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? Another 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 toy or a knife that cut flesh.)
You get the picture?
The fact is that we would not survive long if we did not live by 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 defines an object without contradiction. A dog is a dog and not a cat. They cannot contradict by definition or we could not have clear communication. We even have adjective to help us eliminate apparent contradictions.
- 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 and a car cannot be at the same place at the same time.
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 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, a living cell came out of and from organic chemicals. Setting organic chemistry aside, the chemicals were either life or non-life. The chemicals cannot be both. Life has 8 properties that chemical do not possess.
- With reference to scientific theories and laws, two laws cannot contradict. If they do, they are incompatible. We know that if we did not have this law, science would not exist. 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.
In conclusion, we scientist and engineers must be intellectually honest and choose the most reasonable 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.
My conclusion, here at Is Evolution A Theory and I hope yours: keep the Law of Non-Contradiction and put the Theory of Evolution into the “debunked hypothesis” category.