creationism
pharyngula | June 14, 2006No, I don't have Ann Coulter's book yet (it is so annoying to want something cheap and easily accessible, yet have to refuse to actually pay for it on general principles), but since she's hammering the talk show circuit heavily, we're getting dribs and drabs of her amazing knowledge of biology.
John Hawkins: If you were to pick three concepts, facts, or ideas that most undercut the theory of evolution, what would they be?
Ann Coulter: 1. It's illogical. 2. There's no physical evidence for it. 3. There's physical evidence that directly contradicts it. Apart from those three concerns I'd say it…
pharyngula | June 13, 2006Because this letter from a lawyer complaining about the decision to have the anti-evolution sticker removed from textbooks makes my brain bleed. This was the sticker that said,
This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.
That sticker was nothing but sneaky creationist propaganda—it strangely singles out evolution for critical thought, it implies an inappropriate meaning to the word "theory" (that it is the opposite of…
evolvingthoughts | June 11, 2006PvM, in The Panda's Thumb: Laudan, demarcation and the vacuity of Intelligent design, has done a masterful job of pointing out that a favourite quotemine source of the Intelligent Design crowd, Larry Laudan, doesn't say what they say he says, quelle surprise. The issue is epistemological naturalism and the demarcation of science from non-science.
The problem arose when Karl Popper did two things simultaneously: he denied there was a scientific method of discovery, and he tried to show what was different about science from all other human endeavours (primarily Marxist sociology and Freudian…
pharyngula | June 7, 2006The mighty Kent Hovind has struck out.
On June 5th 2006, Hovind pled nolo contendere as
charged to three counts: constructing a building
without a permit, refusing to sign a citation and
violating the county building code. Hovind was ordered
to pay $225.00 per count. The plea brings to an end a
5-year battle over a $50.00 building permit. Hovind
estimates he spent $40,000 in legal expenses on this
case. Meanwhile, the property taxes for Dinosaur
Adventure Land are in arrears in an amount of
$10,338.36 ($4,955.23 for 2005 and 5,383.13 for 2003
and 2004).
In both criminal and civil trials in…
pharyngula | June 6, 2006This new book by Ann Coulter is going to be full of delectable idiocy, isn't it?
Coulter devotes the last 80 pages to her full-scale attack on the theory of evolution and the utter dishonesty of what she calls the "Darwiniacs" and their refusal to face the fact that evolution is a patent absurdity, according to Coulter, credible only to those who will find any reason to deny the existence of God.
Great. Virtually every biologist in the world must be an atheist, then. Good for us! I'm sure this is going to be a bit of a shock to the readers of this weblog who understand and accept the…
pharyngula | June 6, 2006Lehigh University is becoming quite active in asserting their opposition to ID. Wonder why?
evolvingthoughts | June 5, 2006
I was bemoaning to Paul Griffiths and Sahotra Sarkar, admittedly over a beer, that unlike them (they are both birdwatchers), I lacked a special organism I could be expert about. This is a grievous fault in a philosopher of biology, so we wondered what I could choose as my "target organisms". Sahotra suggested I name and describe creationists (well, actually he suggested he would, but I'm stealing this from him) as a species. It's important to do this, so that when we describe the behavior of these creatures (pun intended) in the wild, we know exactly what we are discussing. One wouldn't want…
razib | June 5, 2006Brown gaucho has set up a website, Conservatives Against Intelligent Design. He elaborates on a few points in one of his introductory posts. So far nearly 200 people have signed the mission statement, with some known figures such as John Derbyshire, Derek Lowe and Pejman Yousefzadeh. It would be nice to have others who have spoken against Intelligent Design on the Right on board. I'm thinking of people like Stephen Bainbridge, if anyone knows him, send him an email!
pharyngula | June 5, 2006I guess it was almost ten years ago that I first saw this astonishing gem of creationist dishonesty on talk.origins: now Good Math, Bad Math has put it on a weblog. Read all about John Woodmorappe's median/mean mangling in defense of Noah's Ark.
razib | May 31, 2006Brown Gaucho seems to have set up a petition under the heading "Conservatives against Intelligent Design." I am the first signer. Come now John, why not make it official?
Update: John not only signed, but he linked from The Corner.
