27Feb 2020 by Post

Evolution “Dreaming” — Tough Language from Biologist Michael Lynch

Arizona State University, Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, Douglas Axe, dreaming, Evolution, evolutionary theory, Michael Lynch, natural selection, Theodor Herzl
Molecular biologist Douglas Axe tweets about a new paper: “Michael Lynch is one of those influential critics of the standard account of evolution who believes the theory can be salvaged somehow.” He quotes some remarkably tough language by Lynch from the article, in the Journal of Molecular Biology, “A Theoretical Framework for Evolutionary Cell Biology”: One of the most significant problems in the broader body of biological thinking is the common assumption that all observed aspects of biodiversity are products of natural selection. … With this mind set, evolutionary biology becomes little more than a (sometimes endless) exercise in dreaming up the supposed agents of selection molding one’s favorite aspect of phenotypic diversity. … However, we now know that this unwavering belief in the limitless power of natural selection is…
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26Feb 2020 by Post

Darwinism and Intelligent Design in Poland 

Adam Cenian, Andrzej Myc, behavior, biology, creationism, Darwin on Trial, Darwin's Black Box, Darwinism, Discovery Institute, En Arche Foundation, eugenics, Evolution, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Fundacja En Arche, Grzegorz Malec, Icons of Evolution, Intelligent Design, marriage, Marxism, Michael Behe, Michael Denton, morals, Phillip E. Johnson, Poland, Polish, relationships, restaurants, Signature in the Cell, slavery, steak tartare, Stephen Meyer, University of Warsaw, vodka, Vodka (restaurant), Warsaw, World War II
On January 29, 2020, I arrived in Warsaw, Poland, in the middle of a blizzard. Fortunately, most of the snow had cleared away by January 31, when I lectured at an event celebrating the release of a new Polish translation of my book, Icons of Evolution.  The event was organized by Fundacja En Arche (the En Arche Foundation, or roughly, the Origins Foundation). Although its critics call it a “creationist” organization, Fundacja En Arche is not about biblical creationism (whether young Earth or old Earth). Instead, it focuses on the scientific and philosophical issues of Darwinism and intelligent design. I told the staff that the foundation reminded me of Discovery Institute twenty years ago.  A major part of En Arche’s work so far has been translating into Polish books such…
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26Feb 2020 by Post

Ann Gauger Honors Intelligent Design’s “Godfather”

Ann Gauger, career, Evolution, godfather, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Phillip E. Johnson, Podcast, scientific materialism, sketicism, U.C. Berkeley
On a new episode of ID the Future, we hear biologist and Center for Science & Culture Senior Fellow Ann Gauger speaking at a gathering to honor the late Phillip Johnson, the Berkeley law professor known affectionately as the “godfather” of the intelligent design movement. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Dr. Gauger tells of her journey of discovery, how she returned to a science career three times in her life, how she found her way into the ID movement, and how Johnson emboldened her to give free rein to a healthy scientific skepticism, one that has long had her pushing back against scientific materialism with a simple question: “Who says?” Photo: Phillip Johnson, screenshot from a video interview, “Focus on Darwinism,” Veritas Forum, via YouTube. The post…
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23Feb 2020 by Post

Gauger: Is It Easy to Get a New Protein?

Ann Gauger, biological information, Evolution, evolutionary biologists, frameshift mutation, Intelligent Design, language, nylonase, proteins, Sarah Chaffee
On a classic episode of ID the Future, biologist Ann Gauger talks with host Sarah Chaffee about a central argument used by evolutionary biologists, who claim that it’s simple to get new proteins. Listen in to learn more about nylonase, and whether it shows that purely natural processes can produce biological information. Download the podcast or listen to it here. In the conversation, Dr. Gauger discusses a frameshift mutation. Here is an example of what a frameshift mutation would look like in language: The old man T heo ldm an Th eol dma n Photo: Ann Gauger in “The Problem with Theistic Evolution,” via Crossway. The post Gauger: Is It Easy to Get a New Protein? appeared first on Evolution News.
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22Feb 2020 by Post

Evolutionist Thinks He Is Clickbait

atheists, Brad Pitt, clickbait, Darwinist community, Darwinists, Discovery Institute, Drudge Report, eugenics, Evolution, Faith Versus Fact, Granville Sewell, Intelligent Design, Internet, Jerry Coyne, Meghan Markle, Michael Egnor, miracles, P.Z. Myers, Richard Dawkins, theology, University of Chicago, wardrobe malfunction, zombie drug
I adore Jerry Coyne, the atheist evolutionist and University of Chicago emeritus biology professor. At Why Evolution Is True, he goes after Granville Sewell for a post here, “Jerry Coyne Asks a Good Question.” In his theologian mode, Coyne demands to know why God doesn’t do “ONE BIG MIRACLE, of the type I describe in Faith Versus Fact (p. 119) — a miracle that was taped and documented worldwide.” To be honest I didn’t fully read Coyne’s latest, but I noticed his claim, which he’s made repeatedly in the past, that intelligent design proponents, especially at Evolution News, write about him because he is clickbait. What’s that? Clickbait is defined as “a sensationalized headline or piece of text on the Internet designed to entice people to follow a link to an article…
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21Feb 2020 by Post

