Monthly Archives: October 2010
Yet More “Junk DNA” Not-so-Junk After All
| October 20, 2010 | Posted by Jonathan M under Intelligent Design |
Proponents of intelligent design (ID) have long predicted that many of the features of living systems which are said to exhibit “sub-optimal” design will, in time, turn out to have a rationally engineered purpose. This is one of several areas where ID actively encourages a fruitful research agenda, in a manner in which neo-Darwinian evolution… more
GTAs: Agents of Change
| October 20, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Oceanic bacteria can swap genes remarkably fast, new findings reveal. Such horizontal gene transfer is facilitated, in this case, by tiny gene-transfer agents, or GTAs: Read more more
It doesn’t matter what we name them…
| October 19, 2010 | Posted by Paul Nelson under Intelligent Design |
…the “machines” of the cell will still be what they are: complex, sophisticated molecular systems, essential for the living state. Like the proteasome on the right, a sub-cellular machine that degrades proteins, among its other functions. Oops, there I went and did it — used the “machinery” language that Massimo Pigliucci (CUNY) and Maarten Boudry… more
Naturalism is a priori evolutionary materialism, so it both begs the question and self-refutes
| October 19, 2010 | Posted by kairosfocus under Atheism, Darwinism, Design inference, Education, Evolution, Intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, Multiverse, Philosophy, Science |
The thesis expressed in the title of this “opening bat” post is plainly controversial, and doubtless will be hotly contested and/or pointedly ignored. However, when all is said and done, it will be quite evident that it has the merit that it just happens to be both true and well-warranted. So, let us begin. Noted… more
President Obama: Darwinian Processes Driving Voters to Republicans
| October 18, 2010 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design |
At a fundraiser in Boston President Obama said: Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we’re hardwired not to always think clearly when we’re scared, and the country’s scared. In my… more
Leigh Van Valen (1935-2010)
| October 18, 2010 | Posted by Paul Nelson under Biography, Intelligent Design |
Leigh Van Valen — an evolutionary biologist for whom the word “polymath” is entirely appropriate — died this past weekend, after a long illness. Leigh was a student of both Theodosius Dobzhansky and G.G. Simpson at Columbia University, and spent most of the rest of his career at the University of Chicago, where he served… more
Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of evolutionary psychology? I think not!
| October 17, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
Over at HuffPo, Professor Matt Rossano, Head of the Department of Psychology at Southeastern Louisiana University, has posted a thought-provoking article entitled, “Thomas Aquinas: Saint of Evolutionary Psychologists?” Let me say at the outset that Professor Rossano is a very fair-minded scientist, who has made a genuinely sympathetic attempt to answer the question, “How did… more
Multiverse: Recent studies suggest that some alternative universes “may not be so inhospitable” – assuming they exist
| October 17, 2010 | Posted by O'Leary under Cosmology, Fine tuning, Multiverse |
Well, the supernatural may be “outside the scope of science,” but universes whose existence is not demonstrated, which are imagined principally to get out of a jam with the evidence from this universe, are reasonably doubted, despite thought experiments. The tentative tone here is well justified. It should be used more often. more
We Assume We Are Not in the Matrix Too
| October 16, 2010 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design |
markf asks what observation would falsify ID. Gpuccio responded that an example of an incredibly improbable digital string that was developed in a stochastic system would tend to falsify ID and gave as an example 500 coins tosses that when interpreted as a code spelled out a meaningful message. Not good enough says markf. “Nothing… more
Three Simple Syllogisms
| October 16, 2010 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design |
In the comment thread to a prior post gpuccio, markf and I had a little debate about whether functional complex specified information can be generated by random (stochastic) processes. BTW, before going on let me say that I truly appreciate markf and our other opponents who appear regularly on these pages. How boring it would… more
Hummingbirds: Elaborate Trappings Of The Nectar Eater
| October 15, 2010 | Posted by Robert Deyes under Intelligent Design |
During the 1990s I had untold opportunities to witness the full exuberance of nature’s rich offerings. My parents’ house on the southwestern edge of Ecuador’s capital Quito was set in a prime location for observing all manner of wildlife. And most memorable of all were the hummingbirds that frequented our garden attracted as they were to the… more
Atheist Philosopher Joel Marks Finally Admits That Without God There Can Be No Morality
| October 15, 2010 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design |
See David Hart’s account of Marks’ realization of the “blindingly obvious” here. more
Do You “Believe” In “Evolution”?
| October 14, 2010 | Posted by GilDodgen under Intelligent Design |
Yet again, we have this utterly meaningless question asked of an electoral candidate during a debate, in an attempt to discredit her. My response, had I been asked this question, would have been as follows: Does evolution mean that living things have changed over time? Does evolution mean universal common ancestry? Does evolution mean that… more
Back to School Part VI
| October 14, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
Evolutionists are adamant that science must be free of religion or anything that smacks of religion. And while that sounds good, evolutionists are all-the-while driven by religion. They are sure all of biology is a fluke because of their religious convictions. Religion is both the source of evolution’s certainty and the target of its wrath.… more
The Limits of Self Organisation
| October 13, 2010 | Posted by Richard Johns under Biology, Darwinism, Informatics, Mathematics, Natural selection, Self-Org. Theory |
I’m writing to tell people about a paper of mine that was published in Synthese last month, titled: “Self-organisation in dynamical systems: a limiting result”. While the paper doesn’t address intelligent design as such, it indirectly establishes strict limits to what such evolutionary mechanisms as natural selection can accomplish. In particular, it shows that physical… more
Hand Waving is Not an Argument
| October 13, 2010 | Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design |
In this article British neuroscientist Patrick Haggard has his assistant stimulate parts of his brain in a way that causes his fingers to twitch. Then the scientist announces in magisterial tones, “See, we have no free will.” Rubbish. For decades we have known that stimulating certain areas of the brain with electrical impulses causes reactions… more
The human face of Neanderthal Man
| October 13, 2010 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
The archetypal image of Neanderthals has been one that reinforced the Darwinian story of human evolution. A Washington Post story puts it like this: “Early study of Neanderthals described them as very hairy, brutish, unable to talk or walk like more-modern humans.” Although things have changed slowly, media presentations have continued to create an impression… more
Experimental Evolution in Fruit Flies
| October 13, 2010 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism for the study of genetics and some laboratory populations have been bred for different life-history traits over the course of 30 years. Professor Michael Rose, of UC Irvine, began breeding flies with accelerated development in 1991 (600 generations ago). Doctoral student Molly Burke compared the experimental flies with a… more
For What Profit?
| October 13, 2010 | Posted by Cornelius Hunter under Intelligent Design |
The 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District court case was a disaster for evolution. This may seem strange given that the ruling struck down the teaching of the opposing Intelligent Design idea. Evolutionists celebrated the decision, how could it be a disaster for them? It was a disaster because, as is sometimes the case… more
My faith is falsifiable, Professor Coyne. Is yours?
| October 12, 2010 | Posted by vjtorley under Intelligent Design |
In a recent article in USA Today, Professor Jerry Coyne made the following claim: I’ve never met a Christian, for instance, who has been able to tell me what observations about the universe would make him abandon his beliefs in God and Jesus. (I would have thought that the Holocaust could do it, but apparently… more