All Blog Posts Tagged 'theory' (12)

Alan, I’m 68, so we’re just about the same age and probably have gone through similar experiences, especially during the time of the Viet Nam War. To me, the late ‘60s were life changing, to say the least.



I believe the answer to the problem we’ve been discussing lies in understanding Richard Dawkins’ selfish gene theory. I’m convinced evolutionary biology is the key to relieving much of humanity’s misery and suffering.



In the animal world following genetic impulses,… Continue

This post revisits arguments related to free will and complexity theory. I've recently been focused on newer arguments for self-determinism (a compatibilist explanation of free will) but an interview of Daniel Dennett, by CFI, has prompted me to revisit "emergent properties". If you're not familiar with my explanation for self-determinism, please consult my web page at AtheistExile.com for several posts on the topic.

The basic premise of hard…

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“I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.”  ~Clarence S. Darrow

 

“Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.”  ~Bertrand Russell

 

“The educated in [the critical habit of thought] . . . are slow to believe.  They can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees,…

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How often have you heard theists say this? Personally I hear it at least 5 times a week. while walking around my college campus with atheist and evolution shirts I'm often stopped and asked about my belief. example one shirt I have says " Fine, I evolved, you didn't", so sometimes I spark quite interesting discussions on campus. Now as a scientist I am often insulted when people say "Evolution is only a theory" for 2 reasons.

 

1) They don't actually know what a theory…

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A Sumi-e style brush painting I created illustrating Stork Theory. Other than the stork's folkloric role as a bringer of babies and harbinger of luck and prosperity, Stork Theory is often used as an example to demonstrate how ridiculous it is to "Teach the Controversy."… Continue

I wrote up this report regarding some very chilling accusations of malpractice against one Dr. Colin A. Ross. If you've heard of him at all, you probably know him as a recipient of the James Randi Educational Foundation Pigasus Award for his claim - unproven still - that he is capable of emitting detectable beams of energy from his eyes. Not only does the story of Colin Ross make a good argument for the case against supernaturalism, but you'll note in the interview that his aggrieved former… Continue

This question clearly shows creationists' ignorance. Yet, because I can't answer this question when I have conversations with creationists, they think that they won and that they have me stumped, and therefore evolution can't be true. But, this would be exactly like asking, "if we came from adults, why are there still adults?" This question is always brought up by creationists maybe as a last resort argument or something but its so annoying.

Also, I hate when people refer to evolution as… Continue

I know I've been slacking lately on my blog posts but I've been dealing with my typical post topics in the real-life arena. I am going to school for evolutionary biology but I still come under fire from my peers when it comes to religion and science. Many people in the science field feel that religion and science are compatible. My stance is they are actually incompatible because religion tries to nullify scientific truths.

There is the fact of Evolution and then the Theory of… Continue

An occasionally used creationist tactic is declaring that evolution isn’t a scientific theory but a circular argument preached with the zeal of a religion. Evolution, they say, isn’t repeatable under laboratory conditions and if it’s not repeatable, it’s not science. Can we put evolutionary mechanisms to the test and show exactly how we can reproduce them in a lab?

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A Turkish creationist's stunt contest offering 7.5 trillion lira or $4.6 trillion U.S. is still open and will be for a very long time. But can you expect anything else from someone who thinks that evolution is a Zionist/Freemason conspiracy to enslave his countrymen?

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a little background on me first.

i was raised in a liberal catholic family in the american midwest. about junior high i decided all that stuff was a crock of shit and my parents were kinda like, we believe but.... yeah, not literally. so they let me and my younger brother decide for ourselves. creationism was something that as a family was completely ridiculed.



so i had no interest in hearing anything about creationism or "intelligent design." until the other day when i was just… Continue

Free will is completely necessary within religion, with the most heavy emphasis I've experienced being placed upon Christianity. The Christian god is said to have created Adam and Eve, and given them free will. Were they perfect creations of God? No, apparently not. Their intelligence was incredibly limited and God knew that this free will would bring them into pain and sin, yet he gave it to them anyway. He knew what path every single person on earth would take because of his choice. The… Continue