Not that I saw. I got to the part where she spent a couple paragraphs on irreducible complexity and then proclaimed that and gave up. Not even because of how absurd it is that some arbitrary claim that something is irreducibly complex could disprove anything at all, but because she's grossly misrepresenting one of the only qualified scientists who has some common ground with her goal of re-working the scientific method.

I wonder if she even knows that Behe is an absolute proponent of the fact that humans share a common ancestor with the trees that were used to print her books.

Emphasis Behe's, I think the 1st sentence is enough to make my point but I despise quote mining.

Now there are issues with his take on things (in fact I think he's being rather ridiculous in some of the arguments he makes in other parts of the book regarding scientific methodology), but at least Behe is honest and clearly he enters a debate with the willingness to accept evidence that contradicts his initial view.


Edit: For anyone who may be curious about evolution itself or it's interaction with religion I just went out and bought her some books that aren't written by zealots because she seems genuinely interested.

Why Evolution is True By Jerry Coyne

Finding Darwin's God and Only a Theory By Kenneth Miller

I doubt it. It seems to me that many people that are YEC's do not realize what ID proponents are actually disagreeing with. They think they are going against evolution, when in reality the only thing that they are really saying is that random mutation with natural selection is not a sufficient mechanism to bring "bacterium to baboon", so to speak. But they generally accept the evolution as a whole.

My Dad is a YEC, which is sad because he is a brilliant man. But he listens to the things that Behe and Dembski say, but only hears their critique of Neo-Darwinism and completely ignores the fact that they agree with most everything else.

to a degree it is a matter of growing up in a different time. i was talking to a friend of mine in new zealand and he said his dad thought that fish and birds weren't animals because he just associated animals as being mammals. if you grow up and no one makes a big deal about correcting these types of things it isn't hard for them to go on for your entire life.

i met a girl this past year who went to an evangelical high school in Tennessee and she said some things from her science book that were dead wrong. not even controversial things, stuff like "we don't know what causes intramolecular forces". if your entire culture growing up doesn't know the right answers it isn't hard to never learn them. that is why so many people are such advocates of making sure the right science is taught in schools, if not there then most kids will never learn of important principles about how the world works. for every kid that goes on the internet and finds out something he was taught is wrong there are 1000 that never do.

This made me laugh.

Reminder: Because I am a scared little bitch, no transfers allowed in RGT.

Awesome:

Specifics: Please pray that wise design decisions and construction happen smoothly and quickly.

Deadline: January 31, 2006

hmmm.... I presume it should be the Official RGT FATED *** thread

I know this part of the thread is probably done... and I haven't read further... but this actually sounds very much like scientology. Specifically- created by sci fi writer after he noted that religion is a great moneymaker. They have an unthinkable amount of money. They operate like a business with business centers in many cities who work to spread the message.

The only think I think they fail on is widespread acceptance. I think they have a limited appeal. That being said, I think they indoctrinate very high end people and presumeably have an enormous cash flow.

I don't remember in what context I wrote this. And I am way to lazy to go and check. So I will just go ahead and assume that what you wrote is good.

Side note, a buddy of mine made a music video to go with a song by The Faint. I had heard the name before but I was not really familiar with them. They are a pretty sick band. I am really digging the 80's feel to them mixed with the new wave indy rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfPB7L-k2rM

pretty cool article in the economist about camp quest, a secular summer camp for kids

thank you for posting this. This is inspiring. I hope something like this is available when my kids are a little older. And, even though I'm an atheist, I like that they don't teach atheism, merely skepticism and how to consider the evidence. Certainly a valuable lesson.

sorry - accidentally posted same thing twice. didn't think you could do that.

And some thought it was useless. Ha, no faith.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...nfactpromising

so do you believe in evolution or wat?

I believe in everything

thought theists and atheists alike would find this interesting

New origin of life experiments

This game looks like it could be fun guys:

http://www.playinggods.com/

rats

I was planning on making a special post for my 3000th one - and then I got all involved, and now I have 3004.

I mean, who makes a special post for their 3004th post?

Now I have to wait a whole 'nother 996 posts.

probly be dead by then

sigh

First I was going to suggest you just say that this was your 3,000th post, but then when you said you only have three months to live, it all seemed so pointless ... well, I'll remember you in my prayers...

Actually, if you made post 4,000 from the other side, that would be kinda cool...

Selective brain damage modulates human spirituality

Summary:

"Selective damage to the left and right posterior parietal regions induced a specific increase in a personality trait called self-transcendence (ST), thought to reflect a decreased sense of self and an ability to identify one's self as an integral part of the universe as a whole, Dr. Cosimo Urgesi from the University of Udine and colleages have found by studying patients before and after surgery to remove a brain tumor.

"If a stable personality trait like ST can undergo fast changes as a consequence of brain lesions, it would indicate that at least some personality dimensions may be modified by influencing neural activity in specific areas," suggests Dr. Salvatore M. Aglioti from Sapienza University."

If we all enter this at the same time, it gets crazy:
http://flockdraw.com/aebpfv

hey! I got to be a Pooh-bah!

You're supposed to write a tldr substantive post now right?

god ****ing dammit jib is really pissing me the **** off and i'm going to just vent here instead of making a post that calls him out for the following...

jib stated a couple days ago that he believe life should be protected at all costs.

he clearly doesn't live this way. it isn't debatable.

yet he just trots around spewing lines that make him seem like some type of noble dude, and i'm sure he is compared to the average human, but ffs i get really ****ing pissed when christians continually spout bull**** like this and live nothing like it.

****ing hypocrites piss me off more than almost anything