I stumbled across a howler today at Jeffrey Shallit’s blog. Allow me to explain:
A few weeks ago I posted Jeffrey Shallit Demonstrates Again That He is Clueless About Even Very Basic Design Concepts in which I completely dismantled Shallit’s argument about a coin-flip scenario.
Today, I found out that Shallit had posted a “response” of sorts. Here it is in its entirely, not a single word modified or deleted:
Barry Arrington to the Rescue! And Sal Cordova, Breathless Liar
How cute! Lawyer and certified public accountant Barry Arrington thinks that there is something called “design theory”, and furthermore, I am just too stupid to understand it.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Barry, but there’s no such thing as “design theory”. Yes, there’s the pseudoscience of intelligent design, but there’s no coherent body of knowledge (much less science) about intelligent design that remotely approaches a “theory”. That’s why intelligent design advocates like yourself are unable to respond to even the most basic challenges concerning your pretend “theory” and why even your own vanity “journal” can hardly find anything to publish, even though it almost exclusively publishes the droolings of its creationist editorial board.
As for understanding, Barry, let me just note that I have published an article (with Elsberry) in a philosophy journal on intelligent design in which we spell out, in detail, what’s wrong with it, and why the math is bogus. You could try reading it. I know it’s a bit of intellectual effort, but heck, knock yourself out.
While you’re at it, you may want to admonish your friend Sal Cordova (who for some strange reason is sometimes referred to as “Slimy Sal”) for lying on the same blog entry. Dembski did not “dedicate” his first book to me. Yes, it’s true that he tried to gain some intellectual respectability by dropping a whole bunch of names and thanking them, but that’s not the same as a dedication; it’s an acknowledgment.
Well, if you are like me, you read that “response” and said to yourself “if Barry is so stupid and wrong, why didn’t you point out what he said that was incorrect?”
So I posted in the combox to Shallit’s post, and he and I had the following exchange:
Barry: “I notice that you do not address the substance of my arguments in the post to which you link. Why? Because you were wrong and I was right.”
Shallit: “indeed I did address some of your “substance”, but there wasn’t much there. Try reading it again.”
Barry: “I looked at it again. Your post is the blogging equivalent of a second grader going neener, neener neener. You do not even address my arguments, far less refute them.”
Shallit: “I can’t help improve your reading comprehension, I’m afraid. You’ll have to work on that yourself.”
Two things come to mind: First is the man who was caught red handed cheating on his wife. When confronted he denied it. The wife said, “But I saw you with my own eyes,” and the man replied, “Who you going to believe, me or your own eyes?”
Second Shallit really is acting like a second grader. Given what he has already said one would not be surprised if he added something like, “I know you are but what am I you big poopyhead.” And he has the audacity to say that he responded to the substance of my arguments. The man is pathetic.