Dear readers, It has been far too long since my last post, occasioned by the fact that I have entirely too many irons in the fire. I hope you will forgive this brief “drive-by” post, with a request for some help and information. One of the common refrains that comes up regarding the fossil record, […]
Month: June 2019
Atheism’s problem of warrant (–> being, Logic and First Principles, No. 23)
Atheism seems to be on the table these days here at UD and a few points need clarification. First up, what is Atheism? The usual dictionaries are consistent: atheism n. Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods. [French athéisme, from athée, atheist, from Greek atheos, godless : a-, without; see a-1 […]
Why do secularism and scientism coincide with a huge rise in superstition?
Come to think of it, believing in artificial intelligence or space aliens as god-like makes as much sense as believing in lucky numbers and charms.
The astonishing rise of junk science
Gillis’s overly respectful view of Correct science media stems from one key problem with his assumptions: He assumes that the rise of junk science is mainly due to new publishing technology. No, naturalism is the cause.
Historian Richard Weikart on how Darwinism eroded the value of human life
Darwinism situated human beings firmly as animals, which meant what any such demotion must mean.
Researchers: Comatose people do show self-awareness
Michael Egnor: This study is consistent with the work of Wilder Penfield, who showed that higher-level abstract thought did not seem to arise from the brain in a material way.
Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, gives lessons in being a troll for science
“A troll should never give reasons for what he ‘understands.’ What matters is the attitude.”
People are more honest than expected. Social scientists struggle to explain
The puzzlement makes for fun reading.
Vegetarianism arose three times in extinct crocodiles. Maybe six.
Note: Researchers: “It was clear from the start of the study that extinct species showed a different pattern, including species with many specializations not seen today. One such specialization is a feature known as heterodonty: regionalized differences in tooth size or shape.” Maybe the crocodiles had an arsenal of potential adaptations in their genes.
The war on knowledge seems quite serious at Cornell University
The purveyors of the course want to make acceptance of fact claims depend on their origin rather than their relationship with evidence. As for science, well, you can’t get there from here.
Paley’s Ghost speaks out: the problem of [neo-]darwinist evolutionary incrementalism
One of the common weak arguments against the design inference on functionally specific, complex organisation and/or associated information (FSCO/I, a functional form of specified complexity) is the idea that body-plan level macro-evolution is “simply” the accumulation of lots and lots of micro-evolutionary adaptations in a grand climb of fitness. It seems to be back on […]
Jerry Coyne doesn’t like Science Uprising
“I hate to give publicity to a bunch of superstitious yahoos, but…” C’mon, Jerry. People are probably reading you in part because you write about them. Cuts all ways.
Michael Egnor takes on buzzwords about “neural networks”
“In reply to my observation that the results of many of the most important experiments in modern neuroscience are most consistent with the dualist, and not the materialist, understanding of the mind, commenter Ali [at Peaceful Science], who describes himself as an “anti-creation psychiatrist”, sniffs: “Rubbish” … “
Feynman, says Massimo Pigliucci, is wrong about beauty and truth in science
Massimo Pigliucci: But as the German theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder has pointed out (also in Aeon), there is absolutely no reason to think that simplicity and beauty are reliable guides to physical reality. She is right for a number of reasons.
Fine-tuning of the universe should be taught in school
Listening to Bill Nye scream “I suck,” one can’t help thinking that believing that we live in a meaningless universe may be a mental health hazard.