I Disagree with David Klinghoffer, But It’s My Fault for the Confusion

Against Method, arthropods, Brian Charlesworth, Cambrian Explosion, Charles Darwin, chordate, David Klinghoffer, Deborah Charlesworth, Douglas Futuyma, Evolution, Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, Galápagos Islands, history, Intelligent Design, Jerry Coyne, Macroevolution, molluscan, natural selection, neo-Darwinian synthesis, Nicholas Barton, organisms, origin of life, Paul Feyerabend, William Paley
In a post yesterday, David Klinghoffer cited my comments in a recent podcast and described his own view that intelligent design could be considered as a theory of evolution, making the point that intelligent design tries to explain the innovations that happened in the history of life (e.g., the origin of life itself, the burst of complexity during the Cambrian explosion, etc.). I’d describe the situation a little differently. Evolution is an implication — that is, an empirical consequence — of design. Design is the more general (i.e., comprehensive) idea, and the well-understood phenomena usually designated as “evolution” are in fact consequences of designed systems undergoing or responding to perturbation. If anything, then, it would be more accurate to say that “evolution is a sub-theory of design,” no matter how…
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19Feb 2020 by Post

Galápagos Pilgrim: Paul Nelson on Biological Deign and History

Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Andrew McDiarmid, animals, Charles Darwin, cormorant, Discovery Institute, Evolution, flightless cormorant, Galápagos Islands, history, humans, Intelligent Design, marine iguanas, natural theology, philosophy of biology, pilgrimage, Podcast, Santiago Island, tameness, William Paley
Discovery Institute philosopher of biology Paul Nelson got back from his pilgrimage to the Galápagos Islands with some important lessons to share. He spoke with ID the Future host Andrew McDiarmid last week about his experiences. See, “Pilgrimage: On a Visit to Galápagos Islands, Paul Nelson Concedes, ‘Darwin Was Right!’”  Of course he was being “deliberately provocative” there, as he notes in a new podcast with McDiarmid. Download the episode or listen to it here. Andrew and Paul expand on the point that Darwin contributed a deeper understanding of history than design proponent William Paley possessed. In his own version of natural theology, Paley gave little sense that living creatures have histories, or that those histories make much of a difference. This was a shortcoming. But, like Charles Darwin before…
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17Feb 2020 by Post

On Evolution, Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Charles Darwin, Darwininan theory, Divine Foot, Evolution, Faith & Science, free will, Genetics and the Origin of Species, Intelligent Design, Keith Stewart Thomson, Macroevolution, Microevolution, mind, Neal C. Gillespie, Richard C. Lewontin, spirit, Ted Peters, Theodosius Dobzhansky, William A. Dembski, Zombie Science
On February 10, 2020, Lutheran theologian Ted Peters published an online article titled “Fighting over Evolution. Why?“ He concluded that “a culture war is raging, to be sure. But, this is not a war between science and faith.” I agree completely — if by “science” we mean empirical science. Empirical science searches for the truth by proposing hypotheses and comparing them with the evidence. If a hypothesis is consistent with the evidence we tentatively take it to be true. If it is inconsistent with the evidence we revise it or reject it as false. In reality, things can get a bit more complicated. But this is science at its best. A Different Meaning Yet “science” has taken on a different meaning in the modern world. For many people, “science” is…
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12Feb 2020 by Post

Say Happy Birthday to Charles Darwin

American Humanist Association, apostles, Austria, birthday gift, Brazil, Charles Darwin, Darwin Day, David Gelernter, Debating Darwin's Doubt, digital download, Evolution, Facebook, Foresight (book), Intelligent Design, Israel, Italy, Marcos Eberlin, Nobel Prize, scholars, scientists, South America, Yale University
Today, February 12, is Charles Darwin’s birthday. For the past two decades, secularists and atheists have celebrated “Darwin Day” almost like a religious holiday. Tonight, for example, the American Humanist Association will hold an event where they promise you can “Discover how Darwin’s apostles… launched a campaign for truth.” I’m not kidding — they really do refer to “Darwin’s apostles”! Meanwhile, the official Facebook page for Darwin Day posts statements like this: “Using scientific logic, we can be as sure of God’s nonexistence as we are of the nonexistence of the aether, phlogiston or werewolves!” The Cult of Darwin While some continue to worship in the cult of Darwin, here is some good news in time for Darwin’s birthday: The number of prominent scientists around the world who are leaving Darwin behind…
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11Feb 2020 by Post

Michael Behe on the Design Idea That Won’t Go Away (and Shouldn’t)

Charles Darwin, Darwin's Black Box, Del Ratzsch, Evolution, evolutionary mechanism, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Jonathan Witt, Michael Behe, molecular machines, Podcast
On a new episode of ID the Future, Jonathan Witt catches up with Darwin’s Black Box author and biochemist Michael Behe at the 2020 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, where the two discuss an idea that many wish would just go away, but hasn’t. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Charles Darwin himself told us how his evolutionary theory could be overturned: identify a biological system that couldn’t possibly have evolved by “numerous success successive slight modifications.” It’s to Darwin’s credit that he put his theory in “empirical harm’s way,” to quote philosopher Del Ratzsch. But as Witt and Behe note, Darwin also cleverly placed the burden of proof on his opponents, an arguably dubious maneuver given that his proposed evolutionary mechanism has never once been observed…
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