Anti-Science

You all (or y'all or yins or whatever) know about the article in Science that says Americans are dumber than everyone on Earth except the Turkish (see the concise version from the NYTimes if you don't have access to Science). It's because we don't know jack shit about evolution. And we don't know jack shit about evolution because we don't know jack shit about genetics. Evolution? Genetics? I ain't interested in those things. Nope. I'm probably the only ScienceBlogs blogger who didn't offer his 3¢ (inflation, bitches) on this issue. If I had, I would have written what John Hawks wrote, only…
The NYTimes has published an essay by Lawrence Krauss on the Kansas School Board elections, the anti-science religious right, and religious faith. Krauss argues that scientific ignorance is not the same thing as religious belief. There are some fundamentalists whose faith prevent them from acknowledging strongly supported scientific consensus. But there are also a lot of scientists who attack the religious beliefs of others, and Krauss doesn't like that either. Krauss concludes his essay thusly: But when we win minor skirmishes, as we did in Kansas, we must remember that the issue is far…
Creationists devote most of their energy towards undermining science education. Whatever their flavor, they are not scientists and they don't do science. Creationists evolved into intelligent designers after Edwards v. Aguillard. Kitzmiller v. Dover was a huge blow to the intelligent design movement, showing that the "teach the controversy" mantra was a load of shit. There is no controversy. Evolutionary theory is solid, with both empirical observations and excellent models to back it up. The data supporting evolution come from disparate fields such as geology, genetics, developmental biology…
Razib wants us to come up with 10 assertions of 10 words or less which we believe that the public should know about evolutionary science. He also wants us to come up with our list before looking at his list, which means we're left to figure out what the hell he means without seeing any examples. My stab at this is below the fold, but you should come up with your own list before reading Razib's or mine (according to Razib). 10 Assertions about Evolution, in no particular order: Common ancestry is supported by multiple, independent lines of evidence. Evolution is not an entirely random…
I tend to avoid writing about creationists (despite what Orac believes) because I find them quite boring. Sure, they can be amusing (scoring high on the unintentional comedy scale), but I'm not a huge fan of willfull ignorance, deception, and attacks on eduction. I'd rather waste my time writing about real advances in biology instead of attempts to undermine the scientific method. So, I present for you, without much comment, some new anti-anti-evolution resources and a bit of anti-science from a US politician. The first is a pile blog where you can leave comments that would be deleted if…
Joe Morgan is a Hall of Fame baseball player and a former member of the Cincinnati's Big Red Machine. He is also a commentator for ESPN and a strong opponent of all the new fangled baseball statistics. Anyone who has listened to an ESPN broadcast of Major League Baseball has heard Morgan criticize the Moneyball style of managing baseball teams. There are some interesting parallels between Little Joe's position on baseball statistics and creationists' dissent from science. Ideally, baseball statistics should objectively measure the performance of individual players. Traditional baseball…
Hsien Lei is continuing her interview series at Genetics and Health. Interview #6 is with Psychologist Deborah Serani. When asked how genetics figured into her education, Dr. Serani replied: My family was very science-based given that my dad was a Chiropractor. I have a hard time following her logic. You'd think being "science-based" would steer someone away from quackery, or being a fake doctor would push someone from science.
They showed us the movie Flock of Dodos at the Evolution Meeting. Randy Olson (the director) was also there to field questions. So was Eugenie Scott. Someone asked about scientists boycotting the Kansas Kangaroo Court. Olson thought it was a bad idea because it made it look like the scientists couldn't deal with the "criticisms of evolution". Scott defended the boycott by arguing that because the school board's decision was predecided, scientists would have only legitimized Connie Morris and her posse of ignorance. In case you care, I agree with Genie. I think Flock of Dodos is a movie worth…
The Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity [sic] (aka, Doctors Doubting Darwin) are planning to Resolve the Conflict between Darwin and Design. Something tells me the conflict will not be resolved using rational discourse, but rather apologetics and obfuscation. I have reproduced a list of physicians and surgeons to avoid below the fold. (Via Red State Rabble.) This list is updated at least monthly and was last updated on June 15, 2006. Members are listed alphabetically. Name Medical Practice City and State Dr. Katherine A. Anderegg Pathology Sullivan's Island, South Carolina Dr.…
Read this reply to Francis Collins on Pharyngula. Collins, one of the biggest movers and shakers behind the human genome project, is also Christian and very eager to tell the world about it. Now he's written a book about his faith. Doc Myers takes Collins to task for the shaky ground upon which his faith rests. I'll go after Collins's total disregard for science in defending his faith. PZ links to an interview with Collins, in which the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute's understanding of evolution is described as follows: Among Collins's most controversial beliefs…
The Lehigh University Department of Biological Sciences was awarded $1.8 million by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to fund undergraduate education. No word if Michael Behe will use any of the money to fund his gigantic research program in intelligent design.
Billy D (no, not that Billy Dee) is pimping an anti-evolution book by John Sanford. I refuse to link to outright liars, but you can find a link to Bill's blog here. More after the jump. From what I can gather, the author postulates that the human genome is deteriorating, and this is evidence against Darwinian evolution. This is another argument -- in a long line of many others -- that basically amounts to the same bullshit: natural selection cannot explain the diversity of life on earth. Interestingly, Michael Lynch used a similar argument (albeit without supernatural forces) in describing…
Bad Astronomy has a rant up on Tony Snow (the new White House Press Secretary) and his creationist tendencies. I won't linger on the political implications of having an anti-science advocates in our government, but one quote from Snow is so ridiculous it needs to be pointed out: These little insights give us the basis for admitting both views into the educational system. Evolutionary theory, like ID, isn't verifiable or testable. It's pure hypothesis -- like ID -- although very popular in the scientific community. Its limits help illuminate the fact that hypotheses are only as durable as the…