Tag Archives: A Conflict of Visions

Are You Skeptical of Global Warming and Evolution?

Post Author: Bill Pratt

A recent NY Times article linked people who are skeptical about evolution with people who are skeptical about global warming.  The author noted that there seems to be a correlation, that if you doubt one, then you likely doubt the other.

This really has me thinking about why that is, as there is no obvious connection between them.  I am a skeptic of both, but for different reasons.

My initial skepticism about evolution came from my religious views, because I was taught that only a young earth (which does not accommodate evolution) could align with the creation accounts in the Bible.  As I researched both biblical interpretation and the science behind evolution, I eventually moved to a new position.

I now believe that the earth is probably old and that this fits with literal interpretations of the Bible.  I also understand, though I don’t necessarily agree with, why common descent (the idea that all plants and animals are part of a gigantic family tree) is the dominant theory of the origins of species: it has a lot of explanatory power and there’s not a more developed contender out there right now.

But I think that the evolutionary community has no idea what the mechanisms are that would modify plants and animals to the massive extent we see.  Natural selection and random mutation just don’t cut it.  Other proposed mechanisms likewise remain utterly unconvincing to me.  Evolutionary theorists constantly provide micro-evolutionary mechanisms as examples of how macro-evolution works over long periods of time.  The extrapolations don’t convince me.

What about global warming?  I started out skeptical of global warming because it was being exclusively evangelized by political liberals, whom I generally distrust as people who value intentions over truth.  I moved beyond that initial skepticism and tried to think about it scientifically.  As an engineer, I understand how to analyze data and how to test models, and I fail to see how it is possible to accurately model the global climate over long periods of time, given the multitude of variables that must go into these climate models and the incredible uncertainty of predicting climate changes in the distant future.

My suspicions about the data have proved to be correct as some brave climate scientists have admitted that their models have failed to predict the flat-lining of global temperatures over the last 15 years. The truth is that models of the climate have a long way to go before we can bet the farm on them.

So, what is the common denominator for me?  I started out suspecting evolution for religious reasons, and I started out suspecting global warming for political reasons.

I am conservative politically and I am a believer in traditional Christianity, but these don’t necessarily go together.  It seems like there must be something deeper.  The author Thomas Sowell possibly offers an explanation.  In his book, A Conflict of Visions, he argues that a person’s view of the nature and capability of man drives opinions about political, moral, judicial, economic, and even scientific matters (see my post on his book).  His theory makes a lot of sense; maybe he has found the common link.

I don’t have any certain answers to this question, but I’m very curious to know what others think.  What about you?  Are you skeptical about both of these issues?  Why or why not?  Please register your vote in the poll below and leave us some comments about your choices.

Is Man’s Nature Fixed? Part 2

Post Author: Bill Pratt

Constrained or Unconstrained Vision?  Which is it?

In my view, the more biblically sound vision must be the constrained – for one simple reason: original sin.

The Bible teaches that every human being is born with a sinful nature, that we are not born with a clean moral slate, as the unconstrained vision claims.  The first human, Adam, sinned, and his sin has passed down to all of us.  “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Rom 5:12).

King David lamented, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5).

The apostle Paul ended any debate about the sinful nature of man when he said, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10) and “there is no one who does good, not even one” (3:12).

Even after a person receives Christ, they will still struggle with sin until they die.  It is only after death, when a person is glorified (their salvation is completed and they are free from the desire to sin), that the unconstrained vision holds.  The unconstrained vision, then, can only be actualized in heaven, the place where man finally acts only for the good.

While we live on this earth, Christians recognize the sin that penetrates every man’s heart, and we are thus deeply skeptical of the intellectual and moral potential of human beings.  The ability of fallen human beings to reason their way to moral solutions for all mankind is impossible, under the Christian view.

Even though Christians recognize that man’s nature is sinful, we still fight for the good, to the best of our abilities.  We are still commanded to make this world the best it can be.  There is no sense of giving up, but there is a sense of realism, that man-made political solutions will never deliver the utopia that the unconstrained vision sees as a real possibility.

Is Man’s Nature Fixed? Part 1

Post Author: Bill Pratt


Recently I read an incredibly thought-provoking book written by Thomas Sowell, called A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles.  In this book, Sowell traces out two conflicting visions of the nature of man, the constrained  and the unconstrained.  Sowell argues that these two visions have been at odds for centuries and the conflict between them lies at the root of most of our political, moral, judicial, and economic ideological battles.

The constrained vision sees human nature as fixed.  Man is egocentric and morally limited.  In addition, his intelligence and ability to reason are also limited by his nature.  Those with the constrained vision do not so much seek explanations for why most men are self-interested and morally fragile, but they seek explanations for why the rare man seems to act unselfishly.

The constrained vision accepts man for who he is and seeks to build incentives to channel man’s imperfect nature in positive directions.  These incentives rely heavily on traditions and family, with government playing a limited role.  Placing power in the hands of the intellectual and moral elite is a great mistake, under the constrained view, as human nature inevitably leads to corruption when power is concentrated.

The unconstrained vision sees human nature as pliable and perfectible.  Man can overcome his egocentricity through intellect and reason.  This view is optimistic that man is ever rising higher and higher in his capacity to act morally, in the best interests of all mankind.  Those who hold the unconstrained vision are perplexed as to why so much of humankind is egocentric and morally corrupt.  They conclude that societal institutions are to blame because man’s nature cannot be to blame – it is corrupted by outside forces.

The unconstrained vision rejects the current state of man as a self-interested and intellectually stunted creature.  It seeks to lift human morality and intellect by asking the best and the brightest to devise and implement solutions to our shortcomings.  We are well served by giving power and influence to those few who have advanced intellectually and morally further than the rest of us, the true exemplars and visionaries.  It is only they who can lead the way.  Finally, human reason trumps tradition, which should be discarded when it no longer serves any obvious purpose.

Sowell argues that those people with the constrained vision tend to line up on the same side of most political, judicial, economic, and moral issues (e.g., size of government, judicial activism, capitalism, gay marriage).  Likewise for those with the unconstrained vision.

How do you see human nature?  Do you find yourself leaning more toward the constrained or unconstrained vision?  Make your choice in the poll below, and as always, please leave comments about your choice, if you care to.

In a couple days, I will weigh in with my viewpoint and explain why I think one of these visions is more biblical than the other.