creationism
evolvingthoughts | November 11, 2006
Adapted sort of with permission from The Crackpot Index by John Baez, with contributions from the talk.origins howlers.
A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to biology.
1. A -5 point starting credit.
2. 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.
3. 2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.
4. 3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.
5. 5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful correction.
6. 5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts…
pharyngula | November 11, 2006My day was spent in the Twin Cities attending the inaugural public meeting of the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education (MnCSE), and I can safely say now that Science Education Saturday was a phenomenal success: a good turnout, two top-notch talks, a stimulating panel discussion, and an involved audience that asked lots of good questions. You should have been there! I expect that, with the good response we got today, that there will be future opportunities to attend MnCSE events.
I'll just give a brief summary of the main points from the two talks today. I understand that outlines or…
tfk | November 10, 2006Billy D. writes of The Flat Earth Myth:
Anyone who writes “Is your Earth still flat?” is trading on an anti-Christian myth promoted by late-nineteenth century Darwinists.
I'm not terribly interested in the historical arguments about when flat earth arguments originated. The Flat Earth Society, as amply documented by the Wikipedia and Talk Origins, originated in the work of Samuel Rowbotham: Zetetic Astronomy. Rowbotham dismissed Newton and Copernicus for their obsession with "theory," and insisted on using only "facts." Sounds a little like creationists already, doesn't it?
Billy Dembski…
pharyngula | November 10, 2006Spank me and make me cry. Or just read this freakin' terrifying article about homeschooling kids. First, start with the arrogance of Patrick Henry College:
"Christians increasingly have an advantage in the educational enterprise," he says. "This is evident in the success of Christian home-schooled children, as compared to their government-schooled friends who have spent their time constructing their own truths." The students, all evangelical Christians, applaud loudly. Most of them were schooled at home before arriving at Patrick Henry—a college created especially for them.
Then take a look…
pharyngula | November 9, 2006Science magazine this week included a brief report on the electoral progress of the ID movement. I don't think they're celebrating in Seattle this week.
Intelligent design (ID) received a drubbing yesterday, with pro-evolution candidates taking control of the Kansas State Board of Education and strengthening their representation on the Ohio State Board of Education. Many scientists also cheered the defeat of Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), one of the most politically influential supporters of the ID movement.
In Ohio, incumbent board member Deborah Owens Fink lost decisively to Tom Sawyer, a…
clock | November 7, 2006Last night I went back to my old campus to attend the Dr. Robert Rabb Lecture by Ken Miller. The Stewart Theater was packed. I saw a lof of old friends, but, as it was crowded, only got to spend some time talking to a couple of them.
Oh, there were bloggers there, too, of course. I first met up with Reed and Professor Steve Steve. Steve Steve is omnipresent (today in Raleigh, NC, yesterday in Vancouver, before that in Australia), omniscient and omnipotent (knew how and then fixed the computer and projector for the speaker) and benevolent (endless patience getting his picture taken with…
pharyngula | November 6, 2006Jonathan Wells, the creationist who makes shoddy claims about developmental biology, has deigned to respond to my criticisms…but only indirectly, on another blog. It's an interesting response, in that it once again reveals Wells' misunderstandings of biology, and his sneaky way of inserting phony claims.
Here is Wells' rebuttal.
The issue here is not all that complicated. Darwin thought that "community in embryonic structure reveals community of descent" and concluded that early vertebrate embryos "show us, more or less completely, the condition of the progenitor of the whole group in its…
pharyngula | November 6, 2006
This has got to be good. I understand Cthulhu is lurking in the wings with a folding chair, too.
pharyngula | November 6, 2006There's a group in the UK called "Truth in Science" (it's not just Republicans who title things ironically) which is pushing creationism in the schools there. A recommendation in Parliament is trying to dismiss these silly people as something that should be treated very cautiously by the schools, and one blogger wrote his member of Parliament asking for support. He got a curious reply.
I would be very happy to act on this matter as soon as you can prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Creationism is not true, and I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
My first thought is…
pharyngula | November 5, 2006
The cover of Time magazine highlights the current struggle: it's God vs. Science, or as I'd prefer to put it, fantasy vs. reality. I have mixed feelings about the story; on the one hand, it presents the theological sound in such a godawful stupid way that it gives me some hope, but on the other, stupid seems to win the day far too often. It sure seems to have won over the editors of Time.
