The Design of Life

Why do scientists sometimes ignore warnings that theories are wrong? Even great scientists can get it all wrong, and it is interesting to see how and when they do.

Jane Harris has a new article at Design of Life blog about a newly discovered genus of palm in Madagascar (yes, that’s right, a GENUS): “New findings in science: self-destructive palm puzzles botanists” The tree waits about 100 years to flower and then explodes in tonnes of flowers and then just dies. I’m glad local trees in the Toronto area are more measured in their response to sex. (They live man y decades but flower decorously every year, and never just explode in flowers and die.) Like, the palm tree’s sort of behaviour would be okay for weeds, but … for TREES? And no one has any idea yet how it got itself to Madagascar.

Charles Walcott, secretary  of the Smithsonian, had found the equivalent of Noah’s Ark. He found every animal phylum, or – as physicist Gerald Schroeder puts it – the “basic anatomies” of all animal life forms today. Cause for rejoicing? No, because there was a problem. The problem was that the find obviously did not support Darwin’s theory of evolution: So what did he do?

Posted by Denyse O’Leary for Jane Harris At one time, hybrids were thought to be common among plants but rare among animals. But as more animal hybrids are found, some scientists ask whether hybrids are not a more common means of creating new species than previously thought. … An intense focus on Darwin’s theory that natural selection is the main cause of new species has often meant that other possibilities are neglected. For more, go here.

Or are we just connecting to the universe, as the Design of Life authors think.I’ve always found the connection between soft math and useful information easy (like, you get charged for a side of fries you never ordered, and never would have ordered). But HARD math? That’s about something else for sure. Go here for more about why hard math matters. Also: Today at the Post-Darwinist Christianity Today features news item on young astronomer denied tenure Catholic Darwinists to congregate in Rome? Also: Today at The Mindful Hack: The myth of the Christian Right: What happens when you ask Democrats if they too are born again? God must exist, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to enjoy this debate.

Well, he could be, at least about some things.Don’t shoot! Look, no one expected that the human being would have only a few more genes than the worms that survived a space shuttle blowup and were returned to their owners. We could be wrong about lots of other things too. Anyway, here’s Jane Harris-Zsovan’s story, just up at The Design of Life: Lolle’s 2005 paper with Robert Pruitt of Purdue University, Genome-wide non-mendelian inheritance of extra-genomic information in Arabidopsis”, suggested that a mutant variety of this species overrides its genetic code and does indeed revert back to its wild state.Starting in the 1990s, the researchers began using specimens of A. thaliana to study plant cuticles. Lolle and Pruitt bred plants Read More ›

Recently, Bill Dembski and Jonathan Wells published a textbook supplement called The Design of Life. It’s pretty controversial, as you can tell by all the ignorant remarks and insults at the Amazon site.

The book explains the reasons why Darwin was wrong. Stuff you won’t find in the textbook your taxes pay for (or your student loan pays for if your prof puts it on the course.)

You can find out more about the book (or even buy it) here.

Meanwhile, trusty Canadian bloggers Jane Harris-Zsovan and I blog at the Design of Life blog on items that help explain why the book was written: To help students understand the facts of life that don’t mesh with Darwinism.

Now, maybe you know all this stuff. Great! Have you considered encouraging friends or family who DON’T know it to have a look?

Remember, your nearest and dearest are always hearing from legacy media, schools, and museums why Darwin was right (your tax dollars at work again, usually).

If you don’t help them understand why that’s mainly propaganda in the service of materialism, can you really blame them for just saying, “Okay, whatever … whatever they want me to believe, I’ll just believe, so they will shut up and go away … “?

For example, here are some stories that someone you know might appreciate:

Origin of life: Popular science media solve the origin of life every few weeks. Huh?

Origin of species? Check out the beefalo and see if you STILL believe the textbook. Read More ›

Well, whether it is or not, that’s where it is going, in April, when the Expelled film opens.

DESIGN OF LIFE: You interviewed 150 scientists for your film. I wonder if that’s a record. I gather an effort has been made to discredit the film on the grounds that the anti-ID folk were misrepresented, basically that you tricked them into taking part.

