Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Can only math solve the mystery at the heart of the universe?

Hartnett, quoting: "“This is [a] very embarrassing thing that we don’t have a single quantum field theory we can describe in four dimensions, nonperturbatively,” said Rejzner. “It’s a hard problem, and apparently it needs more than one or two generations of mathematicians and physicists to solve it.”" Read More ›

Nature attempts to paper over a genuine and reasonable lack of trust in China over COVID-19

This matters to us because it bears on the fate of science in general, as China becomes a global superpower. Nature Editorial: "Such trends are likely to continue if geopolitical tensions with the United States worsen. That would be regrettable." No, it wouldn’t be “regrettable.” Not so long as China cannot be trusted. Read More ›

Child burial from 80,000 years ago shows the existence of abstract ideas

Perhaps the snail shell with the excisions gave an identity to “Mtoto” — a message to another world, perhaps, about who the child was. As more burials are found, we will start to get more answers. For example, if a number of such graves feature shells or similar objects with excisions, we can infer a symbolic intention. Read More ›

Off topic: The Cancel Culture ragtag volunteer army of censors

Malicious envy was always out there but before social media it could rarely assemble so large a mob. But that’s a challenge, not a prophecy. We ID types can help fend them off. We are used to fighting Cancel Culture. Read More ›

At Physical Chemistry Letters: The Perils of Politicizing Science

Cancel Culture: People who could not advance by achievement advance by thinning out the ranks above them by denouncing the societal sins du jour that they can stick on them, truly or falsely. NOT going out on a limb here: Most Cancel Culture types actually wouldn’t care about the same offenses, if practised by people who advance their interests. Mediocrities can’t afford to be that fussy. Read More ›

At MercatorNet: Hybridizing humans and apes

Sutherland: This crazy talk became crazier still when [Howell S.] England predicted that types of monkeys would be bred with particular human races: orangutans with “humans from the yellow race, gorillas from the black race, chimpanzees from the white race” and gibbons with Jews. Read More ›

L&FP 45: The Hypothetical Syllogism — a lecture

Here: This syllogism is of considerable practical importance: This raises the issue of denying the consequent, ~q. If p –> q and ~q, then as q is necessary for p, ~p. Where, p is sufficient for q, by reason of its core characteristics, the states of affairs associated with p, causal power, requirement of logic of being etc. Let us note, p –> q is equivalent in import to ~q –> ~p. (Let’s add, that denying the antecedent, thinking this falsifies the consequent also fails, p –> q does not mean there isn’t another way, say r, to get q. There’s more than one way to skin a cat-fish.) Connected to ID, Newton’s rules demand that causal adequacy be shown Read More ›

Gunter Bechly vs. Joshua Swamidass at Justin Brierley’s Unbelievable show

Dr Gunter Bechly is a palaeontologist who became convinced that Darwinian evolution cannot explain the fossil record. He debates Intelligent Design with computational biologist Dr Joshua Swamidass who affirms an evolutionary account. Read More ›

That time they invented scientists as well as research papers…

The Googlebot soon found the papers and [fictional] Antkare was credited with 101 papers that had been cited by 101 papers, which propelled him to 21st on Google’s list of the most cited scientists of all time, behind Freud but well ahead of Einstein, and first among computer scientists. Read More ›