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 Gods and algae and fruit flies, oh my!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  03:53:32  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
Vellch, I'd like to see your take on this one. Me, I can almost agree with Dembski, for once. Interesting read, none the less.
quote:

Keats played the prayers on an endless loop for seven days and nights -- a standard Biblical time period -- while control-group flies listened to live talk radio. He documented light and sound intensity daily to ensure consistency between groups.

But how does one measure the godliness of bacteria versus a fruit fly? (Keats opted for flies in lieu of humans, which, he said, would require "a really big bell jar.") After briefly considering omnipotence, Keats decided to measure omnipresence. Did the number of organisms increase? How fast? In the case of the fruit flies, Keats, who considers himself Jewish "by heritage," found the Christian Kyrie prayer brought about increased and statistically significant reproduction compared to the control group.

"By a random mutation, the fruit flies appear to have become more godlike, capable of metabolizing worship into divinity," he said.


http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65066-2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1


[Moved to the Religion folder - Dave W.]

"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  07:00:38   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
What the...?

quote:
"It's hard to tell from this whether Mr. Keats is just having some fun or is seriously deranged,"


I vote on the latter.

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  07:09:14   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Siberia

What the...?

quote:
"It's hard to tell from this whether Mr. Keats is just having some fun or is seriously deranged,"


I vote on the latter.

P'raps a bit o' both, eh?

I rather doubt his experiment will come up with the hoped-for results, but surely it might come up with something. A fruit fly version of Rush Limbaugh, maybe?

But alas, I fear we'll hear no more about it. I'd love to follow it through to the end.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  07:12:10   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
Most likely.
Pity, probably the fundies will try to stop him, or some sane scientists. Who knows? But it'd been fun to see what comes out. Maybe a new fruit fly theocracy

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  21:14:40   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
That's got to be a joke

Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  21:15:57   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
It's not a joke, it's a performance art piece. Oh, wait... I can't tell the difference, either.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 09/30/2004 :  22:21:02   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by filthy
"By a random mutation, the fruit flies appear to have become more godlike..." he said.


God is sooo going to strike down those flies. He despises upstarts.


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
Edited by - H. Humbert on 09/30/2004 22:21:47
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verlch
SFN Regular

781 Posts

Posted - 10/01/2004 :  22:00:53   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send verlch an AOL message Send verlch a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by filthy

Vellch, I'd like to see your take on this one. Me, I can almost agree with Dembski, for once. Interesting read, none the less.
quote:

Keats played the prayers on an endless loop for seven days and nights -- a standard Biblical time period -- while control-group flies listened to live talk radio. He documented light and sound intensity daily to ensure consistency between groups.

But how does one measure the godliness of bacteria versus a fruit fly? (Keats opted for flies in lieu of humans, which, he said, would require "a really big bell jar.") After briefly considering omnipotence, Keats decided to measure omnipresence. Did the number of organisms increase? How fast? In the case of the fruit flies, Keats, who considers himself Jewish "by heritage," found the Christian Kyrie prayer brought about increased and statistically significant reproduction compared to the control group.

"By a random mutation, the fruit flies appear to have become more godlike, capable of metabolizing worship into divinity," he said.


http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65066-2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1


[Moved to the Religion folder - Dave W.]



I'd say this fella did too many hits of acid. Tell that dude to lay off the tonic!

What came first the chicken or the egg?

How do plants exist without bugs in the soil, and bugs in the soil without plants producing oxygen?

There are no atheists in foxholes

Underlying the evolutionary theory is not just the classic "stuff" of science — conclusions arrived at through prolonged observation and experimentation. Evolution is first an atheistic, materialistic world view. In other words, the primary reason for its acceptance has little to do with the evidence for or against it. Evolution is accepted because men are atheists by faith and thus interpret the evidence to cor-respond to their naturalistic philosophy.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. II Timothy 4:3,4

II Thess. 2:11 And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

You can not see the 'wind', but you can see its effect!!!!

Evolution was caused by genetic mistakes at each stage?

Radical Evolution has 500 million years to find fossils of fictional drawings of (hard core)missing links, yet they find none.

We have not seen such moral darkness since the dark ages, coencides with
teaching evolution in schools. (Moral darkness)

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, EPH 6:12.

"Thus, many scientists embracing naturalism find themselves in the seeming dilemma recently articulated by biochemist Franklin Harold: "We should reject, as a matter of principle, the substitution of intelligent design for the dialogue of chance and necessity [i.e., Darwinian evolution]; but we must concede that there are presently no detailed Darwinian accounts of the evolution of any biochemical system, only a variety of wishful speculations."
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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 10/02/2004 :  08:43:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
Wow. I actually agree with Verlch.

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 10/02/2004 :  11:53:28   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Siberia

Wow. I actually agree with Verlch.

Me too. Ain't it grand?




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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