Intelligent design/creationism
tsmith | April 25, 2006Have some money to burn? Don't get enough creationist readings on teh intraweb? How about getting a Master's Degree in "Creation Science?" After all, it's academically rigorous:
Each MS candidate is required to take six science education courses, three science courses and two electives. Applicants must already possess a bachelor's degree in a field of science or in science education. All 11 courses will be offered online.
Or, not:
Each online course approaches the content the same way ICR's scientists approach the study of origins: if an idea, scientific or otherwise, is contrary to God'…
tsmith | April 20, 2006Though much of the attention to and reports of intelligent design/creationist shenanigans come from the United States, we're certainly not the only ones inundated with deniers of evolution and other sciences. A self-described UK evolution "sceptic" is journalist Melanie Phillips, who writes for The Daily Mail. She's annoyed many scientists in the country due to her views not only on evolution, but also on vaccination (such as this article from earlier this year), drawing the ire of many who point out that she doesn't understand the underlying science.
She's proven her critics correct…
tsmith | April 19, 2006Pandas Thumb contributors Andrea Bottaro, Matt Inlay, and Nick Matzke have a new article in Nature Immunology. As summarized, "Immunology had an unexpected and decisive part in challenging the claims of 'Intelligent Design' proponents at the US trial on the teaching of evolution in public schools in Dover, Pennsylvania." Andrea, Nick, and Matt fill in the details. (And for those of you who don't have access to Nature Immunology, as always, I'm happy to email you a .pdf...just drop me a line).
oracknows | April 19, 2006I've been meaning to write about this topic for a long time.
In fact, ever since our illustrious Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who also happens to be a Harvard-educated cardiac surgeon, came out in favor of teaching "intelligent design" creationism alongside evolution in public school science classes back in August, I've been meaning to write a bit about a tendency that, as both a surgeon and a scientist, I find disturbing. That tendency is for physicians to be far more susceptible than one would think they should be to the siren call of the pseudoscience known as "intelligent design."…
tsmith | April 12, 2006 A new study in the journal Pediatrics suggests this common procedure may improve the condition of kids diagnosed with attention defecit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I think it's an excellent case of some true "alternative explanations" for the data.
Creationists often try to validate their position by saying that both they and mainstream scientists start from the same data, but that creationists use their "Bible glasses" to interpret it, while scientists view it through their "evolution glasses." In other words, they're not wrong--it's just a different interpretation of the same data,…
tsmith | April 12, 2006For those of you who'd like to read the rest of the Percy Bysshe Shelley essay I quoted from in this post, you can find the version I have here. A (full?) version of the essay can also be found here; the quote I used is on page 10 of that document, and page 70 of the .pdf.
tsmith | April 11, 2006I don't watch a lot of TV, but I'm always up for a good documentary. The History Channel this week is running a series, 10 days that changed America. According to the website,
The History Channel selected 10 teams of award-winning documentary filmmakers to spotlight "10 historic events that triggered seismic shifts in America's political, cultural or social landscape." The programs, including the one filmed in Dayton, include archival footage, reenactments, historic artifacts and interviews.
On Wednesday, April 12th, they'll air "Scopes: The Battle over America's Soul" (9PM EST). Should…
tsmith | April 7, 2006[This is one from this past December]
My favorite essay arguing against intelligent design isn't one of Gould's, or Dawkins', or Sagan's. Rather, it's one from an essay that has portions I disagree with, but the eloquent prose simply can't be beat:
"The analogy which you attempt to establish between the contrivances of human art, and the various existences of the Universe, is inadmissible. We attribute these effects to human intelligence, because we know beforehand that human intelligence is capable of producing them. Take away this knowledge, and the grounds of our reasoning will be…
oracknows | April 6, 2006Oh, no. Not deterred by the utter slapdown he got from me and PZ last time, Radaractive has posted the second edition of the "Darwin Is Dead" Carnival. (Hat tip, as before, to the Pooflinger!)
I was feeling a little depressed at having to go back to work this morning, and seeing this carnival lightened my spirits considerably. It's truly hysterically funny stuff, chock full of the same creationist canards dished up in a completely credulous manner, the contributors apparently unaware that they've been conclusively debunked time and time again. I particularly liked this comment by the host:
I…
tsmith | March 30, 2006Saw this awhile ago on Science and Politics, but it keeps getting pushed down the line of my entries. See what a panel of high-schoolers has to say about creationism, intelligent design, and evolution. I guess it should be considered a small victory that at least the word "evolution" isn't forbidden.