There have been some questions regarding whether I am a "conservative." I don't know, I am actually at this point a very milquetoast libertarian. But, I am not big on labels and I will accept what people term me, and many say I am right-wing or conservative. As a "person of color" my attitudes toward racial and cultural issues (against affirmative action,…
pharyngula | May 31, 2006How about another sample of creationist nonsense from my mailbag? I wrote about Caroline Crocker back in February—she's the Intelligent Design creationist who was released from her job teaching biology at George Mason University, and I said she had demonstrated incompetence in the discipline, and deserved to be let go. That article seems to elicit regular bursts of outrage from the creationists, who don't seem to have been able to comprehend it.
SOOO it is ok for you and others to teach YOUR OPINIONS in the classroom documented only by YOUR OPINIONS and most not supported by fact. However…
pharyngula | May 31, 2006This story, if true, is rather sad. 2009 will be a major date for evolutionary biology, both the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, and the 150th of the publication of the Origin (note to self: must publish earth-shaking treatise on 50th birthday to make future commemorations simpler*.) Apparently, the political issues may mean that American scientific institutions will not mount any major celebrations. And of course, we have to get this news from a British publication.
Even more depressing, G.G. Simpson made this same complaint about the deficiencies of the American public's education in…
pharyngula | May 31, 2006I'd almost forgotten Timothy Birdnow. He's the embarrassingly ignorant property manager who claimed to have refuted Darwin, but instead made a whole series of foolish blunders; I pinned him down on one point he'd made, and asked him to address it…which he answered even more foolishly. It was actually gut-bustingly funny: he got rather upset and accused me of "destabizing [his] blog's formatting." That'll teach the creationists. Cross me, and I'll give your blog the evil eye.
Anyway, Birdnow is babbling about Darwin again, as ignorantly as ever. I guess he likes to make up stories about…
pharyngula | May 30, 2006I almost forgot: there was another comment in the Karen Armstrong interview that I found irksome…but my complaint is mainly with the interviewer. Here's one question he asked her, and her answer.
But certainly there are a lot of people -- both scientists and religious people -- who speculate about whether there's some cosmic order. For the evolutionary biologists, the question is whether there's some natural progression to evolution.
Who knows?
Her answer is a kind of weak cop-out, but it's acceptable…avoiding a question on which you are ignorant is not a problem. The question, though…jebus…
pharyngula | May 29, 2006Just a quick update: you may remember Linda Schrenko, the creationist and Georgia state school superintendent who was indicted for embezzlement (or you may not; she is a rather minor figure in the creationism wars, notable only for blatant corruption on top of the usual blatant stupidity). She pled guilty and has been sentenced to 8 years in prison.
pharyngula | May 28, 2006Confirming my obvious un-Americanism, let me praise two things: Godlessness and Socialism. And here, watch a video that ties the two together.
(Actually, I'm not against America. I'm just for a godless America that cares about the welfare of its citizens.)
pharyngula | May 25, 2006OK, Canadians, 'fess up. I know you guys are so danged nice and polite…this is just an attempt to make your Southern neighbor feel less uniquely stupid, isn't it? You put up some obliging Québécois Inuit Pentecostals to pretend to be as dumb as a Kansas preacher, didn't you?
"If the town complains and says no, the committee can ask the principal or the director of teachers to approach the teacher and say, 'Look, this is not the subject to be taught here in this town, or in this place, because we know we have been humans from the beginning, '" said Molly Tayara.
"I don't personally accept my…
pharyngula | May 24, 2006Bazell wrote an irritatingly obtuse commentary on Intelligent Design creationism, and I dawdled about expressing my dislike for it…but Tara and Orac and John Pieret and even non-scientific humorists (and I'm sure there are others I've missed) have all chimed in now, so you'd think I could just let it pass. But no! This is the blogosphere! We will all shout out our condemnations!
Bazell is not a complete idiot. He recognizes that evolution is and should be a serious component of a doctor's education, and he is no supporter of Intelligent Design or any other brand of creationism. That's all…
pharyngula | May 24, 2006A reader who has been stymied by TypeKey (I wish I could fix that bug) informs me that mturner, one of the creationists at the ARN message board, thinks he has rebutted my post on whale limb evolution, claiming that Thewissen et al. have actually found evidence for Intelligent Design creationism. It's fairly typical nonsense from the ARNies, but it's so amusing I had to rebut his rebuttal.
ARN is a weird place. There are several patient, intelligent people working it to correct the babble that the flaming idiots who dominate the board put up. I am not that patient, so I can't stomach the…