We recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the publication of Phillip Johnson’s groundbreaking book, Darwin on Trial. Phillip Johnson’s meticulous skill in scrutinizing the metaphysical assumptions undergirding much of evolutionary naturalism launched the modern intelligent design movement and set in motion a chain of events that must inevitably lead to the toppling of Darwinism in Read More…
Author: Jonathan M
On Signature in the Cell, Robert Saunders Still Doesn’t Get It
At his Wonderful Life blog, geneticist Robert Saunders has responded to my recent take down of his “critique” of Stephen Meyer’s arguments for intelligent design, offered and defended in Signature in the Cell. Of course, it wouldn’t be an anti-ID article without its share of condescending rhetoric. Saunders claims that I “have absorbed a typical Read More…
Fact-Checking Wikipedia on Common Descent: The Evidence from Observed Natural Selection
A few weeks ago, I published the fourth part of my series on Wikipedia and common descent, in which I discussed the purported evidence for common ancestry based on biogeographical distribution. Previously, I had cross-examined the evidence from comparative physiology and biochemistry, comparative anatomy, and paleontology. In this second-to-last installment, I will address Wikipedia’s evidence Read More…
From the Darwinist Blogosphere, Stephen Meyer’s Trip to London Elicits a Typical Reaction
As we have already reported, Discovery Institute’s Stephen Meyer recently paid a visit to London to present and defend the thesis of Signature in the Cell at a dinner party attended by scientists, philosophers, politicians and other men and women of influence. His visit included a radio debate against theistic evolutionist Keith Fox, which you Read More…
You Can Now Listen To Stephen Meyer School Keith Fox On Intelligent Design
As most of you probably already know, Stephen Meyer was in London last week. During the course of his visit, he engaged in a radio debate involving theistic evolutionist Keith Fox, which was chaired by Justin Brierley. Premier Christian Radio introduces the exchange as follows: Stephen Meyer is a leading proponent of Intelligent Design who Read More…
Host-Parasite Cospeciation: Evidence For Common Ancestry?
I do not take a decisive position on the extent to which taxonomic groups are related by descent. As such, my current position is one of skeptical agnosticism. While I view neo-Darwinian evolution as devoid of scientific traction, I think that common descent is still — at the very least — defensible, and on this Read More…
The Finely Tuned Genetic Code
Francis Crick regarded the genetic code found in nature as a “frozen accident.” Yet more and more it is looking to be the case that this code is exquisitely finely tuned — with features suggesting it is indeed one in a million. Therefore ought not purposive or intelligent design be regarded as a legitimate inference, Read More…
An Extremely Ill-Informed Response to Alastair Noble on Evolution and ID: A Very Brief Rebuttal
Did you know that the UK has an NCSE equivalent? It’s called the BCSE (no prizes for guessing what ‘B’ stands for). You can see their website here and their blog here. The web design leaves, shall we say, a lot to be desired. The BCSE never wants to discuss, you know, actual science. The Read More…
Fact-Checking Wikipedia on Common Descent: The Evidence from Biogeographical Distribution
We have now reached the fourth part of my series on Wikipedia and the evidence for common descent. In previous entries, I discussed Wikipedia’s arguments for common descent based on comparative physiology / biochemistry, comparative anatomy, and paleontology. Now I am going to address the arguments from biogeographical distribution. Biogeography is essentially the study of Read More…
Fact-Checking Wikipedia on Common Descent: The Evidence from Paleontology
Previously in this series, I have discussed the arguments for common descent presented by Wikipedia in the areas of comparative physiology/biochemistry and comparative anatomy. In this third installment, I will discuss the arguments from paleontology and the fossil record. Wikipedia’s page on the “Evidence of common descent” contains only a brief section on the fossil Read More…
Gene Duplication and the Origin of Novel Biological Information: A Case Study of the Globins
Those of us who have been involved with the discussion and debate surrounding ID/evolution for any significant length of time will be quite aquainted with the most fashionable neo-Darwinian model for the origin of novel biological information: Gene duplication and divergence. Gene duplications normally arise from a phenomenon known as “unequal cross-over”, which occurs during Read More…
A Whale of a Problem for Evolution: Ancient Whale Jawbone Found in Antartica
MSNBC.com is reporting on the discovery of a jawbone of an ancient whale in Antarctica: the oldest fully aquatic whale yet discovered. The news story reports, The jawbone of an ancient whale found in Antarctica may be the oldest fully aquatic whale yet discovered, Argentine scientists said Tuesday. A scientist not involved in the find Read More…
Fact-Checking Wikipedia on Common Descent: The Evidence from Comparative Anatomy
In my previous article, I presented a critique of the first of Wikipedia’s eight lines of evidence for common descent: the evidence from comparative physiology and biochemistry. In this article, I will discuss the second of those lines of argument, namely, the evidence from comparative anatomy. Click here to continue reading>>>
Correction of an Error in a Previous Post
It has been brought to my attention that a previous entry of mine cited / linked to the wrong paper regarding the hybridization of twenty-one different chromosome-specific human alpha satellite DNA probes. This has now been corrected.