04Jun 2020 by Post

Reeves: Getting Intelligent Design Wrong, and Getting It Right

Center for Science & Culture, critics, Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, Daniel Reeves, detective, Discovery Institute, Education, forensics, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Podcast, straw man, students
On a new episode of ID the Future, Discovery Institute education outreach associate Daniel Reeves illustrates how ID opponents commonly erect mindless straw men versions of the theory of intelligent design, as if by refuting a false version they’ve done any damage to the real thing. Then, in this middle portion of a talk he gave to students at the 2020 Dallas Science and Faith Conference, he explains what ID really is — it’s not unlike detective work — and the central question ID seeks to answer. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Photo credit: BikerNormand from Morsan, France [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons. The post Reeves: Getting Intelligent Design Wrong, and Getting It Right appeared first on Evolution News.
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01Jun 2020 by Post

Human Zoos — How “Science” Fueled the Racial Fire

African-American, Africans, alt-right, Bellevue, Black Lives Matter, Bronx Zoo, Caucasian, Charles Darwin, clergy, Culture & Ethics, Discovery Institute, Evolution, George Floyd, Human Zoos, John West, lockdown, looting, Minneapolis, New York City, New York Times, original sin, Ota Benga, pandemic, police brutality, protests, pygmies, Racism, scientific racism, Seattle, South Bronx, St. Louis, textbooks, The Descent of Man, The Hub, Tukwila, United States, Wesley Smith
Scorching images from across the country fill our screens, a reminder that the racial past remains an unhealed burn in America’s present. The mood in our own area is shocked and anxious, as we watched violence and looting spread from Seattle to outlying cities like Bellevue and Tukwila. It is getting very close to home. Some have called racism America’s historical “original sin.” Where did many white people of the past get the wicked idea that their lives matter more than black lives? The question is complex but, without doubt, Darwinian theory helped to fuel our present racial fire. Comprehending the national burden of hatred is a task not only for scholars but for all Americans. So too with understanding the origins of the opportunistic criminality that has piggybacked on…
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30May 2020 by Post

Why “Humanize”? A New Effort to Defend the Unique Dignity of Human Beings

animal rights, animal welfare, animals, Artificial Intelligence, Center on Human Exceptionalism, China, COVID-19, Culture & Ethics, Darwin Day in America, David Klinghoffer, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Evolution News, facial recognition, Falun Gong, human exceptionalism, Human Zoos, Humanize, humans, John West, La Bella Principessa, Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Egnor, quality of life, social credit, Steven J. Buri, The Biology of the Second Reich, Tom Shakely, transhumanism, triage, Uyghurs, Walter Bradley Center, Wesley Smith
Hello. My name is Wesley J. Smith and I am honored to be chairman of Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. I am writing to you here to introduce the CHE’s new blog, which we call Humanize. Humanize will complement and supplement the important work of the Center for Science & Culture and its invaluable Evolution News site.  Why did we choose “Humanize” as the name for the site? The once self-evident truth of human exceptionalism is under intensifying attack, as readers of Evolution News know well. Indeed, one of the tragic trends in thinking about evolution has been to blur the distinction between humans and animals. History warns us not to regard this lightly. Recent documentaries by Discovery Institute Vice President John West, Human Zoos and The Biology of…
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28May 2020 by Post

“Nobody Expects the Darwinist Inquisition”? I Do

academic freedom, BioEssays, biologists, bullies, censorship, Center for Science & Culture, cosmos, Darwinism, Darwinists, Dave Speijer, Discovery Institute, Evolution News, Facebook, free speech, ideology, Inquisition, Intelligent Design, John Zmirak, nihilism, The Stream, Twitter, Worldview
As a reader and supporter of Evolution News, you must have noticed the same thing I have. It’s an ominous sight to observe the two waves approaching each other. On one side is an intensifying drive to police social media, where countless people get most of their information. On the other are biologists who (according to a Darwinist scientist!) spend a fifth of their time fretting about how to “combat intelligent design,” as we reported here the other day. One prominent scientific journal, BioEssays, has already brought the waves together. They have called for Internet censorship of intelligent design, identifying Discovery Institute by name as being in need of special attention by the censors. If giants like Facebook and Twitter don’t follow through on the threat, then says biologist Dave…
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22May 2020 by Post

Zombie History — Using Galileo to Whack Intelligent Design

Alison Abbott, Andrew Dickson White, Catholic Church, Christianity, climate change, creationism, Discovery Institute, Faith & Science, Galileo Affair, Galileo and the Science Deniers, Galileo Galilei, Heresy, historicity, Inquisition, Intelligent Design, John William Draper, Jonathan Wells, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Mario Livio, Michael Keas, Nature (journal), Nicolaus Copernicus, public schools, religion, science denialism, science deniers, Tychonian model, Unbelievable?, Urban VIII, Warfare Thesis, Zombie Science
A useful myth is hard to put down. The Galileo myth gives a premiere illustration. Ever since John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White fostered the “warfare thesis” of “science vs religion” in the late 19th century, appealing to the Galileo affair as the example par excellence, historians have had little luck convincing the scientific establishment that their version of the Galileo story is flawed. Fortunately, we have the new book by Michael Keas to help set the story straight: Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion. Keas traces the development of the warfare thesis through the 19th century. Despite being largely discredited by historians, the warfare thesis lives on into our time. For instance, Mario Livio has a new book out, Galileo and the…
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09May 2020 by Post

