Uncommon Descent

Archive for June, 2007

30 June 2007

Prayer studies: From one-way skepticism, deliver us

O'Leary

For some reason, Arts and Letters Daily, which I often visit, is always publishing materialist stuff, whether it is well sourced or not, but almost never non-materialist stuff.
Anyway, here’s a really silly piece from CSICOP - a group of unidirectional materialist skeptics - denying that prayer works.

30 June 2007

The best evolutionary biologists think about intelligent design

scordova

It is evident by the fact that Richard Dawkins, Jerry Coyne, Ken Miller, Sean Carroll, and Michael Ruse have written book reviews of Michael Behe’s book, The Edge of Evolution, that the best evolutionary biologists think about intelligent design. That only makes sense because Darwin himself wrote much about intelligent design and devoted […]

29 June 2007

Do The Facts Speak For Themselves?

GilDodgen

In this UD post I suggested that the facts (in particular, those presented by Michael Behe in The Edge of Evolution) speak for themselves. I was challenged by a commenter with: “If the facts speak for themselves, why does Behe need to write a book-length argument to make their case?”
My response is that the facts […]

28 June 2007

Vital arm of the Wedge on YouTube

scordova

Access Research Network (ARN) is a great place for serious ID enthusiasts. In fact, even Darwinists like Barbara Forrest and Paul Gross give their endorsement:

ARN [Access Research Network]….offers a host of resources, many of which may be downloaded without cost….
ARN is a treasure trove of ID materials…a vital arm of the Wedge…
Forrest and Gross,
Creationism’s Trojan […]

28 June 2007

The Art of Literature Bluffing

GilDodgen

In a UD post below, Salvador comments on Ken Miller and his reference to a paper in Science. Ken is a master of the art of literature bluffing, and you’ll be seeing a lot of this from Darwinists concerning Behe’s The Edge Of Evolution. It works like this: Claim that “such and so has been […]

27 June 2007

Ken Miller, the honest Darwinist

scordova

Ken Miller just published a review of Michael Behe’s book, Edge of Evolution. Here is Miller at his best:

but Behe has built his entire thesis on this error. Telling his readers that the production of so much as a single new protein-to-protein binding site is “beyond the edge of evolution”, he proclaims darwinian evolution […]

27 June 2007

When Darwinism Hurts

PaV

In this latest post at PhysOrg, it seems that Darwinism hasn’t helped, but instead hindered the fight against cancer.
Dr. Peter Duesberg, a molecular biologist at Berkeley,
proposed in 2000 that the assumption underlying most cancer research today is wrong. That assumption, that cancer results from a handful of genetic mutations that drive a cell into […]

27 June 2007

Olasky: “Signs of Intelligence” is good brain workout

O'Leary

Jim Kushiner, writes, presumably from the treadmill, to say:
In the latest issue of  World magazine, editor Marvin Olasky compiles his all-time favorite one-hundred books to read while on the treadmill, “books that exercise my mind while I exercise my body.” Included on the list is Signs of Intelligence, edited by Touchstone publisher James Kushiner and Southwestern […]

26 June 2007

Cosmological ID in 1744?

scordova

This is a continuation of a discussion of Teleology and ID in physics, ID-inspired least action principles
Teleologically-inspired Least Action Principles have become very foundational in modern physics. Tipler argues, “teleology is alive and well in physics.” One of my favorite critics, Bob OH, demanded more proof ID inspired a major area of scientific research. […]

26 June 2007

George Orwell would be proud of the Council of Europe - “I predicted it!”

O'Leary

I gather that the move by the Council of Europe to portray intelligent design theory as a threat to human rights has been put off - for now.
A number of things could be said about the Council of Europe’s move. First that you can be sure that the Council will be back later. Second, no […]

25 June 2007

Teaching ID = A crime against humanity

William Dembski

Last week I reported on the Council of Europe denouncing ID as a threat to democracy (go here). I also asked how long it would be before advocating ID in Europe would be regarded as a hate-crime. We may have to wait no longer:
Secularist Europe Silences Pro-Lifers and Creationists
From the desk of Paul Belien on […]

25 June 2007

Dembski Interview with Mario Lopez

William Dembski

Here’s an interview I recently gave with the IDEA Center: go here.

24 June 2007

Recent columns addressing the intelligent design controversy

O'Leary

Here are the recent additions to this file of columnists’ views on the intelligent design controversy, a useful compendium if you are looking for a range of opinion:
Adams, Mike S. suspects (June 4, 2007) that popular Darwinism is supported mainly as a way of avoiding responsibility for sexual choices. Can this be true? Oh, surely […]

24 June 2007

Darwinism as a religion and the courts

O'Leary

And what rough beast, his hour come round at last
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?
- William Butler Yeats, “Second Coming”
The effort to recast Darwin as a religious man, more religious in fact than the common run of Christians and other believers, in the runup to the bicentennial of his birth is well under way in […]

24 June 2007

The Slippery Slope of Enforcing Darwinism in the Classroom?

Galapagos Finch

More…

24 June 2007

Are “Brights” Selling Out to the Religious Right?

