In recent days Jeffrey Shallit and I have been discussing the differences between a random string of text and a designed string of text. I put the two strings up in this post; Shallit responded in this post; I responded to Shallit in this post; and Shallit replied here. After all of this back and forth, the one question that remains is the question in the title to this post. Has Jeffrey Shallit’s fundamentalism driving him barking mad? To remind readers, here are the two strings: #1: OipaFJPSDIOVJN;XDLVMK:DOIFHw;ZD VZX;Vxsd;ijdgiojadoidfaf;asdfj;asdj[ije888 Sdf;dj;Zsjvo;ai;divn;vkn;dfasdo;gfijSd;fiojsa dfviojasdgviojao’gijSd’gvijsdsd;ja;dfksdasd XKLZVsda2398R3495687OipaFJPSDIOVJN ;XDLVMK:DOIFHw;ZDVZX;Vxsd;ijdgiojadoi Sdf;dj;Zsjvo;ai;divn;vkn;dfasdo;gfijSd;fiojsadfvi ojasdgviojao’gijSd’gvijssdv.kasd994834234908u XKLZVsda2398R34956873ACKLVJD;asdkjad Sd;fjwepuJWEPFIhfasd;asdjf;asdfj;adfjasd;ifj ;asdjaiojaijeriJADOAJSD;FLVJASD;FJASDF; DOAD;ADFJAdkdkas;489468503-202395ui34 #2: To be, or not to be, that is the question— Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings Read More ›

Guillermoe has very quickly become one of our most ardent critics on these pages. That is why it was so interesting to watch him walk right into a trap that HeKS cunningly set for him. Here it is: THE TRAP Guillermoe: We know what designed Stonehenge: HUMANS!! HeKS: How do you know this? Guillermoe: PAST EXPERIENCE. We know humans build things because we have observed that they do. HeKS: How do you know it was humans rather than aliens? Guillermoe: Because our past experience proves that humans exist and does not prove that aliens exist, so it’s much much more likely that humans built Stonehenge. That allows us to say A LOT of things about the designers of Stonehenge. What Read More ›

Does flunking grammar make a student less adept at new technologies? Maybe. Distinguish between new technologies to build a career vs. those used merely to entertain oneself. If the Internet is a well-travelled sea, then Internet trolls are its brigands Trolls can potentially destroy reputations and careers other than their own. Note: Here at Uncommon Descent, we try to offer you a troll-free experience. What did students learn before 24/7 distraction was invented? The Ontario Readers First Book (1923-1938) taught self-respect, not self-esteem. Students: Get more value from online reading. It helps to note some basic differences between reading on line and reading in print. Hi tech parents know that overuse of Internet media changes thinking patterns It can mean Read More ›

New UD contributor HeKS notes: The evidence of purposeful design [–> in the cosmos and world of life]  is overwhelming on any objective analysis, but due to Methodological Naturalism it is claimed to be merely an appearance of purposeful design, an illusion, while it is claimed that naturalistic processes are sufficient to achieve this appearance of purposeful design, though none have ever been demonstrated to be up to the task. They are claimed to be up to the task only because they are the only plausible sounding naturalistic explanations available. He goes on to add: The argument for ID is an abductive argument. An abductive argument basically takes the form: “We observe an effect, x is causally adequate to explain Read More ›