Monthly Archives: November 2005
Why I ruthlessly edit comments on this blog
| November 30, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Education |
Here’s an email from someone I banned from this blog. If you can’t see why I’ve lost all patience with people like this, then you need to be spending your time elsewhere in cyberspace. William, Is there the slightest possibility you might ‘open’ your ID forum to dissenting views? You have some very dedicated apostles […]
Leo Kadanoff on Complexity
| November 30, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Biology, Intelligent Design, Science, Self-Org. Theory |
http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/audio/05-06/public_lectures/kadanoff
KU’s New Class — Creationism, Intelligent Design and Other Religious Mythologies
| November 30, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution, Intelligent Design |
[Updated links 30nov05: http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/nation/13286369.htm http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Creationism_Class.html] [From a colleague:] The University of Kansas is flexing its anti-religion muscle again, this time by announcing the introduction of a new course in the Religion department: “Creationism, Intelligent Design and Other Religious Mythologies.” To be taught by a professor of religion, no scientists allowed. God forbid that the students […]
Interview with Christian Renewal
| November 30, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Not much new here except for some observations about my time at Baylor, observations I was finally in a position to share, not being on the Baylor faculty anymore. –WmAD William Dembski: An Intelligent Voice in the Design Debate An interview by Glenda Mathes (appeared in the 28sep05 vol24, no2 issue of Christian Renewal) Dr. […]
Harvard Crimson on ID
| November 30, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
FAVORITE QUOTE: “Edwards says conservative evangelicals are responsible for the framing of the intelligent design debate. ‘Evangelicals thrive on being embattledÂÂâ€â€their identity is tied up into being attacked and their defending principles,’ Edwards says. ‘Being attacked by science only validates their position.’” Let me just add that being attacked by theologians like Edwards further validates […]
Rosine Chandebois on the Blind Watchmaker
| November 30, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Education |
[From a colleague and friend:] D’aucuns disent aveugle l’horloger qui a concu la vie, mais c’est son horologe qui nous frappe tous de cecite: les uns aveugles par tant d’intelligence, les autres etant les pires aveugles parce qu’ils n’en veulent rien voir. [Some call blind the watchmaker who conceived of life, but it is his […]
The Designer’s “Skill-Set”
| November 29, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution, Intelligent Design |
In September, Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show devoted several programs to the topic of evolution (“Evolution, Schmevolution — Who’s Right, Who’s Full of It”). What’s more, I appeared on one of those programs (go here and here). In those programs, Stewart & Co. had some lines that were not only funny but also memorable. The […]
Why Inferring Design Does Not Require Knowledge of the Designer
| November 29, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Critics of ID often charge that unless we have explicit knowledge of the designer, we cannot infer design. Thomas Reid, in critiquing David Hume, showed that this charge is unfounded. To see this, go here.
Software is Eternal
| November 29, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Benjamin Franklin realized that software is eternal two centuries before Alan Turing came to that realization. As a young man in 1728, Franklin composed his own mock epitaph, which read: The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies […]
“Science Wars” — transcripts now available
| November 29, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
The transcripts for the American Enterprise Institute’s October 21, 2005 shindig on ID (“Science Wars: Should Schools Teach Intelligent Design?”) are now available here: http://www.aei.org/events/filter.all,eventID.1169/transcript.asp.
The Scientific and Medical Network
| November 29, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Biology, Intelligent Design, Science |
Let me encourage you to think seriously about supporting this organization: http://www.scimednet.org. Its mission statement is “To challenge the adequacy of scientific materialism as an explanation of reality.”
“Ode to the Code”
| November 28, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution, Intelligent Design |
[From a colleague:] There’s an interesting article in the American Scientist from last year that is worth revisiting. It examines whether the genetic code is optimized for reducing the impact of point mutations. Apparently it is according to the author. Given that there are exponentially large numbers of potential codon usages, if the genetic code […]
Molecular Motors at the Limits of Nanotechnology
| November 28, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Darwinism, Evolution, Intelligent Design |
Ask yourself, Why do biological systems exhibit molecular machines at the smallest level permissible by the properties of matter? “Evolution” provides less and less a convincing answer. Molecular motors 9 November 2005 http://www.iop.org/EJ/news/-topic=1009 A new special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter edited by Joseph Klafter and Michael Urbakh contains invited papers from some […]
The Former President of Cornell — Also a Darwinophile
| November 28, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Darwinism, Evolution |
I’ve reported on this blog about the current president of Cornell, Hunter Rawlings, and his recent diatribe against ID (search under “Rawlings” on this blog). Interestingly, the past president of Cornell, Frank Rhodes was very much in the same mold. I heard him speak at a C. S. Lewis Foundation event at Cambridge in 1994 […]
ID on Paula Zahn Now
| November 26, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
[From a colleague:] Last night CNN devoted almost 45 minutes to the ID controversy. CNN’s Religion and Values correspondent Delia Gallagher did the segment on Paula Zahn Now. Most of the show consisted of the usual spin, but Mike Behe got lots of air time and came across well. My favorite part came after interviews […]
A Crisis in Credibility?
| November 26, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution |
Let me say very clearly here that I’m not denying the EXISTENCE of slam-dunk credible evidence for evolution. What I’m denying is the existence of credible PEOPLE to inform me of this evidence. http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2005/11/intelligent_des_1.html
IDEA Clubs
| November 25, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Students join debate on intelligent design Campus clubs set up to defend concept By Lisa Anderson Tribune national correspondent Published November 25, 2005 ITHACA, N.Y. — Dappled with autumn leaves, the manicured campus of an Ivy League university in upstate New York may seem far from the cornfields of Kansas or the rural towns of […]
Unveiling of New ID Website in Australia
| November 24, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Intelligent Design Network Australia — www.idnet.com.au. The unveiling of this website coincides with the distribution of Unlocking the Mystery of Life to 3000 high schools.
Becoming an Intelligent Consumer of Scientific Information
| November 23, 2005 | Posted by William Dembski under Education, Science |
Thomas Lessl: Science and Rhetoric Interviewed by Paul Newall http://www.galilean-library.org/lessl.html Thomas Lessl is Associate Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. His work involves the rhetoric of science, looking in particular at the meeting of science with the public sphere. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask him […]