MATHIS: … But they’ve become very used to only one side. Apparently they didn’t understand that we were really going to do just what we said we were going to do.  

Part One: Intelligent design hits Hollywood in April. Will Hollywood hit back?

Part Two: Questions? Real journalists ask no questions!

Part Three: Doubts? Real scientists never have doubts!

Since I’m here anyway, and so are you:

Today at the Mindful Hack

Belief in free will keeps us honest

Fearful universities: Why be afraid of the thinking mind?

Read More ›

Textbooks often don’t discuss extinction – the death of all members of a species – in any detail. No surprise there, it’s a frustrating and depressing topic. Frustrating because museums would bid billions to bring back a live tyrannosaur. And depressing because good answers are often not available. So discussion can lurch dangerously into the realm of folklore. When that happens, folklore wins hands down over fact. The extinction of the entire superorder of dinosaurs [1] which marked the close of the Cretaceous era – perhaps mainly due to an asteroid hit – has become a pop culture icon that now supports a variety of views and causes. Pop culture need not – and does not – address the real Read More ›

Excerpt: When a scrap of evidence supports any one of the competing theories of the origin of life, doubts about that theory itself are often not discussed in the article. That practice distorts the overall picture. To see why, suppose for example that the police are trying to determine which of three suspects stole a car. None of the suspects is considered a truthful witness, so asking for a confession isn’t an option. We hear about – and focus on – information that apparently places one of them at the scene of the crime. However, what if – on the balance of the evidence – the police believe that that particular suspect was out of the country at the time? Read More ›

Recently, some commenters at one of my home blogs, the Post-Darwinist, have urged me to address the question of whether it is true that most Discovery Institute fellows are evangelical Christians. I suppose so, except for the ones who are Catholics, agnostics, or Moonies or something. Go here for reasons why the accusation is basically garbage and – way more important to you – the early beginnings of a list of reasons not to believe Darwinism.

“The energy in the ATP molecule powers all biological processes. Thus, the synthesis of ATP is essential for life.” Sir. John Walker, The ATP Synthase Group, MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit ATP Synthase has been frequently discussed at Uncommon Descent including Intelligent Engineering or Natural Selection 15 July 2006 “Our job is to follow the money, track and document the flow of funds, and thereby help prove the underlying criminal activity.” Eileen Mayer, Chief, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division I propose that one of the most important concepts in Intelligent Design vs evolution is to “follow the energy trail“. This will be especially important in examining the origin of life. Energy processes are central to design of dynamic systems. Read More ›

Never heard of a beefalo? Aw, don’t be shy. It’s what happens when Buffalo bull meets Cow gal or versa vice. You probably don’t hang out in places like that, so to you it’s just a dinner entree. This is a cross between genera, not species.  Fertile hybrids of genus bos and genus bison, separated for many thousands of years, form the basis of an industry in Western North America. What does that mean for theories of how different species come to exist?  Jane Harris-Zsovan of The Design of Life team says, The existence of the beefalo and its cousins, the dzo and zubron, show us that – after millennia of separation – the gene pool of individuals in the genus Read More ›

A producer from one of the national talking heads programs is discussing with FTE’s PR firm whether to interview me or Jonathan Wells regarding our new book THE DESIGN OF LIFE. The producer has some reservations about interviewing us: Hi [snip], As I’m sure you know, one of the main claims any scientific theory can make is predictive prowess. In other words, if a theory is true, then other things should also be verifiable experimentally, or by research. Before we make a call on your clients, can you or they provide any samples of things that intelligent design theory has predicted, which researchers have later determined to be true? Thanks. [snip] I have my own list of answers, but I’d Read More ›

Apparently, it’s not just physics that starts things off with a bang. Life forms have done that too, and with equal drama. Mammals, birds, and flowers have their big bang events. But here’s the difficulty: The science literature, as well as the popular science press, assumes that an adequate fossil record must show a long, gradual series of transitions from simple to ever more complex life forms, powered by survival of the fittest. That is what the Darwin’s theory of evolution predicts, and therefore it is what researchers are encouraged – and trained – to look for. When confronted by the sudden appearance of complexity, they assume that their evidence is exceptional, not normal. In reality, the only reason we have Read More ›