Comments on: Vox Populi

By: Kenn

Kenn — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:28:15 +0000

Well, here’s news:

“Chinese skull discovery may cause human origins rethink

“Chinese archaeologists have uncovered a 100,000- year-old fossilized human skull in central China which may throw new light on the origins of the human race, national media said on Thursday.

“The well-preserved skull was found in the central Chinese province of Henan, and Chinese scientists say it could disprove the widely-held theory that Homo sapiens originated in Africa.

“The majority of Chinese scientists share the multiregional theory of human origin, which says that humans evolved separately in different regions.”

http://en.rian.ru/science/20080124/97644883.html

By: leb (Leon E. Benetier - do not publish my name)

leb (Leon E. Benetier - do not publish my name) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:30:42 +0000

I don’t know who or what invented the fabric of reality that we humans try to understand through our study of physics, probablity, astrophysics, parallel universes, spacetime, mechanics, chemistry, biology, evolution, mathematics, psychology, sociology, economics, zoology, etc., and you don’t know either and neither does anybody else. But it is fun for us to try and figure it out. There are some questions that physics will probably never be able to answer. Even if we answer the questions that science is asking today, there will be other new questions for sceince and scientists to try and answer tomorrow. At least we found out that the Bible is not inerrant and that the Pope is not infallible. No matter what the Huckabees and the preachers and the mullahs say, we now know that science is tentative and falsifiable and that it is the best method invented so far to theorize and test concepts of what the Universe is and is not. I hope and pray to God (aka the Universe) that science stays alive and continues to enlighten us. Amen!

By: Jor-L5150

Jor-L5150 — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:18:54 +0000

shermer’s the man!!

ID is inevitably an evangelical tool, even rush limbaugh has admitted that ID’ers should admit to being biblical creationists.
the problem is that ID is a smokescreen, a veneer of science, proponets pretend to be religiously neutral but they are not. it is not some abstract Deism they are trying to establish, but ends up being fundamentalist christianity- and then it leads to theocratic government and sectarian warriing over dogmas that become law .

btw- chuck norris is huckabees’ buddy and openly endorses biblical creation as part of public school curriculum.

By: Gus Spoon

Gus Spoon — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:51:11 +0000

Yea Sungod,

I agree with you Huckabee has the physics figured out!

He is the one getting applause!

By: Sungod

Sungod — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:07:02 +0000

I have a sign on my office door:
Evolution is just a theory … kind of like gravity

Of course, it is wrong: gravity is a theory (or specifically Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation and Einstein’s General Relativity are theories) but evolution is bigger than just a theory. It contains theories, like punctuated equilibrium, and it contains sets of observations, like Darwin’s finches, but Evolution is an entire field of biology.

A better comparison would be between evolutionary biology and classical mechanics – each are broad, intricate and not well suited to sound-bites.

Still public discussions of evolution continue without explaining it and confusion is the sole result – and what makes this worse is many people mistake this confusion for understanding.

As an example, Huckabee was asked if he believed in evolution during a debate – as politicians are wont to do, he side-stepped it and expressed his faith in god. He got great applause for it, but so what? If they had asked him if he thought string theory would ever be successful in uniting all known forces and he had said “With god all things are possible.” he would have gotten as much applause.
And some would think “Gee, Huckabee really knows his physics!”

By: aqk

aqk — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:27:42 +0000

But WTF does “Vox Populi” mean?

(Only kidding. ONLY KIDDING!!) ;-)

By: aqk

aqk — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:24:17 +0000

Gee, thanx, Kenn!
Not sure what (or who) that list of definitions was for…
And any conclusions I might draw might lead to accusations (perhaps justified) of snobbery towards me! ;-)

By: skeptic griggsy

skeptic griggsy — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:49:12 +0000

On many forums, I show the contradiction of theistic evolution:how theists discern teleology behind dysteology. They seem to assume that natural selection is an empty vessel that God directs rather than a power of its own,mindlessly forming new forms. Theirs is the new Omphalos argument!
And such as Eugenie Scott and Michael Ruse can have their ruse of trying to get special creationists to accept evolution as part of God’s plan from the side of religion but they should not gainsay that theistic evolution from the side of science is contradictory.
I am a New Atheist- an anti-theist! Why should we naturalists keep quiet about the contradiction? The arrogance of Scott and Ruse!

By: teacherninja

teacherninja — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:35:13 +0000

I think the reason the smallest group are those of us who accept evolution by natural selection is that they are the people who read things like Scientific American, agree with you and feel no need to respond. On their behalf I say, OF COURSE evolution by natural selection is correct, just like atomic theory is correct, gravotational theory is correct, etc.

Why can’t we say evolution is a FACT and that natural selection (or modern synthesis or whatever) is the theory or mechanism? I’m just sayin…

Thanks, Michael!

By: Kenn

Kenn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:25:01 +0000

cacophonous – harsh or discordant sound

taxonomic – technique of classification

taxon – category

veracity – observance of truth

canard – false or baseless, usually derogatory

penultimate – next to the last

glossary – list of terms with accompanying definitions