The lead article covers a debate between the forces of reason and dogma. They picked two debaters and pitted them against each other, and on our side, we have Richard Dawkins. Dawkins talked to us a bit…
pharyngula | November 4, 2006Those funny guys at Uncommon Descent seem to have developed their new standard reply to charges that Jonathan Wells misrepresented Bill Ballard. They're demanding an apology from me for saying mean things about Wells because—get ready for it—Wells is accurately reporting his agreement with Ballard's ideas about development and evolution. I knew Ballard, briefly, and his work, and I've read both of Wells' books cover-to-cover, so this is a surprise to me. Wells wrote these two books to support the evo-devo view? He isn't trying to claim that development does not support evolution?
Come on, you…
pharyngula | November 3, 2006The description of the end of the Hovind trial from the Pensacola News Journal can be found below the fold. Foolish little man.
Pensacola evangelist and tax protester Kent Hovind winked at his wife and gave her a reassuring smile as he was led away to jail.
Jo Hovind clutched the necktie he had been wearing. She kept her eyes on her husband until he was out of sight.
A 12-person jury deliberated for 2½ hours on Thursday before finding the couple guilty of all counts in their tax-fraud case.
Kent Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola, was…
pharyngula | November 3, 2006In my review of the embryology of Jonathan Wells in PIGDID, I made a specific example of the abuse of a quote from Bill Ballard; I pointed out that he selectively edited the quote to completely distort Ballard's point in the cited paper, and used that to show how dishonest all of Wells' work was.
Now Tim McGrew of Kalamazoo wants to accuse me of intentionally distorting Wells' words. I didn't just selectively edit, he thinks I actively changed Wells' words to make my point.
Let me rephrase that: Myers has changed Wells's wording and then has the temerity to accuse Wells of misleading the…
pharyngula | November 2, 2006After 3 hours of deliberation, the jury found Kent Hovind and his wife GUILTY of tax fraud.
Goodbye, 'Dr' Dino.
pharyngula | November 2, 2006The Hovind court case will be having final arguments today, but it's pretty much over.
Defense lawyers for Kent and Jo Hovind rested their case on Wednesday without presenting evidence or calling witnesses. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. today. The Hovinds' fate then will be in the hands of the 12-person jury.
I wouldn't lay odds on the outcome of this trial—evangelical Christians will automatically get a pass by many jurors. He's such a nice man, after all, and he's just doing the work of the Lord. I'd bet, though, that he won't get the full penalty.
If found guilty,…
pharyngula | November 1, 2006South Park's amusement factor has been up and down for me, but I may have to make an effort to catch this evening's episode.
Cartman's plan to propel himself into the future goes horribly wrong. South Park Elementary faces strong opposition to the topic of evolution being taught to the 4th graders, especially from Ms. Garrison who has to teach it. Eric Cartman can't be bothered with what's going on in class. He's busy manipulating his own personal time-line to align with the precise release date of the newest, hottest game.
pharyngula | November 1, 2006Wow—Liberty University is hiring. They've got 27 openings for new faculty right now, so if you're in the market, they might be tempting. The first three on the list are…
Biology: Two positions. Rank open. Ph.D. and compatibility with a young-earth creationist philosophy required. 1) Human anatomy and physiology, 2) undergraduate genetics. Supervision of undergraduate research expected. Contact Dr. Paul Sattler.
Center for Creation Studies: Rank open. Ph.D. and experience in the origins controversy from a young earth creation perspective required. Faculty will teach the required course in…
mikethemadbiologist | October 31, 2006While I don't think arguing for or against religious particulars is something any political party should adopt a few days before an election (or should be a political issue at all, for that matter), PZ is absolutely right when he says that Robertson and his ilk should be called out for the foolish bigots that they are. We wouldn't tolerate racially-based hatred (Got Macaca?), so why should we tolerate 'faith-based' hatred? O'Donnell was doing what was needed: staking out the flank.
If politicians won't do anything while El Jefe Maximo wipes his ass with the First, Fourth, Fifth Amendment,…
pharyngula | October 31, 2006So I was way too depressing in that last post. Here's one of those little notes of hope that we hear too rarely—an Ohio Republican using her reason to back the best candidate for a job, even if he is a Democrat.
Republican Martha Wise is backing Democrat John Bender in the race to replace her on the state school board.
Wise, who is running against Democrat Sue Morano for the state senate, said Bender is the only one of the four candidates in the school board race who agrees with her on keeping intelligent design out of science classrooms.
"I've spent five years of my life keeping intelligent…