Commentary on the Endless Dispute Between Evolution and Creationism
Jason Rosenhouse received his PhD in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 2000. He subsequently spent three years as a post-doc at Kansas State University. Observing the machinations of the Kansas Board of Education led to his unhealthy obsession with issues related to evolution and creationism. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, VA.
November 30, 2006
Category: Politics
Here's Bill O'Reilly expressing the latest bit of wisdom from the American Right: The problem in Iraq is not American. The problem is the Iraqis themselves. They're not fighting for their freedom in a way that puts the bad keys...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:46 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 29, 2006
Category: Chess
Vladimir Kramnik will receive a lengthy section in any book devoted to history's greatest chess players. He's been a top grandmaster for close to twnety years. He defeated the seemingly invincible Gary Kasparov in a straight-up match. He has successfully...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:50 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
That last post notwithstanding, I do think Larry Moran deserves criticism for one thing. He has been very unfair to Ken Milller. For example, in this post Moran writes: The Neville Chamberlain Atheists object when Behe talks about intelligent design...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:24 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Religion
Okay, I'm back. Did I miss anything? Other than the giant kerfuffle between Larry Moran and P.Z. Myers on the one hand and Ed Brayton and Pat Hayes et al, on the other, that is. Things started with this post,...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:22 PM • 25 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 15, 2006
Category: Administrative
I will be travelling for the next ten days or so. First up is the big Math Symposium at Western Kentucky University, this Friday. I will be delivering two scintallating, edge-of-your seats barn-burners, both aimed at undergraduates. One will be...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:21 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Religion
John Wilkins has offered this reply to my criticism of his earlier essay on the subject of agnosticism. Well worth reading, even though I sitll think he's wrong. He seems to think that in order to be justified in asserting...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:11 PM • 35 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 13, 2006
Category: Religion
For the final installment of my Dawkins series, let's have a look at what my SciBling, John Wilkins has to say. In this post, Wilkins takes issue with Dawkins' discussion of agnosticism. Dawkins believes that agnosticism is unjustified fence-sitting. Wilkins...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:15 PM • 40 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 10, 2006
Category: Miscellaneous
I'm not in the mood for a long blog entry today, so allow me simply to echo Orac's thoughts on the debut of the trailer for Spider-Man 3. It does, indeed, appear that it will rock. The feature villain this...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:31 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 9, 2006
Category: Evolution
Philosopher Thomas Nagel reviewed Dawkins' book for The New Republic. Sadly, the review does not seem to be freely available online. Nagel begins with the standard talking points about Dawkins working outside his field of expertise and about how contemptuous...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 1:53 PM • 30 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 8, 2006
Category: Politics
One of the main themes coming from the punditocracy in the wake of yesterday's election is that the Democrats are making a mistake if they think anyone likes them. This was strictly an anti-Bish result, apparently. If Demcrats start following...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 10:06 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
Some initial reactions to the election results: Last night's Democratic landslide is complete, 100%, unambiguous good news. P.Z. manages to see the cloud rather than the silver lining. Not me. Even the fact that I was grading papers during much...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:39 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 7, 2006
Category: Politics
From TAPPED: Our own Alec Oveis, who sadly left the Prospect few months ago, calls in from Connecticut, where he's volunteering on behalf of Chris Murphy (one of Tom's “Dropkick Murphys” positioned to defeat GOP incumbents this year). He reports...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 1:59 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 6, 2006
Category: Mathematics
I'll return to my Dawkins series later in the week. But after all our exertions recently trying to resolve the mysteries of the universe, I find myself in the mood for a straight math post. So, inspired by some comments...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:38 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 3, 2006
Category: Anti-Creationism
My new essay for CISCOP's Creation and ID Watch site is now up. This time: Who Designed the Designer? There's a reason it's a classic!...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:29 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
Speaking of grotesque misrepresentations of people's words, a few thoughts about the Kerry flap. Here is what Kerry said to students at Pasadena City College: You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:26 PM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Evolution
I have two more installments planned for my Dawkins series, but I think I will hold them over to next week. Instead we really must pause to consider the latest example of mind-boggling ID sleaziness. The story begins with Tim...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:52 PM • 52 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 2, 2006
Category: Religion
Next up is Gregg Easterbrook's review of Dawkins. Overall the review was a pleasant surprise. Given Easterbrook's track record, I would have expected a barely coherent anti-Dawkins tirade. Actually the review is pretty thoughtful, and I agree with some of...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:50 PM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 1, 2006
Category: Religion
Jim Holt wrote the review of The God Delusion for The New York Times. He is described as a regular contributor to the New Yorker and the The New York Times Magazine, and is apparently working on a book on...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:41 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
