Discovery Institute's Blog, page 481

The Role of Creation in Science: The Real Story, a Breath of Fresh Air

In a recent article at the Classical Conversations web site, Jonathan Bartlett authored an interesting commentary on creation as a concept for and catalyst to scientific inquiry and advance with "The Doctrine of Creation and the Making of Modern Biology." Given the persistent claim by so-called "defenders" of quality science education such as Eugenie Scott, Paul Hanle, and others that only natural processes functioning via unbroken natural laws in nonpurposeful ways counts as science and...

"If Meyer taught us to read DNA, Wells teaches us to sing it."

Over at Uncommon Descent Robert Sheldon offers up this review of The Myth of Junk DNA.

Jonathan Wells' The Myth of Junk DNA, is a well-written book that manages to accomplish two separate tasks: to silence the Darwinists who had claimed that recent genomic discoveries supported their dystopic version of The Signature in the Cell; and to bring all of us up-to-date on the breath-taking mysteries being decoded from this most ancient script.

He begins by picking up where Stephen Meyer left off...

Stephen Meyer Gives a Primer on Debate Over Intelligent Design and Evolution

John Lennon, Darwin Doubter

Reaching the status of superstar legendary entertainer must, like being a very aged person, grant you a certain immunity from the need to shape your opinions to secure social approval. Sure, lots of regular celebrities crave to be respected by peers as smart and sensitive. Witness Lady Gaga's recently ballyhooed palling around with , "the world's hippest professor," with whom she chats about "feminism and collective human creativity."

But when you get to be...

Haeckelian Recapitulation Is Not the Issue

PZ Myers often misconstrues intelligent design (ID) arguments about embryology by claiming we argue that modern evolutionary thinking is based upon Haeckel's theory of embryonic recapitulation (e.g. ontogeny [i.e. development] recapitulates [i.e. replays] phylogeny [i.e. evolutionary history]). Although we do argue that textbooks should not use Haeckel's inaccurate drawings which overstate the degree of similarity between vertebrate embryos, we recognize that the case for common ancestry no ...

Demystifying the Debate with PZ Myers Over Evolution and Embryology

Previously, I discussed how PZ Myers commonly attempts to shout down his opposition through name-calling and incendiary rhetoric. PZ's use of this methodology has become so extreme that he's shocked authors in mainstream scientific journals and left-leaning pro-evolution media outlets like the NY Times. Recently, PZ tried to use this method when attacking pro-intelligent design undergraduate student Jonathan M. at a talk before a skeptics group in Glasgow, Scotland.

Why does PZ resort to...

Demystifying the Debate with PZ Myers' Over Evolution and Embryology

Previously, I discussed how PZ Myers commonly attempts to shout down his opposition through name-calling and incendiary rhetoric. PZ's use of this methodology has become so extreme that he's shocked authors in mainstream scientific journals and left-leaning pro-evolution media outlets like the NY Times. Recently, PZ tried to use this method when attacking pro-intelligent design undergraduate student Jonathan M. at a talk before a skeptics group in Glasgow, Scotland.

Why does PZ resort to...

How P.Z. Myers' "Incendiary Rhetoric" and "Class-War Claptrap" Shocks His Fellow Evolutionists (Prelude to a Rebuttal)

"I was not rude enough to MacLatchie," writes PZ Myers, despite the fact that PZ recently told pro-intelligent design undergraduate student Jonathan M. that he should be "ashamed to have been responsible for this bulls--t." Apparently PZ doesn't feel it was "rude enough" to have alleged that Jonathan M.:

is a "flaming moron"
"is an idiot"
is guilty of "ignorance"
is "completely ineducable"
promotes "ludicrous nonsense"
"doesn't know word one about basic biological concepts"

PZ closed...

Jerry Coyne on the Scientific Method and Religion

Jerry Coyne, in his post "Religion Takes Credit for Science", takes some shots at the mundane observation that the rise of the scientific method has its cultural and intellectual roots in Christian culture and theology.

Coyne:

But the scientific method as we know it has nothing to do with religious inspiration.

Coyne is half right. The scientific method -- the empirical systematic theory-based study of nature -- has nothing to so with some religious inspirations -- Animism, Paganism, Buddhism, ...

DNA Repair Under Stress

DNA repair mechanisms are a re-occurring topic here at Evolution, News, and Views because scientists are constantly uncovering layers of complexity and integration within the DNA repair system that seem to defy any notions of having developed by a random, step-by-step process. DNA repair systems behave as if a command center has notified the cell of damage to DNA, and then the cell dispatches the appropriate units for the particular job at a particular location. So not only is the "double...