Monthly Archives: April 2010
Professor Antony Flew dies at 87
| April 13, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Atheism |
Roy Varghese has just notified me of the death of Professor emeritus Antony Flew, the rationalist philosopher who died on April 8 aged 87, spent much of his life denying the existence of God, and then in 2004, dramatically changed his mind. Here is Britain’s Telegraph’s obituary. I feel lonely now. I remember sitting in the… more
The Molecular Revolution’s unfulfilled promises of simplicity
| April 13, 2010 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
There has been a complexity explosion in biology – the fuse was lit in 1953 when the structure of DNA was discovered, but during the past two decades we have witnessed a dramatic expansion of data pointing to unanticipated levels of complexity. The hype surrounding the Human Genome Project suggested it would give us the… more
Flexoelectric Motors of the Inner Ear
| April 13, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
One of the many fascinating designs in biology is the workings of our senses. Here, for example, is a description of recent findings on the actions of hair cells in the inner ear. It is yet another example of incredible biology at work:Â Read more more
Belief in Evolution No Longer a Metric for Science Literacy at NSB-NSF. YAY!
| April 12, 2010 | Posted by scordova under Darwinism, Education |
There are many biologists and philosophers of science who are highly scientifically literate who question certain aspects of the theory of evolution John Bruer National Science Board, National Science Foundation Lead Reviewer What Happened to Evolution at NSB Way to go National Science Foundation. Say it again!, “There are many biologists and philosophers of science… more
Coffee!! Well, anyway, don’t run the OTHER way
| April 12, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Animal minds |
A friend wrote recently to tell me that we learned recently from the BBC that toads can ‘predict earthquakes’ and seismic activity Common toads appear to be able to sense an impending earthquake and will flee their colony days before the seismic activity strikes. The evidence comes from a population of toads which left their… more
Mitotic Bookmarking Facilitates Transmission of Genetic Programming
| April 12, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
As you read this many of the cells in your body are in a gradual process of division which results in the production of two daughter cells. In this process, known as mitosis, the cell duplicates its contents, including its DNA, before dividing. But the hardware is only part of a cell. Like a computer… more
A Response to Professor Feser
| April 11, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
Professor Edward Feser is an intrepid philosopher, who is not afraid to confront error head-on and expose it for what it is. That is an admirable trait. He is also a former atheist, who now defends religion from a traditional Roman Catholic perspective. In his book The Last Superstition (St. Augustine’s Press, 2008; available here… more
Self-organized Criticality
| April 11, 2010 | Posted by niwrad under Darwinism, Intelligent Design, Physics |
Many conceptual and experimental attempts have been made by evolutionists to explain the arise of the huge complexity and organization of nature based on unguided processes, that is without the intervention of an organizing intelligence. Among them I recall those related to chaos theory, evolutionary algorithms, emergent properties, far-from-equilibrium dynamical systems, self-organized criticality (SOC). Here… more
NCSE’s Hess Says: “ID is Blasphemous”, Atheist Rosenhouse Begs to Differ
| April 11, 2010 | Posted by scordova under Humor, Intelligent Design, Religion |
What are the central theological failings of intelligent design? First, it is blasphemous. Peter Hess, Faith Project Director, NCSE more
Darwin’s Take-Home Message: The Great Contrast
| April 11, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Charles Darwin spent many years working on his ideas about evolution before publishing them in 1859. Darwin continued with revisions for another 17 years, finally stopping with his final edition, six years before he died. In his heartfelt introduction to his tome Darwin provided the reader with a context. Many readers would not make it… more
‘Should Creationism Be Taught in British Classrooms?’
| April 10, 2010 | Posted by Steve Fuller under Creationism, Education, Evolution, Expelled, Free Speech, Intelligent Design, Science, theistic evolution |
This is the title of an opinion piece that appears in the latest issue of the liberal-left weekly UK magazine, New Statesman. It is written by Michael Reiss, who 18 months ago was forced out of his position as director of communications at the Royal Society because he said that creationist and ID views should… more
The View From Nowhere
| April 10, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
The objective of science is to be objective. Measurements, observations, explanations, hypotheses, theories, and laws should be free of personal opinion. Science should not depend on one’s perspective, but rather it should escape parochial viewpoints. It should take on, as Thomas Nagel put it, the view from nowhere. Some may argue that such objectivity is… more
Miracles
| April 9, 2010 | Posted by GilDodgen under Intelligent Design |
When asked if I believe in miracles I reply yes, and that I know of one for sure — on the grandest scale imaginable. What is a miracle? It is an event with no naturalistic explanation or cause. The event of the origin of the universe is, by definition, a miracle, since matter, energy, space… more
Insane Clown Posse Channels Francis Bacon
| April 9, 2010 | Posted by Paul Nelson under Intelligent Design |
Specifically, Bacon’s essay on atheism: God never wrought miracle to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. This is an obsolete, but still relevant, sense of “convince.” It means “to overcome or vanquish.” “‘Convince me!’ said the atheist.” In the original sense, this would mean, “Come on — defeat me.” Anyway, their video is… more
A Sound of Thunder: Another Fundamental Failure
| April 9, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
One of the most fundamental premises of evolutionary theory is that the evolutionary process is indeterminate. The species arose via a process which did not have them in mind. This is because, from mutations to comet strikes, evolution depends on sporadic, unguided events that know nothing of making species. Evolution is contingent on random events… more
Nature “writes back” to Behe Eight Years Later
| April 8, 2010 | Posted by scordova under Darwinism, Intelligent Design, Science |
Eight years ago, biochemist Michael Behe wrote this open letter to the prestigious scientific journal, Nature: Sir- As a public skeptic of the ability of Darwinian processes to account for complex cellular systems and a proponent of the hypothesis of intelligent design, (1) I often encounter a rebuttal that can be paraphrased as “no designer… more
Bruce Waltke and the Scientific Orthodoxy
| April 7, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Bruce Waltke, a Professor of Old Testament, has parted ways with Reformed Theological Seminary, perhaps due to controversies over his sympathies with evolution. Rod Dreher at BeliefNet worries that this is a dangerous disregard for science:Â Read more more
The Evolution of the Evolutionary Informatics Lab Website
| April 7, 2010 | Posted by William Dembski under Evolution, Intelligent Design |
Isn’t evolution swell … more
We’re not in Kansas Anymore
| April 7, 2010 | Posted by Clive Hayden under Education, Intelligent Design |
I hesitate to bring attention to a blog, called Thoughts from Kansas, written by Josh Rosenau (a grad student completing a doctorate in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas), because I don’t think it makes accurate arguments and doesn’t deserve to be promoted, even in a rebuttal. The blog… more
PZ Myers: The Anti-Authoritarian Authoritarian
| April 7, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Is there a religious influence and authoritarian tradition in science? Evolutionists such as PZ Myers reject any such notion. Though Myers relies on the usual theological truth claims that are fundamental to evolution, he is sure that science is free of all such nonsense. When he is not busy shutting down scientific inquiry with religious… more