creationism
pharyngula | November 17, 2007It's a measure of the DI's intellectual bankruptcy that they are pleased to have recruited Michael Medved to their cause. He's wingnut who loves Sasquatch; I don't even care for his movie reviews, which seem to consist of nothing but sanctimonious assessments of movies in the light of his reactionary social agenda.
One thing he's not, is any kind of scientist.
I guess it's not surprising. They've got HIV denialists, climate change denialists, Bush boosters, war and torture fans, and of course, a whole mob of creationists…tossing Bigfoot believer in the nut mix at the DI is a perfect fit.
pharyngula | November 17, 2007Hmmm. They're arguing about teaching ID in Orange county and in Polk county. Both places have sensible people pointing out that Intelligent Design creationism is not science (and probably also sensibly have visions of $3 million court costs wafting through their heads), while a few clueless ignoramuses are whining that it isn't fair, and that they need to give equal time to "the controversy"…the controversy that doesn't really exist except in the pages of Discovery Institute press releases.
You know these people are reading the Discovery Institute's propaganda — they're using the same buzz…
pharyngula | November 17, 2007Some people, after seeing the recent Dover documentary (now available online), have been wondering who the heck this Steve Fuller wanker is, and why he's defending Intelligent Design. Here's a philosopher to explain Fuller to you. You'll wish you hadn't asked.
gregladen | November 16, 2007Yet another way to make fun of the Creationists, the LOL Creashun Contest.
This is hybrid of cat blogging and blasphemy.
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gregladen | November 16, 2007Here is a preliminary list of resources for people to find out more about Intelligent Design. Please feel free to put this on your own site. If you want, email me and I'll send you the HTML code to make this one step easier. But you can also, if you are using Firefox, use "ctrl-u" to display the code and cut and paste it from there.
Please feel free to add to this resource for people who want to learn more about Intelligent Design.
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design…
pharyngula | November 16, 2007The Discovery Institute is spreading misinformation again. They have a document that implies that it would be OK for schools in at least some states to "teach the controversy", by which they mean that it is alright for teachers to promote Intelligent Design creationism in their classes. I wonder if the DI would also consider themselves liable if any teacher followed their advice, and discovered that they were costing their district an awful lot of money, as in Dover? Somehow, I doubt it.
On the front page of their screed, they quote Charles Darwin: "A fair result can be obtained only by fully…
pharyngula | November 15, 2007Clive Thompson wants us to simply redefine the "theory of evolution" as the "law of evolution". This is possibly one of the worst ideas I've heard yet for overcoming the problem of the colloquial definition of theory. It is not correct. The theory of evolution is a whole collection of ideas describing complex phenomena; it is not reducible to the kind of clear and simple mathematical description we associate with scientific laws. When somebody asks me what the ideal gas law is, I can say PV=nRT; when someone asks me what the law describing the gravitational attraction between two bodies is, I…
pharyngula | November 15, 2007I'm not a fan of the Huffington Post — I see too much support for clowns like Chopra and anti-scientific thinking like Robert Kennedy's — so I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this. Matthew Chapman posted his suggestion for a presidential debate on science there. This is the same issue I thought was a good idea, but cynically suspected none of the candidates would ever go for it. The response on HuffPo was to a large part deranged.
Because Chapman used the creationism as an example of a dangerous denial of reality, several commenters barrelled in with accusations that evolution is a…
pharyngula | November 14, 2007The Canadian Cynic points out one of Denyse O'Leary's less endearing habits: her penchant for constant self-promotion and linking profligately to herself. Reading it, what came to mind was the idea of a one-person circle jerk, and then I realized what that implied, and what we were seeing if we read any of her blogs where she's … ack, snarfle … herself … yikes, beebadabeebada <tilt>. Doesn't she know that's a sin?
