Monthly Archives: April 2011
Animal minds: What you already knew but weren’t supposed to …
| April 28, 2011 | Posted by News under Animal minds |
A curious feature of science literature in a materialist age is the frequent appearance of stories about things everyone knows are true that we are now assured are “proven by research.” Take the fact that animals have personalities: This ScienceDaily story (April 28,) and this related one (May 30, 2007) both announce that research shows… more
Just askin’: Why don’t Christian Darwinists read the news?
| April 28, 2011 | Posted by O'Leary under Christian Darwinism, Intelligent Design |
Why are they ?? fronting Darwinism to Christians “You can have Jesus and Darwin too”, apparently unaware of the fact that many once-virtuous, still faithful evolutionists are checking out of Darwinism into the great unknown, due to evidence? Why doesn’t the evidence that Darwinian mechanism probably doesn’t work as advertised mean anything? = Why do Christians… more
Coffee!! Human nature vs The Experts
| April 28, 2011 | Posted by News under Psychology |
Remember this as you direct your aid dollar wisely: Are there really more than a billion people going to bed hungry each night? Our research on this question has taken us to rural villages and teeming urban slums around the world, collecting data and speaking with poor people about what they eat and what else… more
He said it: Steve Fuller on theistic evolution and the Darwinian challenge – Francis Collins edition
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by News under Christian Darwinism, Intelligent Design, theistic evolution |
Warwick U’s Steve Fuller, author of Dissent over Descent (2008): Our first witness is the poster boy Francis Collins, the born-again Christian who led the US National Institutes of Health’s drive to map the human genome. His recent bestseller, The Language of God, recounts how his bohemian upbringing resulted in a spiritual emptiness that only… more
When Jane Science met Joe Politics, guess which one got corrupted?
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by News under Intelligent Design |
At Townhall, Jonah Goldberg analyzes the recent “Cooling on Global Warming”: Why has climate change lost its oomph? Plumer lays out some of the reasons, though he minimizes the damage greens have inflicted on their own credibility thanks to the 2009 Climategate email scandal and wildly overstated predictions. For instance, the United Nations predicted there would… more
From The Nature of Nature – Ethics as illusion put in place by natural selection?
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by News under Darwinism, Intelligent Design, Philosophy |
In The Nature of Nature , Darwinian philosopher Michael Ruse offers us his take on ethics: “Ethics is an illusion put in place by natural selection to make us good cooperators.” (—Michael Ruse and Edward O. Wilson, 1985), p. 855) Wilson has since dropped off this vine, so let’s just go with Ruse: What kind of… more
Genetic studies: Twins chose a spouse like themselves, not like opposite sex parent
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by News under Genetics |
From “What Can Twins Tell Us About Mate Choice?” (ScienceDaily, Apr. 26, 2011), we learn: What factors influence our choice of a mate? Is it our genes? Does a man look for someone like his mother and a woman someone her father? None of the above, according to a study of Australian twins. Body size, personality,… more
How to hold a (scientific) revolution in the Middle East – and how not to
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by O'Leary under Intelligent Design, Religion, Science, science education |
In “The Middle East is ripe for a scientific revolution”, (New Scientist 27 April 2011) Ahmed Zewail offers, I see three essential ingredients for progress. First is the building of human resources by promoting literacy, ensuring participation of women in society and improving education. Second, there is a need to reform national constitutions to allow… more
He said it: Good explanations are “the source of all progress”
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by News under Darwinism, Philosophy, Science |
In “Why science is the source of all progress,” (New Scientist, 26 April 2011), Oxford quantum computation expert David Deutsch explains, Solutions always reveal new problems. So one must also always seek a better hard-to-vary explanation. That, at its heart, is the scientific method. As Richard Feynman remarked: “Science is what we have learned about… more
Coffee!!: World’s most complex Rube Goldberg machine …
| April 27, 2011 | Posted by News under Irreducible Complexity |
… here (MSNBC, April 27, 2011): This record-smashing Rube Goldberg developed by engineering students at Purdue University takes you on a journey from the big bang to the apocalypse in 244 easy steps — culminating in … [what did you expect?] Fans of Mike Behe will recall his use of the concept in Darwin’s Black Box:… more
Why Engineering Science is Critical Concerning an Objective Evaluation of Darwinian Theory
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by GilDodgen under Intelligent Design |
Engineering is often thought of as one of the “lower” sciences. I propose the opposite, that the engineering disciplines are in the category of the most rigorous sciences (such as mathematics), because they expose themselves to empirical and logical invalidation. This is in complete contrast to Darwinian evolutionary “theory,” which is perpetually amorphous, explains everything… more
NASA’s future in largely private hands?: Will the organization’s pronouncements on life in the universe change?
