February 2009

When I was in college I studied piano with a Hungarian concert pianist by the name of Istvan Nadas. He was a student of Bartok and a miraculous survivor of a Nazi death camp. Nadas had just completed a concert series in which he played all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. I was studying and learning the Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas under his tutelage. “Contemporary classical” music composition by this time (the 1970s) had been taken over by flimflam artists like John Cage, who composed his famous 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence in three movements (nothing is played, but pages are turned between the movements). This kind of idiocy is actually taken seriously in musical academia. You can Read More ›

Zogby poll conducted at the end of January finds 78% of likely US voters favor teaching both strengths and weaknesses of Darwin’s theory of evolution. The same poll conducted in 2006 found 69% favored teaching both sides of the controversy. We’re winning in the public square. Big time.

The Natural — Supernatural trope appears so frequently, I have decided to add it to the FAQ. The following new FAQ (many thanks to StephenB and DaveScot, from whom I have cribbed freely) is now open for comment: (38) When an ID theorist says “natural forces” cannot account for certain features of the universe, he must mean that only supernatural forces can account for these features. “If phenomena are not naturally caused, they are supernaturally caused. There is no other alternative.” Barbara Forrest “Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” Ludwig Wittgenstein Ms. Forrest has tied herself into linguistic knots, causing her to succumb to the logical fallacy of “false dilemma.” There are Read More ›

This from the conclusion of Darwin’s THE VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION: The shape of the fragments of stone at the base of our precipice may be called accidental, but this is not strictly correct; for the shape of each depends on a long sequence of events, all obeying natural laws; on the nature of the rock, on the lines of deposition or cleavage, on the form of the mountain, which depends on its upheaval and subsequent denudation, and lastly on the storm or earthquake which throws down the fragments. But in regard to the use to which the fragments may be put, their shape may be strictly said to be accidental. And here we are led to Read More ›

The article I link to below was written by a creationist and published on a creationist website. The abysmal lack of knowledge about molecular biology is exposed in it. I present it for entertainment purposes only… Astonishing DNA complexity demolishes neo-Darwinism by Alex Williams JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007

Following are some insightful extracts from G.K.Chesterton that still ring true.
Doubts About Darwinism by G. K. Chesterton, 17th July 1920

. . .I am confronted with a very reasonable retort that I know nothing about the subject. . .it would be equally true if I ventured to throw out the suggestion that the Kaiser has suffered a defeat. If I were to insinuate that the armies of the German Empire were ultimately out-manoeuvered and forced to a surrender, it might be said that I was wholly ignorant of the technical strategy of soldiering, . . .But these cases alone will be sufficient to suggest, to anybody of the smallest commonsense, that there is a fallacy somewhere in the simple argument that only an expert in detail can perceive that there is a difficulty, or declare that there is a defeat. Read More ›

The L.A. Theater Works have been touring the U.S. with a wonderful production of Peter Goodchild’s The Great Tennessee Monkey Monkey Trial. With veteran actors Ed Asner and John Heard as William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, respectively, the play’s script is taken directly from the transcripts of the actual trial, so is not a fictional account of the trial as Inherit the Wind was. My daughter and I had the privilege of seeing yesterday at Notre Dame and it is superb in every way. Asner and Heard are perfect as Bryan and Darrow. There are a few tour dates coming up so if this presentation is coming anywhere near where you are, I highly recommend you make the effort Read More ›

The late Triassic-early Jurassic predates Archaeopteryx, the most primitive bird known, which first appears in the fossil record in the late Jurassic fifty million or more years later. Yet here we have convincing traces of modern shore birds in strata that appears to be very well dated to the late Triassic. The authors point out this connudrum and suggest the strata is wrongly dated. However the dating appears to be, so to speak, rock solid. What’s up with that?

Application of neoichnological studies to behavioural and taphonomic interpretation of fossil bird-like tracks from lacustrine settings: The Late Triassic–Early Jurassic?

Read More ›

Barbara Forrest responds to David DeWolf in The News Star. Early in the article Forrest puts forth a false dichotomy which undermines all that follows. My emphasis: DeWolf’s portrayal of ID as scientific is falsified by his defining it as involving the “actions of an intelligent agent as the cause of phenomena that natural processes are unlikely to produce.” If phenomena are not naturally caused, they are supernaturally caused. There is no other alternative. Not only are there other alternatives but supernatural isn’t even an antonym for natural. If we go to a thesaurus and look up the word natural we find listed among the antonyms the words technological and artificial. Notably we do not find the word supernatural listed Read More ›

Check out this link: www.charlesdarwin.org.

Andrew Sibley has drawn attention to the recent Theos survey of the UK public’s beliefs in evolution, creationism and intelligent design. Wearing my sociologist’s hat, one overriding conclusion comes through in this survey: It was very poorly designed. Theos should get its money back from the social researchers they hired. Theos wants to give the impression that the public holds confused views about the various positions relating to the origins of life. In fact, Theos is the one confused. Have a look at how the various positions were described and what people thought of them. I’ve collapsed the statistics because I want to focus on the exact wording: Young Earth Creationism is the idea that God created the world sometime Read More ›

Christopher Booker offers his observations on the enthusiasm shown by adherents to Darwin’s theory in the run up to the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth. Booker too has noticed the analogy between devotion to Darwin and organised religion. Charles Darwin zealots have made science a substitute religion Booker firstly points out some unresolved problems with Darwin’s theory that are generally ignored or supressed today. He then compares global warming adherents with the Darwinists and comments that “It becomes increasingly obvious that…the Darwinians…are so convinced by the simplicity of their theory that they are unable to recognise how much they do not know – and …their response has been to become ever more fanatically intolerant of anyone who dares question their Read More ›

David Warren, a stalwart hack of the Ottawa Citizen, derides a recent Economist article, “Untouched by the hand of God: How people in various countries view the theory of evolution” (Feb 5th 2009), which allows us to know,

IT IS 150 years since the publication of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which suggested that all living things are related and that everything is ultimately descended from a single common ancestor. This has troubled many, including Darwin himself, as it subverted ideas of divine intervention. It is not surprising that the countries least accepting of evolution today tend to be the most devout. In the most recent international survey available, only Turkey is less accepting of the theory than America. Iceland and Denmark are Darwin’s most ardent adherents. Indeed America has become only slightly more accepting of Darwin’s theory in recent years. In 2008 14% of people polled by Gallup agreed that “man evolved over millions of years”, up from 9% in 1982.

Well, let’s see: The United States is the world’s science leader, Iceland is on life support, and Denmark? Well, a brave little country if you go by the Mohammed cartoons episode, but these days, they would be better off praying for divine intervention than subverting it. Classically, for Darwin enthusiasts, basic facts mean nothing; only the attitude means something.

Anyway, Warren had pretty much the same reaction, and writes to say about the article: Read More ›

A few days back I reported here that Ben Stein had been uninvited to give the UVM (University of Vermont) commencement address, at which he was also to be given an honorary doctorate. I’m afraid I may have come across as a bit miffed by this seeming unfairness. Well, I’m happy to report that all’s right again with the world in Vermont: Howard Dean tapped for UVM commencement http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=9800475&nav=menu183_2 Burlington, Vermont – February 6, 2009 A familiar face will give this year’s commencement speech at the University of Vermont. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean has been chosen. He served six terms as the state’s highest elected official. He then went on to run for president and just stepped down as Read More ›

Barry Arrington notes that FAQ2 addresses the claim that No Real Scientists Take Intelligent Design Seriously

Well, there is a big scandal going on right now in my home province of Ontario, involving accusations of cheating in lotteries. As explained by the inimitable Toronto Star, Read More ›