In the early 80s a near perfectly intact fossil of a primate was discovered by a team of amateur archeologists in a crater outside of Frankfurt, Germany. Years later, the University of Oslo bought the specimen, studied it, and recently released their findings. The specimen, named Ida, was dated to be 47 million years old and many ‘scientists’ now believe that it could provide clear, irrefutable evidence for the theory (err, o yeah it is a ‘theory’, remember?) of evolution.
Unlike most scientific revelations to the world’s general populace (i.e. the earth isn’t flat, germs are bad, time is relative), this one was propelled by an extensive publicity campaign run by its owners.
Secular media was delighted. Articles about the “missing link” (as it has become referred to) popped up everywhere, on the frontpage of CNN, NBC, Yahoo, and even Google.
But some of the things that were spoken by the ‘experts’ striked me as a bit odd … surprising … presumptuous? … I don’t exactly know what the correct word is. I just can’t seem to get over the fact that this, apparently 47 million-year-old object has so much to tell us. The following are quotes taken from a Guardian article; the one featured on Yahoo’s frontpage that I stumbled upon while happily browsing the internet.
“This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of all the mammals; with cows and sheep, and elephants and anteaters,” said Sir David Attenborough who is narrating a BBC documentary on the find.
“She was at this vulnerable age where you are no longer right with your mother,” said Smith, “Just as you leave weaning you are not full grown, but you are on your own.”
“It might be that her mother dropped her once or that she fell down from a tree earlier in her life,” Smith said. She survived the accident, but her climbing abilities would have been impaired. Unable to drink from water trapped by tree leaves, she would have had to venture down to the lake to drink. This would have proved to be a fateful decision.
“Might”? “Would“? Such avid use of modal verbs by the leaders of intellectual society—scientists—and such vivid storytelling! It’s almost like your in the middle of a bestselling sci-fi novel.
“Scientists believe that it sporadically let forth giant belches of poisonous volcanic gases that would have immediately suffocated anything in, around and even over the water. Ida would then have fallen into the water and been preserved in the sediment deep at the bottom.”
“Scientists say the cat-sized animal’s hind legs offer evidence of evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright – a breakthrough that could finally confirm Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.”
A fossil that is apparently 47,000 millenniums old tells us the origin of life … how we all got here. Astounding. Truly astounding. I applaud the people of great faith in this world—the REAL believers.
“I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in all of Israel!”
