Tom Wolfe at Socrates lecture where Steve Meyer spoke?

_{Denyse O'Leary

September 16, 2013

Darwinism, Design inference, News}

Share: Facebook; Twitter; LinkedIn; Flipboard; Print; Email

So says Emily Belz at World Magazine:

Stephen Meyer, one of the founders of the intelligent design theory, spoke at a Socrates in the City lecture in New York on Thursday evening, explaining his newest book Darwin’s Doubt and the latest in scientific debates over the origin of life. The room was packed with New Yorkers in snappy evening wear, as well as the famous journalist Tom Wolfe, in his signature white suit.

Her article identifies “growing subterranean dissent” from Darwinism. Sure, but Tom “Bonfire of the Vanities” Wolfe’s dissent isn’t exactly subterranean. He has said openly (2005),

“Look at Darwin. My God, what a powerful theory.” But he added, “Incidentally, I give that one about 40 more years, and it will go down in flames.”

And he isn’t one to shy away from controversy, as Bonfire demonstrated.

Straw. Wind.

Comments

Judging from that novel of his, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe strikes me a guy with an extensive, insightful hinterland, a wonderful quirky sense of humour and a fund of hilarious anecdotes, most commonly found, I think, among the Irish. I could have done without the descriptive longueurs, though I tend to skip them anyway, but there were a couple of things that I expect will always remain with me, apart from the anecdote about charlie Rangel. a) His fascinating social/anthropological discourse on the traditional, stereotypical, New York police of Irish stock ; b) His remark that the young African American delinquents who were deriding the old, Jewish judge among themselves, didn't realise that it would have been thanks to the likes of him, that they would not be sentenced to toil in a chain-gang ;Axel_{July 24, 2016
July
07
Jul
24
24
2016
01:59 PM
1
01
59
PM
PDT}

Dr. Meyer appears on the Michael Medved Show today (4 PM central) to talk about the materialist assault on American exceptionalism. http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/09/on_constitution076721.htmlbornagain77_{September 17, 2013
September
09
Sep
17
17
2013
01:12 PM
1
01
12
PM
PDT}

Re: Post #2 Some changes appear to happen in the world quite suddenly and unexpectedly, like the demise of the soviet Union or the death of an ecosystem. What has happened, of course, is that the forces producing the change were happening below the surface, unnoticed by nearly everyone until the change suddenly manifests. -- Bruce David Sounds a bit like termites does it not? Termites that invade a home, consume the soft "cellulose" of the wood, usually without much notice being taken until such time that the structural lumber is no longer able to support the load being placed upon it. At such time, the collapse is quite striking. For instance, if you as a homeowner are lax in your normal household upkeep (i.e. inspection, routine dusting, etc...), you may not notice until the floor gives way underneath your footfalls (or your furniture falls though the floor)that your structure is lacking support. The same could be said for walls. You may not notice until such time that bits of ceiling gypsum begin to flake away due to the stress imparted to the gypsum board by a sagging rafter or wall support. At which time, the damage is done. I wonder if the same can be articulated with any scientific endeavor that is based upon the structural support of "theory". If the larger scientific community is not diligent in its inspection and upkeep of its theories, then the "floor gives out" on the community as the structure can no longer support the load being placed upon it (e.g. explanation for predictions made, or results of observations taken). Certainly, it would seem the metaphor would work in the cultural arena as well. As was alluded by Bruce David when he invoked the references to the former U.S.S.R.ciphertext_{September 17, 2013
September
09
Sep
17
17
2013
08:05 AM
8
08
05
AM
PDT}

I found that book fascinating, a great read. I loved the hilarious anecdote in the preface, too, which some of you may remember, about a famous African American - I think it might have been Charlie Rangel - going for a Pompadour haircut! Word got out to the press about it, before the great event, so some of their lads thought they'd be able to get a lot of fun out of discreetly following him to the barbers, and maybe photographing him with this wonderful quiff! Sensing their covert presence at the back of the room, and realising what they were up to, he called out to them something like: 'Come in fellas, and see how a real man gets his hair cut!' End of political trap!Axel_{September 17, 2013
September
09
Sep
17
17
2013
02:58 AM
2
02
58
AM
PDT}

I give it a year, the way things are going, generally.Axel_{September 17, 2013
September
09
Sep
17
17
2013
02:36 AM
2
02
36
AM
PDT}

Some changes appear to happen in the world quite suddenly and unexpectedly, like the demise of the soviet Union or the death of an ecosystem. What has happened, of course, is that the forces producing the change were happening below the surface, unnoticed by nearly everyone until the change suddenly manifests. I see this happening with Darwinism. More and more scientists are realizing that Darwinism just doesn't explain what it claims to explain, but most of them remain "subterranean" out of a quite justified fear of reprisals and a reluctance to buck the consensus. But one morning they are going to wake up, look around them, and notice that except for a small minority of diehards, everyone else realizes it too. Then, in what appears to be a sudden shift, Darwinism will "go down in flames" and the Dawkins of the world will wonder what hit them. Personally, I don't give it anything like 40 years. I'd be surprised if it takes more than 10.Bruce David_{September 17, 2013
September
09
Sep
17
17
2013
12:06 AM
12
12
06
AM
PDT}

The fact that dissent is "subterranean" is very telling. Dissent from the notion that random errors -- whether filtered by natural selection or not -- can produce the most sophisticated information-processing machinery ever discovered or even imagined, should be shouted from the rooftops by anyone with even a modicum of familiarity with the evidence and an IQ above room temperature. Subterraneanism is evidence of the power of anti-science Darwinian indoctrination and intimidation, and nothing else.GilDodgen_{September 16, 2013
September
09
Sep
16
16
2013
08:35 PM
8
08
35
PM
PDT}

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Leave a Reply