Well, I'm not going to look at those blogs anymore.
mikethemadbiologist | November 14, 2007ScienceBlogling Razib comments on Republican rising star Bobby Jindal's "very weak understanding of evolution, or, a purposeful misrepresentation" (bold Razib's):
...the whole article [by Jindal] is an illustration of the reality that extremely intelligent people can also be very ignorant. I have no doubt that Bobby Jindal has a world class mind; and he certainly succeeds and excels at any task which catches his attention. It seems clear to me that when it comes to science & religion he is out of his depth. His characterization of those who disagree with his own religious views is…
pharyngula | November 14, 2007I checked out a few of the blogs by the usual suspects this morning, and noticed that the creationists are largely silent (so far, give 'em time) on the Dover documentary from last night…with one exception. The Discovery Institute's Media Complaints Division is wound up over it. They have an eight-point "rebuttal" of the documentary that consists of many picked nits and regurgitated whines, and I thought about taking them on point by point, but then decided it wasn't worth it. For one thing, it's written by Casey Luskin, the DI's small mammal mascot, who is something of an incompetent…
gregladen | November 13, 2007Judgment Day, the PBS special on the Dover Trial, just finished airing. I have a few somewhat coherent (compared to my live blogging, see upstream) comments.
[see also LiveBlogging on Pharyngula. PZ's excellent insider remarks and lots of great comments]
Mostly, I think it was great, I'm glad they did it, they did a good job, yadayadayada.
I want to make a few constructive criticisms but these comments should not be taken as an indication that I did not like the show or would not recommend it. I liked it and I recommend it.
The show recounts the trial, so much of the show is the trial (…
pharyngula | November 13, 2007The new PBS documentary on the Dover trial, Judgment Day (optimistically reviewed by NCSE! The Discovery Institute in frantic denial!) starts here in the midwest in about a half hour. I've got my diet coke, I think I'll pop some popcorn, and maybe I'll take a stab at liveblogging the show. Let's hope it's lively!
Feel free to chime in with comments as we go.
7:10: The premise is clear: the creationists are trying to claim it's about science, while the scientists like Scott and Miller and Padian are pointing out that it's about religion. This is the "civil war" that's going to tear up the…
gregladen | November 13, 2007Spontaneous Generation (Live Blogging)
I did not like the verbiage ... the wording ... of the pre-show intro at all. Listening to it by itself, ID and "Darwin's Theory" sound like they are of similar import. It really is not necessary in this day and age to pretend that there is actually a debate. Especially on PBS, for crying out loud.
I resent and object to the idea that an issue is not real unless you can show the cover of time with that issue depicted on it.
In the reconstruction, the actors looked better than the originals for the most part.
I wonder if people outside the Northeast…
clock | November 13, 2007I am not much of a TV watcher, but tonight at 8pm EST, I'll be tuning in to my local PBS station to see Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. If you were too busy or bored to read all the media and blog coverage of the Dover trial, this is your opportunity to catch up in one easy bite - the buzz is that the movie is excellent.
pharyngula | November 13, 2007Remember: watch your local PBS station tonight for the premiere of the documentary on the Dover trial, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. Imagine how the creationists will writhe and squeak about all the people seeing their fraud and failure exposed.
pharyngula | November 13, 2007Last June, we goaded science-fiction author, blogger, and professional wise-ass John Scalzi into promising to visit Ken Ham's Creation "Museum" (actually we bought his attendance by sending him money, which he turned around and donated to Americans United for Separation of Church and State).
Well, Scalzi finally makes good on his promise. It was worth it. There's both an essay and a photo tour. He was amused by it all.
Indeed, it's over the top enough that I never could actually get angry with the place. Not that I was planning to; I admit to dreading coming to the place, but that's…
tqa | November 12, 2007
The fine folks at the Discovery Institute aren't happy with tomorrow's PBS documentary on the Dover Intelligent Design case, and they're doing their best to make sure that everyone knows just how unhappy they are. They've been frantically tossing articles up on their Media Complaints Division Blog trying to make sure that their version of reality gets some exposure. I'm not going to bother going through all of their complaints right now. Most of their new material consists of a rehashing of discredited arguments from when the ruling came out. There's one post that caught my eye, though,…
gregladen | November 12, 2007"Evolution is the central organizing principle of all biological science, yet teaching evolution has become controversial in many states. When the National Science Teachers Association recently surveyed its members, 30 percent said they experienced pressure to omit or downplay evolution and related topics in their science curriculum. What would you do if someone objected to the teaching of evolution in your school or district?"
From the Briefing Packet for Educators.
From the Judgement Day Website:
In this program, NOVA captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover,…