Monthly Archives: December 2007
Practical Biology (Not)
| December 20, 2007 | Posted by Dave S. under Biology, Humor, Just For Fun |
Yet another ancestor to modern whales is hypothesized. It’s hard to believe people get paid to produce stuff like this. Whales may be related to deer-like beast By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Wed Dec 19, 6:55 PM ET WASHINGTON – The gigantic ocean-dwelling whale may have evolved from a land animal the size of… more
One thing about Darwinists – they are consistent. They really do NOT believe in information
| December 19, 2007 | Posted by O'Leary under The Design of Life |
Bill Dembski has drawn my attention to the Darwinists who vote up negative reviews at Amazon of Design of Life, his textbook supplement with Jonathan Wells, on whose behalf I blog at Design of Life blog. He writes, The Design of Life has 13 five-star reviews and 4 one-star reviews. None of the one-star reviews… more
Highlights from Mike Gene’s THE DESIGN MATRIX
| December 19, 2007 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
A friend of mine emailed me the following quotes from Mike Gene’s new book THE DESIGN MATRIX, available from Amazon.com here. “The vast majority of scientists do not view Intelligent Design as science and I happen to agree with them.” (pg. xi) “I should make it explicitly clear from the start that I did not… more
Modern Biology vs. Historic Biology
| December 19, 2007 | Posted by Dave S. under Biology, Intelligent Design |
In a private listserv the question was recently asked by one of the participants: Just out of curiousity, what would we consider to be the fundamentals of biology? Obviously, you can do biology without trying to shove everything into Darwinian just-so stories. Professor Dembski thought my answer worth repeating on Uncommon Descent so here it… more
Are Those Without Formal Academic Training in Evolutionary Biology Justified in Challenging the “Experts”?
| December 19, 2007 | Posted by GilDodgen under Biology, Comp. Sci. / Eng., Darwinism |
This is a recurring challenge that most recently reared its head in a comment concerning my essay, Why Mathematicians, Computer Scientists, and Engineers Tend to be More Skeptical of Darwinian Claims. The argument goes like this (as presented by the commenter in the link provided above): The majority of degreed computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians… more
New Design of Life blog promises exciting coverage of intelligent design issues
| December 18, 2007 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design |
The blog for the Design of Life textbook supplement went live this morning (I’m the lead blogger). The first three posts: more
The New York Times – Et tu, Brute?
| December 18, 2007 | Posted by Dave S. under Global Warming, Off Topic |
The New York Times is giving lip service to a letter signed and sent by 100 scientists to the UN Global Warming conference in Bali. The letter essentially said that climate change is natural, unstoppable, and attempts to control climate change rather than adapt to it only serves to make the problem of adapting to… more
Compromise?
| December 17, 2007 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design |
Dr. Sewell’s post below generated a fairly heated debate, but it is not my purpose to address the substance of his claim or his opponents’ responses. Instead, I was fascinated by a couple of the commenters’ calls for “compromise” between the ID camp and the NDE camp. As a general matter, “compromise” is a very fine thing, and… more
[Offtopic:] The Amazing Paul Potts
| December 17, 2007 | Posted by William Dembski under Off Topic |
Watch the faces of the judges as this fellow walks on the stage. Based on his looks and the fact that he is a cell phone salesman, they initially misjudge him. Sometimes you have to stop believing what everyone is telling you and start listening to your passion. Click here: Phone Salesman Amazes Crowd –… more
“Made from Scratch”??
| December 17, 2007 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution, Informatics, Intelligent Design, Science |
As you read this article from the Washington Post, ask yourself how far such research would get without enzymes and a host of other materials “borrowed” from existing life-forms. “From scratch” properly should mean “made only with chemicals available in a realistic prebiotic environment.” That’s not what we’re dealing with here. And even if we… more
Why Mathematicians, Computer Scientists, and Engineers Tend to be More Skeptical of Darwinian Claims
| December 17, 2007 | Posted by GilDodgen under Comp. Sci. / Eng., Darwinism, Science |
Larry Moran’s presentation in a comment in Granville Sewell’s UD post, I found not particularly persuasive, for the following reasons. I’m not interested in definitions of science; I’m interested in how stuff actually works. I’m perfectly amenable to being convinced that the complexity, information content, and machinery of living systems can be explained by stochastic… more
Jean Rostand on Evolution
| December 16, 2007 | Posted by Granville Sewell under Intelligent Design |
In his 1956 book, “A Biologist’s View”, French biologist Jean Rostand wrote: “If it is true that neither Lamarckism nor mutationism [Darwinism] enable us to understand the mechanism of evolution, we must have the courage to recognise that we know nothing of this mechanism…Some people may perhaps feel that such a confession of ignorance plays… more
What would happen to science if Darwin ceased to be God?
| December 15, 2007 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design, The Design of Life |
Recently, I received and published this comment on this post about Oxford mathematician John Lennox’s book, God’s Undertaker, from “curwen”: As an historian, with some background in the cultural and social history of Darwinism, I’m interested in how philosophy effects scientific practice. In my search for current material on the subject, I ran across this… more
Dembski interviewed over Design of Life
| December 14, 2007 | Posted by DLH under Constitution, Education, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science, The Design of Life |
Friday Five: William A. Dembski by Devon Williams, associate editor, CitizenLink.org ‘Are there patterns in biological systems that would point us to intelligence?’ Leading scientist and mathematician William A. Dembski has devoted years to researching intelligent design. He is a research professor in philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been featured on the… more
Chris Comer’s Actual Email
| December 13, 2007 | Posted by William Dembski under Education, Religion, Science |
Chris Comer’s firing was briefly discussed on this blog here. Today the Dallas Morning News had a front page (above the fold) about her case (go here). Below is the offending email that got her fired. As you read it, keep in mind that The Center for Inquiry is a virulently atheistic organization (see here… more
Pope for sound stewardship
| December 12, 2007 | Posted by DLH under Creationism, Darwinism, Global Warming, Intelligent Design, Off Topic, Science |
Pope Benedict XVI has formally challenged governments to address the moral issue of placing humanity above the environment. He calls for political decisions to be based on sound science, not political agendas. His challenge to sound science over ideological pressures parallels issues in the origins debate. Note particularly the parallels between differing presuppositions versus consequences… more
Posting Too Quickly Error Message
| December 12, 2007 | Posted by Dave S. under Adminstrative |
I put a fix into the WordPress program code for this problem. Please let me know here if it’s still a problem for anyone. more
Oxford mathematician John Lennox’s God’s Undertaker an excellent review of the design controversy
| December 11, 2007 | Posted by O'Leary under The Design of Life |
Here’s my review of Oxford Mathematician John Lennox’s God’s Undertaker: Has science buried God? – a highly recommended riposte to the materialist view of the universe. more
Do Dawkins and Dennett Incite to Hatred?
| December 11, 2007 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Philosophy, Religion |
I live in Arvada, Colorado, and for many years I attended the church associated with the YWAM shooting on Sunday. Earlier this year I befriended two of the young men going through the training program there, one from New Zealand and the other from England. I am numb with sorrow, and my prayers go up… more
Skeptical Scientists Urge World To ‘Have the Courage to Do Nothing’ At UN Conference
| December 11, 2007 | Posted by Dave S. under Global Warming, Off Topic |
The original article is here. Skeptical Scientists Urge World To ‘Have the Courage to Do Nothing’ At UN Conference BALI, Indonesia – An international team of scientists skeptical of man-made climate fears promoted by the UN and former Vice President Al Gore, descended on Bali this week to urge the world to “have the courage… more