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by News under Cosmology, Extraterrestrial life |
At MSNBC’s Cosmic Log, Alan Boyle tells us “How tycoons will fuel space flight” (April 22, 2011): With the shuttle program winding down, the future of American spaceflight may well depend on how starry-eyed tycoons spend their money — and some of NASA’s money as well. more
Review of Giberson & Collins at Patheos.com
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by William Dembski under Christian Darwinism, Darwinism, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science |
I was invited to review Karl Giberson and Francis Collins’ newest book, THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE AND FAITH, at patheos.com. Below are the first few paragraphs as well as a link to the entire review. —————————– BioLogos and Theistic Evolution: Selling the Product “There’s nothing wrong with selling one’s ideas. But it needs to be… more
Coffee, last call!!: The difference mindfulness makes in relationships
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by O'Leary under Mind |
Non-materialist neuroscientists, friends of design, often talk about “mindfulness,” that is, the capacity of making changes in the brain by directing attention. Or, as psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz puts it, You are not your brain. Recent research suggests one difference mindfulness makes: more
Atheist neuroscientist: Why mechanist accounts of consciousness always fail
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by News under Intelligent Design, Mind |
No, not what you think: More from Raymond Tallis, this time What neuroscience cannot tell us about ourselves (New Atlantis, Fall 2010), debunking “the tropes of neuromythology.”: So when we are talking about the brain, we are talking about nothing more than a piece of matter. If we keep this in mind, we will have… more
ID Predictions: Foundational principles underlying the predictions proposed by Jonathan M. and others.
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by no-man under Intelligent Design, Science |
PART I: BASIC PREMISES Many predictions of ID flow from two underlying hypotheses, both of which are open to scientific investigation and refutation. If you miss these, however, other ID predictions may not make sense, since many arise from them in an important way. It is my belief that much of the puzzlement regarding ID… more
ID theory makes progress in Hungary, probably thanks to Hindus
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by News under Intelligent Design |
Dane Leif Asmark sends this PowerPoint (static here), which notes the poster campaign, the film, and debates … in most Western countries, not half as much is reported. Written debate with the Hungarian Skeptic Society- Written rules for the debate, moderation. – Four exchanges of letters. -Is ID a reasonable answer to the origin of… more
Trouble in Paradise? BCSE respond (it ain’t pretty)
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by Steno under Intelligent Design |
BCSE’s Roger Stanyard doesn’t hold back in his anger at Richard Dawkins I haven ‘t heard Roger Stanyard of BCSE speak about ID or Creationism in quite such strong tones as he denounces Richard Dawkins and friends. He calls the ‘Why Evolution is True’ blog a ‘kangeroo court baying for blood’ and ’One of the… more
DNA repair mechanisms reveal a contradiction in evolutionary theory
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by David Tyler under Intelligent Design |
Digital codes can be protected against failure. A variety of options have been explored by computer programmers because it is important to catch malfunctions early and alert the user to a problem. “In digital codes, the bits are usually packed into sets of eight bits called bytes. Normally, seven bits are used to record information… more
Contest: “What would be acceptable evidence for other universes” – judged
| April 26, 2011 | Posted by News under Intelligent Design |
The contest (Saturday, April 16) asked: What would be acceptable evidence for other universes? And the prize is a copy of The Nature of Nature , which goes to Brent at 16 (see below). (Next contest still in progress: Is Richard Dawkins or Francis Collins the cuter poster boy for selling Darwinism? Closes April 30.)… more