While doing a bit of tidying in my office (a mammoth task!) I came across a printout of Jonathan Wells’ infamous list, "10 questions to ask your biology teacher". Wells is a senior fellow with the US-based Discovery Institute, which actively promotes intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. His list of questions is (I […]
Continue readingTag: creationism
another bit of creationist misinformation
Some of our local letter-writers are quite busy at the moment, pouring out their opposition to the fact and theory of evolution. Sometimes they seem a bit confused about how evolution works, but at others their letters contain an awful lot of misinformation… [An earlier writer] managed to take the ploy of elephant-hurling (in debate) to new […]
Continue reading‘the genius of Charles Darwin’
PZ has just posted the video The Genius of Charles Darwin on Pharyngula. It’s fronted by Richard Dawkins, & his intention in making this film (part of a series, by the sound of it) is to look at who Darwin was, how he developed the theory of evolution, what that theory is – & why it […]
Continue readinghow not to design an experiment
On the Panda’s Thumb today I read a review of a very poor experimental set-up indeed. Apparently demonstrating that beneficial mutations (here, antibiotic resistance) lower the fitness of the organism possessing them, it actually does no such thing because of the multiple flaws in its design. But read the review – the reviewer (ERV) studies virology […]
Continue readingyou won’t get a 747 from a tornado in a junkyard
A recent letter-writer in our local paper presented this argument: Many people believe the evolutionary theory but none practice it. For example, how much is left to chance in the design and assembly of a 747 jet? Nothing is left to chance. Every component is tested to breaking point to find any weakness in design […]
Continue readingsomething to listen to
I’m away at a conference at the moment, & maybe in a day or two I’ll find time to write about some of the things I’ve heard. One of the speakers had some things to say that I think are very relevant to students. But for now – following on from that article in the Dominion […]
Continue readingcreationist argument #3: Darwin –> Hitler
This one has been getting a lot of air time in the US lately. Basically, what it says is that Darwin's theory of evolution (they tend to call it 'Darwinism') was used by Hitler to justify the Holocaust, and therefore evolution is evil and should be rejected. This particular argument has the usual logical flaws […]
Continue readingcreationist argument #2
Another argument says that evolution cannot possibly be tested, and what possible utilisation can there be? Well, OK, that's two for the price of one.
Continue readingThe improbability of an eye… (‘intelligent design’ part 2)
The camera-type eye of humans (& in fact all vertebrates) is often held up as a classic example of what ‘intelligent design’ (ID) proponents call irreducible complexity. The argument goes like this: a) the camera-type eye needs all its parts to function. b) It couldn’t possibly be assembled randomly as Darwinian theory claims. c) The […]
Continue reading“intelligent design” – science or philosophy?
At my scholarship preparation day yesterday I was asked if students could expect an exam question about evolution and intelligent design. My answer? No, because "intelligent design" is not a scientific explanation for the diversity of life on earth. My reasons for saying this? Read on…
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