Galapagos Finch

Galapagos Finch, Ph.D., DDS, points to recent compromising language that suggests right wing conservative influence.
TheBRITES.org

24 June 2007

Former Skeptic Now Skeptical of Skepticism

Galapagos Finch

Skeptic Stan Scanton imposed meta analysis of his world view onto his world view to become a skeptic of skepticism. Dr. Galapagos Finch, VP of Education for The BRITES, is skeptical of Scanton’s skepticism of skepticism. TheBRITES.org

23 June 2007

Roy Spencer - Yet Another Global Warming Skeptic

DaveScot

Please read the whole article at the source. There’s a lot more detail, diagrams, pictures, and basically just a lot to learn there. The excerpts below are just a few highlights I snipped out.
Global Warming and Nature’s Thermostat
by Roy W. Spencer

Roy W. Spencer received his PhD in meteorology at the University […]

22 June 2007

Have I been too hard on the NCSE?

William Dembski

Perhaps I’ve been too hard on the NCSE, always referring to the group as the National Center for Science Education Selling Evolution and questioning the organization’s integrity and purpose. So, to make amends, I’m helping to circulate this advertisement for a position they are trying to fill. Note the paragraph in bold. I expect many […]

22 June 2007

Teleology and ID in physics, ID-inspired least action principles

scordova

Teleology has been completely rejected by evolutionary biologists. This rejection is unfortunate, because, teleology is alive and well in physics
Frank Tipler,
World Renowned Cosmologist on Sci Phi Show!

Much of the discussion of ID has been in biology. But the notion of ID and teleology has permeated the history of physics from the beginning to the […]

22 June 2007

Okay: So evolutionary biologist Larry Moran does NOT believe in evolutionary psychology …

O'Leary

Responding to something I wrote at the Post-Darwinist about the popularity of evolutionary psychology among atheists, Moran (a textbook co-author you may well have suffered through in school), responds:
Just for the record, Denyse, I’m one of those evil atheists that you like to rant about but I’m totally opposed to evolutionary psychology.
But you already knew […]

22 June 2007

Eugene Koonin: REALLY Big Numbers Solve the Problem of the Origin of Life — and Hence, There’s No Need for Design

Paul Nelson

If you visit Eugene Koonin’s lab at the NCBI — that’s Dr. Koonin standing just to the right of the woman in the red sweater — brush up on your Russian. Many of the most prolific scientists in comparative genomics work in Koonin’s group, hail from Russia, and love the Big Questions, such as […]

22 June 2007

Senators Clinton and Boxer learn from Darwin zealots

DaveScot

In an interesting bit of news Senator Inohofe stated he overheard Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) saying they wanted to stifle conservative talk radio via legislation. Now where have we seen this tactic before - when people want to criticize something and you can’t counter it with facts you turn […]

22 June 2007

China now #1 producer of CO2 in the world

DaveScot

China Overtakes U.S. as No. 1 Emitter of Carbon Dioxide
By Audra Ang
June 21, 2007 7:54AM
Excerpt:
A new study by a Dutch research group said China, which relies on coal for two-thirds of its energy needs and makes 44 percent of the world’s cement, produced 6.23 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2006. In comparison, […]

21 June 2007

Point-Counterpoint: Steven Weinberg vs. Eugenie Scott

William Dembski

“The world needs to wake up from the long nightmare of religion. Anything we scientists can do to weaken the hold of religion should be done, and may in fact be our greatest contribution to civilisation.” –Steven Weinberg, NYT, 21nov06
“Scott describes herself as atheist but does not discount the importance of spirituality. . . . […]

21 June 2007

Zuck is out of luck, marsupial findings vindicate Behe, Denton, Hoyle

scordova

I attempted mathematics….but I got on very slowly. The work was repugnant to me, chiefly from my not being able to see any meaning in the early steps in algebra….I do not believe that I should ever have succeeded beyond a very low grade.
Charles Darwin,
writing of his ineptitude and dislike of math

The inability of […]

21 June 2007

Yet Another Earth Scientist Debunks Global Warming

DaveScot

Read the sunspots
The mud at the bottom of B.C. fjords reveals that solar output drives climate change - and that we should prepare now for dangerous global cooling
R. TIMOTHY PATTERSON, professor and director of the Geoscience Centre, Carleton University
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Excerpt:
Our finding of a direct correlation between variations in the brightness of the […]

20 June 2007

The Edge of Evolution: The Obvious, Presented With Details

GilDodgen

I’ve read Michael Behe’s The Edge of Evolution. Michael offers hard evidence for what most people recognize. (Those who have been blinded by Darwinist indoctrination are obviously excluded.)
Mutations break things. However, on occasion, with huge probabilistic resources, a broken thing can promote survival in a specific environment (e.g., bacterial antibiotic resistance).
But broken things represent a […]

20 June 2007

The Church of the Living Darwin

William Dembski

20 June 2007

The Legacy of Dover

William Dembski

20 June 2007

“The Irrationality of Richard Dawkins” — by Frank Beckwith

William Dembski

This just appeared at FIRST THINGS:
The Irrationality of Richard Dawkins
By Francis J. Beckwith
Wednesday, June 20, 2007, 6:47 AM
In his 2006 book, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins laments the career path of Kurt Wise, who has, since 2006, held the positions of professor of science and theology and director of the Center for Theology and Science […]