Marks, Bringsjord: Confound Your Atheist Friends with Gödel’s “God Theorem”

Anselm, atheists, cognitive science, Discovery Institute, Faith & Science, friends, God Theorem, Gulf Stream, Kurt Gödel, Mind Matters, Ontological Argument, Podcast, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Robert J. Marks, Social media, Walter Bradley Center
I recommend that you listen to a fascinating conversation over at Mind Matters. Robert J. Marks, who directs Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center, talks with cognitive scientist Selmer Bringsjord of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute about the unpublished “God Theorem” formulated by Kurt Gödel. You didn’t know that Gödel was a theist and that a proof of God’s existence was discovered among his papers when he died? Well here it is: So you can just go ahead and share that with your atheist friends — post it on social media! — and watch them squirm. I’m joking about that — but not about what an interesting podcast this is. Find it here at Mind Matters. Dr. Marks and Dr. Bringsjord also discuss Anselm’s ontological proof of God’s existence and Bringsjord gives as lucid and…
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08May 2020 by Post

Why Building Animals Is Hard

cats, Center for Science & Culture, comments, development, Discovery Institute, evo-devo, Evolution, Intelligent Design, lectures, memories, Summer Seminars, Zoom
While out lecturing around the country — in May 2020, just a fond memory; only my cats hear me lecture in person now, everyone else tunes in on Zoom — I’m often asked, “So what are the Discovery Institute Summer Seminars like, anyway?” You can see for yourself by going here. This lecture represents material I have presented for the past few years, under the heading of “evo-devo,” or “evolution and development.” I am revamping my evo-devo lectures from top to bottom, so making this talk available to anyone interested will take nothing away from future Summer Seminar students. Comments welcome — please send them to cscinfo@discovery.org, and I will take them seriously. Photo credit: Wolfgang Hasselmann via Unsplash. The post Why Building Animals Is Hard appeared first on Evolution News.
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05May 2020 by Post

From Pfizer, Scientism and Self-Congratulation

art, authority, Brian Miller, C.S. Lewis, China, coronavirus, COVID-19, Creativity, Discovery Institute, Douglas Axe, economic collapse, entertainment, history, mask, medical science, Medicine, Michael Egnor, music, pandemic, Pfizer Inc., philosophy, Politics, religion, Rich Lowry, Robert J. Marks, scientism, social distancing, totem, Wesley Smith, worship, Wuhan
In the race to defeat the coronavirus, good fortune to Pfizer Inc., among others. The drug giant said last week “it will begin testing of its experimental vaccine in the U.S. as early as next week.” But this new ad from Pfizer goes over the top in its self-congratulation: They say: At a time when things are most uncertain, we turn to the most certain thing there is: Science. Science can overcome diseases, create cures, and yes, beat pandemics. Because when it’s faced with a new opponent, it doesn’t back down. It revs up, asking questions till it finds what it’s looking for. That’s the power of science. Well actually, that’s the power of creative ingenuity in general, a capacity unique to human beings, that is put to use in…
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25Apr 2020 by Post

Michael Denton Explore the Miracle of Air and Sun

air, biochemistry, biology, Children of Light, cosmos, Discovery Institute, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Michael Denton, planetary fine-tuning, sunlight
A classic episode of ID the Future shines a light on Discovery Institute biochemist Michael Denton’s book, Children of Light: The Astonishing Properties of Sunlight that Make Us Possible. Denton explores the properties of sun and air. Download the podcast or listen to it here. In Children of Light, Denton shows how sun and air are crucial parts of the larger story of our fine-tuned place in the cosmos. Or as he puts it in the book, “Whatever the cause and whatever the ultimate explanation, nature appears to be fine-tuned to an astonishing degree for beings of our biology.” Photo credit: Ingmar H on Unsplash. The post Michael Denton Explore the Miracle of Air and Sun appeared first on Evolution News.
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20Apr 2020 by Post

Harvard Law Professor — Ban Homeschooling for “Question[ing] Science”

atheists, authoritarianism, Bible, Christians, creationism, Discovery Institute, Education, Erin O’Donnell, Evolution, evolutionary theory, Harvard Law School, Harvard Magazine, Harvard University, Home School Legal Defense Association, homeschooling, Idaho, ideologies, Intelligent Design, Kids, mind control, Newspeak, North Carolina, Parents, presumptive ban, Princeton University, prison, ProPublica, public schools, stereotyping, students, survivalists
Ban it for other reasons as well, says Professor Elizabeth Bartholet in a stunning article for Harvard Magazine. That’s right, the only form of education in the country that hasn’t been upended by the coronavirus. Well, that is a poorly timed proposal. Bartholet warns that homeschoolers are subject to child abuse, and are poorly prepared to participate in a democracy, having been oppressed by “essentially authoritarian control” by parents who are potential illiterates themselves. As depicted by Bartholet, homeschooling sounds little better than being in fundamentalist Christian prison. In fact, the illustration that goes with the article shows a girl behind bars in a house fashioned from books, on Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and the Bible. The article, by Erin O’Donnell, attacks a homeschooling group, while (as Rod Dreher points out)…
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