How much should we believe of what we read about animal number sense? Hype aside, the evidence points away from the assumption that abstract mathematics is simply the outcome of squabbles over bones. There is a gap that is simply not bridged by the studies of animal number sense, nor do available studies shed much Read More…
Year: 2008
Intelligent design: Do the “unfalsifiables” get along with the “falsifieds”? If so, WHY?
Now and then I am assailed by people who insist that “intelligent design is not falsifiable.” Well, put that way, it isn’t, right? Politics, economics, and religion are not falsifiable either. Anything can escape falsification if it is put in broad enough terms. That’s because we all have overlapping – but not identical – definitions Read More…
Epistemology. It’s What You Know
BarryA’s definition of a philosopher: A bearded guy in a tweed jacket and Birkenstocks who writes long books explaining how it is impossible to communicate through language without apparently realizing the irony of expressing that idea through, well, language. Seriously, I have read a lot of philosophy, and I find some of the philosophers’ ideas Read More…
Yet another layer of complexity
Plant study reveals a “deeply hidden” layer of transcriptome regulation. “Cells keep a close watch over the transcriptome – all parts of the genome that are expressed in any given cell at any given time. Before RNA transcripts can guide protein synthesis or take on regulatory functions, they have to undergo a strict mRNA surveillance Read More…
Pack your bags the “truth” is out!
“Creationist” Perspectives p37-45 selections from Science Evolution and Creationism NAP 2008 “A creationist is someone who rejects natural scientific explanations of the known universe in favour of special creation by a supernatural entity. Many believers as well as many mainstream religious groups accept the findings of science, including evolution. (Creationists) want to replace scientific explanations Read More…
[OFFTOPIC:] The Lesson of Tonight’s Iowa Caucuses
My wife’s family is from Iowa, and we got to listen to a lot of the presidential candidates in person during our visit there this December. Here’s our daughter with two of the more successful candidates: The lesson of tonight is that people are tired of business as usual. How far does that disaffection extend? Read More…
Questions in evolution: How do jellyfish, crustaceans and beetles just suddenly appear?
Animals suddenly appear … and after that nothing much happens. Why? How? Read the latest post, linked above, at The Design of Life blog and help me think about this. (Currently, I am learning to cope with the fact that Alley Oop has been lying to me for, like, tens of thousands of years, so Read More…
Antony Flew, God and the Evidence: A review of There Is a God
On December 9, 2004, an Associated Press story story went out on the wires, “Famous Atheist Now Believes in God: One of World’s Leading Atheists Now Believes in God, More or Less, Based on Scientific Evidence.” More? Or less? As it turns out, neither. He believes in God simply on the scientific evidence. Many might Read More…