*sigh*
oracknows | March 28, 2006Duck, everyone!
Matt (a.k.a. The Pooflinger) has found a PDF file containing a brand new FAQ about Kansas's new science standards, the ones that purport to "teach the controversy" about evolution. While I'm on a roll about evolution (and, yes, the next installment of my Medicine and Evolution series should come by the end of the week, Monday at the latest), I thought I'd mention this. Naturally, seeing what a target-rich environment the FAQ is, the Pooflinger can't resist proceeding to do what The Pooflinger does best: Flinging poo at the FAQ, giving it a great fisking.
A brief excerpt:
From…
oracknows | March 24, 2006Why am I not surprised to learn this? From an AP article:
HARRISBURG -- Following recent accounts of threats against other judges, the federal judge in the Dover intelligent design case revealed he, too, was a target of threatening e-mails.
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said a spate of e-mails came on the heels of his ruling that teaching what he said was a creationism-based concept in the science curriculum violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
The tone was threatening enough so that U.S. Marshals kept watch over Jones and his family in the week before Christmas…
tsmith | March 24, 2006Via Stranger Fruit:
Unlike mathematical theorems, scientific results can't be proved. They can only be tested again and again until only a fool would refuse to believe them.
tsmith | March 16, 2006Over at Immunoblogging, Joseph has a multi-post series on the evolution of the immune system that I've been meaning to highlight, since obviously the claim that there's no research done in this area plays a large part in IDists' claims. So, some background reading on a few of the issues:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
and a bonus (if a bit older) post on Toll-like receptors here, along with a newer overview here.
Additionally, at the new Good Math, Bad Math, Mark discusses Dembski's use of the NFL (No Free Lunch, not the sporting league) theorem and creationist use of probability. Check '…
oracknows | March 16, 2006MarkCC is really making a name for himself pretty fast with Good Math, Bad Math, a blog dedicated to "shredding bad math and squashing the crackpots who espouse it." (And to think that a post of mine had a small role in getting him going and promoting him in the blogosphere; it almost makes me tear up to see him doing so well so fast.)
This time, Mark's turning his mathematical skills to deconstructing the dubious mathematics in a paper entitled Fitness Among Competitive Agents by that icon of and tireless propagandist for "intelligent design" creationism, William Dembski. The result is--…
tsmith | March 14, 2006I mentioned yesterday that Mike had a post on the war on epidemiology. That might sound a bit strange--doesn't have quite the ring to it as Chris's book. But, never fear, epidemiology is indeed under attack--or, at least, it's being redefined by young earth creationists.
In a pair of articles published in the esteemed journal, Creation Research Society Quarterly, Jeffrey Schragin has put forth his argument that "the Bible's epidemiology is scientifically sound" and that the "Creation Health Model (CHM) offers a more comprehensive understanding of health and disease than standard molecules…
tsmith | March 13, 2006Since they say this more succintly than I probably could, I'll just quote from the email I received:
AAAS is providing educators with practical resources to meet the challenge of teaching evolution. For example, at a successful special event for local teachers during our Annual Meeting in February, we distributed a packet titled Evolution on the Front Line: An Abbreviated Guide to Teaching Evolution. Project 2061, our long-term science education reform initiative, prepared the materials, which included the educational benchmarks for evolution knowledge at specific grade levels and other…
tsmith | March 11, 2006DarkSyde has a new interview up with Barbara Forrest, discussing the history of intelligent design, "the wedge," and how she became involved in all of it.
You may also want to check out DemfromCT's post on what we don't know about "bird flu."
What we don't know about H5N1 can fill a library. So when folks come on here and claim there's fearmongering going on whenever the virus is simply discussed, understand that knowledge is power and preparation is prudence, not fear.
Well said.
oracknows | March 10, 2006It's good to see the Pooflinger back in action. It really is. I don't even mind that he's starting to muscle in on my territory, because, as he points out, alties need poo-love too. In the process He's unearthed a "gem" of altie wackiness that even I had never encountered before.
Better still, he's returned to deconstructing that tome of creationist nuttiness, The Evolution Cruncher.
tsmith | March 10, 2006Ed already highlighted it, but I wanted to draw more attention to this interview with Panda's Thumb contributor and author of the book "Unintelligent Design," Mark Perakh. Mark's life story is simply incredible (Siberian prison camps, teaching in several countries, and much more), but what was the neatest connection for me ('cause it was new to me) was this:
From 1973 to 1978, Perakh taught as a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, performing research in photodeposition of semiconductor films and electrodeposition.
Why is this interesting? My first actual research position--the…