08May 2020 by Post

Stephen Meyer, Eric Metaxas: Gain and Loss and the Origin of Life

abiogenesis, Adolf Hitler, agnosticism, Atheism, Brian Miller, Charles Thaxton, Darwin's Doubt, Douglas Axe, Eric Metaxas, Evolution, Günter Bechly, Intelligent Design, James Tour, Jews, materialism, Nazi Germany, origin of life, Petra Moser, Richard Sternberg, Roger Olsen, Stanford University, Stephen Meyer, The Mystery of Life’s Origin, United States, Ur-text, Walter Bradley
Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany “revolutionized U.S. science and innovation,” as Stanford University historian Petra Moser and others have pointed out. Hitler’s loss was our gain. Something not entirely dissimilar is the case in the history of the intelligent design movement and its own revolution. On his radio show today, Eric Metaxas talked with Darwin’s Doubt author Stephen Meyer about the reissue of the expanded version of the Ur-text of intelligent design, a 35th anniversary edition of The Mystery of Life’s Origin. Dr. Meyer contributed a new chapter, as did James Tour, Brian Miller, and other scientists who have come to doubt purely materialist accounts of how the first life arose. Steve points out to Eric that “Some of our very best scientists are refugees from top-level institutions in the mainstream science establishment.”…
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06Apr 2020 by Post

Opposition Is True Friendship: A Remembrance of Adolf Grünbaum (1923-2018)

Adolf Grünbaum, Alec Stewart, art school, Arthur Schopenhauer, atheists, Bas van Fraassen, Bertrand Russell, Brahma, Carl (“Peter”) Hempel, Carnegie Mellon University, Catholics, Cologne, depression, Education, Faith & Science, Forbes Avenue, German, Germany, Intelligent Design, Jews, Joseph Stalin, Kristallnacht, National Academy of Sciences, Nazis, Nicholas Rescher, Notre Dame University, Philip Quinn, Phillip Kitcher, Philosophy of Science, Protestants, Richard Feynman, Robert Griffiths, Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, Thomas Kuhn, U.S. Army, University of Pittsburgh, Vishnu, Wesleyan University, Yale University
“Opposition is true friendship.” —William Blake (1793) Art School Dropout Becomes Wannabe Philosopher of Science In September 1980, as an art school dropout, I wandered into the University of Pittsburgh and the best philosophy of science program in the world. At the time, I had no clue about Pittsburgh’s high standing in this particular academic field. I had no clue about much of anything, actually, except that I was keenly interested in questions about the foundations of science. Pitt was local, affordable, and by some inexplicable kindness, they had admitted me. (Years earlier, to show the world how unhappy I was with my art school, I stopped attending classes there, but for inscrutable reasons, still registered and continued to make the tuition payments. Understandably, this persuaded the art school that,…
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10Mar 2020 by Post

Cosmos 3.0 Revisits Themes of the Past, with Familiar Historical Mythmaking

Alvin Plantinga, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, augustine, Baruch Spinoza, Book of Nature, Brian Miller, Carl Sagan, Christiaan Huygens, Christianity, coevolution, coronavirus, DNA, Fox Broadcasting Company, James Tour, Jews, mind, National Geographic Channel, naturalism, Neil deGrasse Tyson, origin of life, Physics, Earth & Space, public schools, Signature in the Cell, Spinoza: A Life, Steven Nadler, synagogue
With its ode to the superior rationality of the modern secular mind, last night’s debut of the third season of Cosmos 3.0 came amid a full-scale national panic attack about a virus. As David Klinghoffer commented here yesterday, the timing could be better. The first two episodes, with Neil deGrasse Tyson returning as host, have now aired on Fox and National Geographic. In contrast to Cosmos 2.0, the President of the United States does not introduce this remake. The overall theme of these episodes is our eventual exploration and colonization of other planets. All Neil, All the Time Episode 1 is titled “Ladder to the Stars.” We learn that this ladder is the DNA molecule. Very poetic. Great visuals. The episode begins with Carl Sagan admonishing us to follow the…
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09Dec 2019 by Post

David Berlinski on Europe, Entropy, Agnosticism

agnosticism, biological origins, Darwinism, David Berlinski, demographic winter, entropy, Europe, Evolution, Faith & Science, Human Nature (book), ID The Future, Jews, Muslim, nation state, nationalism, patriotism, Peter Robinson, Physics, Earth & Space, Podcast, s atheism, science, Second Law of Thermodynamics, theism, Uncommon Knowledge
A new episode of ID the Future features the third and final part of a conversation between Uncommon Knowledge host Peter Robinson and Darwin skeptic David Berlinski, author of the newly released book Human Nature. They discuss the fate of Europe, then turn again to science, and the challenge the second law of thermodynamics poses for Darwinism and, by implication, to any theory of biological origins restricted to purely mindless processes. Berlinski suggests that this poses a considerable challenge, tempting Robinson to ask Berlinski whether he still consider himself an agnostic. Download the podcast or listen to it here. The post David Berlinski on Europe, Entropy, Agnosticism appeared first on Evolution News.
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29Nov 2019 by Post

Fact and Fiction: Ohio Bill Stirs Needless Alarm

Christians, Columbus Dispatch, Discovery Institute, Education, Evolution, First Amendment, free speech, homework, House Bill 164, Jews, legislation, Ohio, Ohio House of Representatives, pedagogy, religious expression, Science Education Policy, strengths and weaknesses, Timothy Ginter, U.S. Constitution, Washington Post, WKRC
Lately, media sources have sported provocative headlines about a bill in Ohio. The Washington Post asks: “Does the bill just passed by the Ohio House allow students to be wrong in science class without penalty if they cite religious reasons?” Meanwhile the Columbus Dispatch worries: “Science Deniers Get Boost from Proposed Ohio House Bill.” The actual legislation, I’m afraid, is much less dramatic.  This proposed law largely echoes the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment on free speech (including on religious matters). Here’s the part that has received the most media attention: Sec. 3320.03. No school district board of education, governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, governing body of a STEM school established under Chapter 3326. of the Revised Code, or board of trustees…
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24Nov 2019 by Post

Fast Track: Speeding Ben Shapiro and David Berlinski to You NOW

Ben Shapiro, Ben Shapiro Show, David Berlinski, Discovery Institute, drug trials, essentialism, Evolution, evolutionary science, Fast Track, Germans, human beings, Human Nature (book), interview, Jews, Nazis, philosophy, prescription medicines, science, social consequences, Sunday Special, USFDA
Wow, this is an amazing, hour-long conversation between Ben Shapiro and our Discovery Institute colleague David Berlinski. It’s today’s Sunday Special on the Ben Shapiro Show and you can watch it here on YouTube: Berlinski is wise and hilarious, and Shapiro a very fitting interlocutor. David’s new book, which forms the spine of the interview, is Human Nature, out now. I’ll have more to say on their interaction later. But in the spirit of the Fast Track program of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, hastening needed prescription medicine ahead of otherwise routine burdensome drug trial requirements, here are David and Ben right NOW, covering the philosophical and political attack on essentialism, why evolution is fundamentally at odds with a fixed nature to human beings (or dogs, or anything else…
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