Slumming at Talk.Origins (go here), I ran across the following remark in reference to the Ruse-Dennett Briefwechsel (discussed on this blog here): I wonder if Ruse has actually watched “The Root Of All Evil?”. And if childen were indoctrinated with the most extreme forms of racial bigotry by parents who were Nazis or supporters of Read More…
Month: February 2006
Peer-Reviewed Stealth ID Classic : The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (1987)
Frank Tipler co-authored a book with John Barrow entitled The Anthropic Cosmological Principle which was a peer-reviewed book published by Oxford University in 1987. The principle thesis: Intelligent information-processing must come into existence in the Universe, and, once it comes into existence, it will never die out. They derive the thesis from Schrodinger’s equation
There is “teeth” to ID
Chicken will grow teeth when pigs can fly. Well, better start searching the skies for flying porkâ€â€scientists have discovered a mutant chicken with a full set of crocodile-like chompers. The mutant chick, called Talpid, also had severe limb defects and died before hatching. It was discovered 50 years ago, but no one had ever examined Read More…
Remarkable exchange between Michael Ruse and Daniel Dennett
As Michael Ruse remarked when he gave me permission to quote the following exchange between him and Daniel Dennett: “feel free to quote — after all, I am in deep sh** already!!!” HIGHLIGHT OF THE EXCHANGE: “I think that you and Richard [Dawkins] are absolute disasters in the fight against intelligent design – we are Read More…
If you can’t beat ’em… recruit ’em.
I’ts hard to imagine a more exciting time to be participating in this discussion. Just the past 24 hours have brought some incredibly exciting exchanges and inside information, see here and here. But most entertaining of all is Eugenie Scott recruiting churches to defend Darwinism: Check this out. And this. So, Eugenie Scott wants to Read More…
Complexity, Specification, Design Inference, and Designers
I often see misunderstanding of what ID is about. It’s about inferring design by critical analysis of a pattern and the ways that pattern could have come to exist. I find a comparison with a lottery to be the easiest way to understand this.
The AAAS Releases a “Statement on the Teaching of Evolution”.
Here’s an excerpt from the Statement: Science is a process of seeking natural explanations for natural phenomena. Scientists ask questions about the natural world, formulate hypotheses to answer the questions, and collect evidence or data with which to evaluate the hypotheses. Scientific theories are unified explanations of these phenomena supported by extensive testing and evidence. Read More…
Publisher’s Weekly Review of Darwin’s Nemesis
[For more on this book, go here.]
500 Courageous Individuals
I felt it appropriate to honor those who have stepped forward at the risk of their professions and reputations to stand up for free and open inquiry. I would like to also honor those who would wish to have their names put on the list today, but who must wait until the time is right. Read More…
Playing Devil’s Advocate: Sudden Origins and Irreducible Complexity
One thing that has always irked me is that rarely on this site do we find any critics of ID attempting to challenge the tools/methods of ID directly. For example, one could claim that “CSI isn’t a reliable indicator of intelligence” or “the explanatory filter breaks down under certain conditions” or “ID regularly produces false Read More…
Natural Selection – Hasty Generalization, Slippery Slope, or Wishful Thinking?
The observed effects of random mutation plus natural selection can account for temporary changes in finch beak size, pigmentation changes in moths, and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. It has never been observed creating novel 1) cell types, 2) tissue types, 3) organs, or 4) body plans. All four of those creative events must be explained Read More…
Pat Hayes and the Logical Fallacy of False Analogy
Pat Hayes at Red State Rabble tries to present the face on Mars as an example in false positives equivalent to the appearance of design in cellular machinery. When will uncritical thinkers like Pat Hayes cop to the fact that seeing the Virgin Mary’s face in a tortilla is not the equivalent of seeing design Read More…
PZ Myers Has An Epiphany
Myers says: Once upon a time, I was one of those nerds who hung around Radio Shack and played about with LEDs and resistors and capacitors; I know how to solder and I took my first old 8-bit computer apart and put it back together again with “improvements.” In grad school I was in a Read More…
Project Strawman Steve
Project Strawman Steve is nearing its 700th Steve and the Thumbsters are ecstatic.
Nuclear Evolution Debate – No Takers Yet
No takers for the St. Charles side of a nuclear evolution debate. What a surprise!