Why Dogmatic Materialism Is Bad for Science

Arshak Alexanian, dauer-modifications, DNA, DNA sequence, dogma, epigenetic change, epigenetics, Evolution, genetics, Green Fluorescent Protein, heredity, Intelligent Design, Kamal Nahas, Lamarckism, materialism, methyl groups, mRNA transcripts, noncoding RNA, offspring, Richard C. Lewontin, The New York Review of Books
Richard Lewontin addressed a controversy in evolution: Can life forms acquire characteristics during their lifespan that they pass on to their offspring? Source
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Gene Sharing Is More Widespread than Thought, with Implications for Darwinism

bacteria, bioRxiv, Ceratopteris, co-evolution, convergence, Current Biology, DNA, Doug Soltis, Duke University, Evolution, ferns, Florida Museum of Natural History, Foresight (book), gene flow, heredity, horizontal gene transfer, human evolution, Intelligent Design, introgression, kleptomania, Lingchong You, Neanderthals, North Carolina State University, plants, University of Tübingen
Evidence is growing that organisms share existing genetic information horizontally, not just vertically. Source
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In the Footsteps of Social Darwinist Cesare Lombroso

biology, Cesare Lombroso, Charles Darwin, criminal justice, criminals, criminologists, criminology, Culture & Ethics, Darwin Day in America, Evolution, face masks, facial features, forensic medicine, head shape, heredity, Italy, museums, phrenology, prisoners, skeleton, skulls, Social Darwinism, Turin, University of Torino
Lombroso’s ideas were quack science. But they were taken seriously by criminologists and public officials around the world until they were debunked. Source
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The Dawkinsian Mythology

Anthony Flew, Bernard de Fontenelle, Charles Darwin, complexification, David Stove, Evolution, gemmules, heredity, Intelligent Design, John Gray, Martian canals, Mary Midgely, meme, pangenesis, Percival Lowell, phlogiston, Richard Dawkins, Richard Spilsbury, The Selfish Gene, Why Words Matter: Sense and Nonsense in Science (series)
Philosopher Mary Midgely pointed out the fatuousness of the “meme” hypothesis in painfully direct terms. Source
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