Intelligent Design

“Puttering with barnacles”

Over a month ago John M. Lynch posted (on his aptly titled blog “a simple prop”–need I say more) a rant against my book, Alfred Russel Wallace’s Theory of Intelligent Evolution, making a number of charges that warrant reply. Since his promised part 2 has never materialized, I’ll remain silent no longer lest he delude himself into thinking that no answer implies anything close to a concession.    Therefore, I begin with what I have–his ramblings part 1.

With an eagerness reminiscent of Barney Fife’s effort to display his prowess at marksmanship, Lynch begins by getting the bullet out of his pocket and firing an impetuous “gottcha” at William Dembski. Claiming that Dembski’s foreword “doesn’t start off well,” his vapid reading takes issue with the fact that when a shocked Darwin received Wallace’s Ternate letter outlining natural selection in 1858, the Down House dawdler was prompted into action to release his long-labored production Origin and could no longer (in Dembski’s words) “putter with barnacles.” Darwin “hadn’t ‘puttered’ with them in over four years,” Lynch wails. Like Barney’s errant proficiency with firearms and overly enthusiastic commitment to the letter of the law, Lynch’s shot falls wide of the mark as does his misguided application of historical accuracy. Here’s why. Read More ›

New research reveals teleology in the design of the human brain. It has long since been known that the brain processes and categorizes different types of objects in different parts of the brain. A steak sandwich and a predator, for example, activate different areas of the brain. But the new research indicates that such differentiation is not merely for the purposes of processing different types of visual images. Instead, our cranial categories distinguish objects based on their inherent properties–objects are not categorized by mere appearance but, as one reporter put it, by the “subsequent consideration they demand.” Continue reading here.

This month a new study reports that orangutans are particularly resourceful tool makers as they have been found to use a tool for communicating. Orangutans not only are sophisticated but, interestingly, share many similarities with humans. These “people of the forest,” as they have been called, have more in common with humans than do the other great apes. This includes features of anatomy, reproductive biology and behavior. This is interesting because it conflicts with evolutionary expectations. The conflict arises because there is one feature in which orangutans are not the closest species to humans: DNA. Continue reading here.

Synopsis Of The Fourth Chapter Of Signature In The Cell by Stephen Meyer
ISBN: 9780061894206; ISBN10: 0061894206; Imprint: HarperOne

Yesterday I met with the literary publicist hired by Broadman & Holman to promote The End of Christianity when it is released November 1st (for the Amazon.com listing, go here). This book will do much to create further conceptual room for ID. It is also being positioned to go face-to-face with the neo-atheist literature.

The initial print-run and expectations for The End of Christianity far exceed anything for my previous books (even for my best-selling book to date, Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science and Theology, which has sold about 80,000 copies). I learned yesterday that Costco and Wal-Mart have placed orders for over 10,000 copies. An immediate Spanish translation will have an initial print-run of 15,000. Paternoster will be handling printing and distribution in the UK. Preorders at Amazon.com have been doing great.

The official launch begins soon and the literary publicist has some exciting ideas for promoting the book online (stay tuned!). For an overview of the book, along with the introductory material and first chapter, go to www.designinference.com. Below are the endorsements:

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Did your high school biology teacher tell you that evolution is a fact because, after all, species are observed to adapt and evolve in nature? At the time it may not have occurred to you that moths changing color and the beaks of birds changing shape hardly demonstrate that entirely new forms and designs can appear without a trace of evolutionary history. It also may not have occurred to you that those examples of adaptation, observed in the field, occur suspiciously quickly. Wasn’t evolution supposed to take millions of years? But even if those problems did occur to you, what you were probably unaware of is that, ironically, adaptation is not evidence for evolution–it is evidence against evolution. Continue reading Read More ›

NATURE|Vol 460|13 August 2009|doi:10.1038/nature08304 REVIEW Yi Lu1, Natasha Yeung1, Nathan Sieracki1 & Nicholas M. Marshall1 Metalloproteins account for nearly half of all proteins in nature. Protein metal-binding sites are responsible for catalysing important biological processes, such as photosynthesis, respiration, water oxidation, molecular oxygen reduction and nitrogen fixation. Much effort has been devoted to understanding the structure and function of metalloproteins, as summarized by other reviews in this Insight. The ultimate test is to use this knowledge to design new metalloproteins that reproduce the structures and functions of native metalloproteins1–3. Metalloprotein design is not just an intellectual exercise that duplicates biochemical and biophysical studies of native metalloproteins. This ‘bottom-up’ approach can also elucidate structural features that may remain hidden in those Read More ›

With the new technical enhancements behind the scenes on Uncommon Descent, we are now able to add individual blogs.  That said, we are happy to announce that the first individual blog we have added is that of Dr. Michael Behe.  All of his previous posts from his Amazon blog have been imported to his UD blog.   Dr. Behe plans to post on his new blog in the future. If you haven’t read his previous posts, you can now do so more conveniently.  We hope you enjoy it, and find it useful.  I have added a permanent link to his blog under “Intelligent Design Links.” Address:  http://behe.uncommondescent.com

Science and scientists, especially in America, are wonderful. I am currently laying on my couch, playing music from my laptop, and will probably turn on my HDTV later on to just enjoy a nice relaxing evening. Without scientists none of this would be possible.

