I urge you to go to Famous Scientist and see how many theories/laws have been discarded because they were incompatible with other laws or theories. No scientist deny the Law of Non-Contradiction.
Conflict:
We scientist and engineers must be intellectually honest and choose the most reasonable and scientific explanation of any event.
- We have not found any violation of the Law of Non-Contradiction.
- We find the Law of Non-Contradiction and the Theory of Evolution incompatible.
Do you see the conflict between the Law of Non-Contradiction and the Theory of Evolution? With reference to scientific theories and laws, two laws cannot contradict. If they do, they are incompatible; either one or both are incorrect. We know that if we did not have this law, science would not exist.
Conclusion:
We must maintain the Law of Non-Contradiction as true. Keep the Law of Non-Contradiction and put the Theory of Evolution into the “debunked hypothesis” category.