However, sometimes scientists need to “know their role.” What I mean by that is how whenever faced with a dissenting viewpoint, some scientists tend to produce massive arguments to discredit the dissenter; one of the problem with this, however, is their arguments are based upon logical fallacies. That might make for a good way to vent, but it doesn’t make it a good argument.

Take, for instance, Dawkins, Panda’s Thumb, et al, and their recent treatment of Dembski’s class curriculum. I could offer quotes, but I’m sure we’ve seen most of them. Rather, what I believe to be an adequate summary of the arguments against Dembski’s curriculum is as follows:

“Bill DUMzki r dum! LOL! Iz Xian + ID = soopid. Dawkins r in Demzkis boat, eatin all hiz cookies! LOL!!!!1111!!1!!11!!!1”

I wish I could say I were exaggerating, but unfortunately the only thing I changed was the composition of the words.

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Dr. Stephen Meyer, author of Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, narrates a new video illustrating evidence for intelligent design within the cell.  This excellent new video illustrates aspects of the role of information in the cell including protein synthesis. From Evolution News and Views: “This video is going to make things worse for critics of intelligent design,” Dr. Meyer explains. “They will have more difficulty convincing the public that their eyes are deceiving them when the evidence for design literally unfolds before them in this animation.” Narrated by Meyer, the video is a short tour of the molecular labyrinth, the cell’s sophisticated information-processing system, which not only produces machines, but also reproduces itself.

Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason interviewed Steve Meyer yesterday on Greg’s radio show. The interview (actually more of a dialog) was extremely comprehensive, although it was primarily centered around Meyer’s new book, Signature in the Cell. Greg is extremely bright and articulate, as is Steve, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the exchange. You can listen to the interview here, or access the mp3 file directly here. Yes, I know, Stand to Reason is a Christian apologetics organization and Greg Koukl is a Christian apologist, but let’s keep the conversation on the topic of the content of the interview, and not get hopelessly lost in a giant digression about how this proves that ID is all about religion instead of Read More ›

The folks at RichardDawkins.net have their panties in a bunch over some of my class assignments (go here): Thanks to Baron Scarpia for alerting us to this website, which outlines the rigorous academic standards [Quote-miners, please note: this is sarcasm] which William Dembski’s students have to achieve in his courses on Intelligent Design and Christian Apologetics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary: http://www.designinference.com/teaching/teaching.htm If you follow the links, you will see that it is full of gems: we won’t spoil them for you by flagging them all up, but – just to whet your appetite – you will notice that, at both undergrad and masters level, there are courses for which 20% of the final marks come from having made 10 Read More ›

Barrett Clown, oh pardon me, Barrett Brown, thinks he makes an argument against ID by humor and satire alone here at The Huffington Post. He is, after all, to be taken deadly seriously, he’s written for National Lampoon for goodness sakes and written a book about Dodo birds. Not really, Dodo birds were really just straw men, or, more accurately, scare crows. If satire counts for argument, then my blog post has done the same job that Barrett’s has. Revel in the irony that Barret would write about “bits of information” to prove his point; Bits of information are no longer compartmentalized like so many scattered VHS tapes and gothic rock album liner notes, which is why Dembski and company Read More ›

On May 26, 2009 Reverend Barry Lynn offered his characterization of infidels who refuse to venerate Darwinius. His tirade (supported by Eugenie Scott) can be found here: Show #1415 Eugenie Scott, Susan Russell.

Some excerpts:

Reverend Barry Lynn :
The more new evidence that develops the more some people dig in to their erroneous earlier beliefs
…..
I am still flabbergasted by the notion that no matter what you show some people and say…”this why I believe what I believe” some people say, “nope not enough”….

….the religious right is already saying….”it [Ida (Darwinius)] could be a fake”

What’s wrong with people that they can’t look at evidence and say, “Ok, I didn’t see it before I’m going to re-evaluate based on what I do see.”

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True, I am always making fun of “evolutionary psychology,” but it is such an easy target. Who dare say that this item wasn’t prompted by the current economic climate?:

“After eons of evolution, men are hardwired to overspend and max out credit cards to attract mates, a study last year concluded.”

Of course it did.

You can be sure that the study would not have concluded that the generations of men who drove hard bargains out of necessity – for whom it was a matter of honour to do so – are our far more representative ancestors.

Ooga ooga.

Also just up at the Mindful Hack: Read More ›