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moakley
SFN Regular

USA
1888 Posts

Posted - 11/06/2007 :  19:40:45  Show Profile Send moakley a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Looks like there is going to be an interesting program on Nova next week. Judgement Day Intelligent Design on Trial

First read about it over at Panda's Thumb.

And of course the Discovery Institute has a different spin. Seems they are still unable to face the facts.
Kids in Dover are still wishing they could get a full and complete education, without scientific ideas such as intelligent design censored as too dangerous for them to hear about.
Or too empty to be considered science.



[Moved to the Creation/Evolution folder - Dave W.]

Life is good

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous

chaloobi
SFN Regular

1620 Posts

Posted - 11/07/2007 :  06:06:52   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send chaloobi a Yahoo! Message Send chaloobi a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Too dangerous? Well. Would it be dangerous to accept a religous philosophy as empirical science? Clearly it would interupt the progress of science and the accompanying hope of true understanding of the nature of life, the universe and everything. (To say nothing of the ongoing economic and living standard benefits of the advance of knowledge.) Does it further the efforts of religous fundies to bridge the gap between church and state and bring with it the probable assault on personal freedoms of all kinds? Probably. So they're right - teaching ID is too dangerous.

-Chaloobi

Edited by - chaloobi on 11/07/2007 07:45:02
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astropin
SFN Regular

USA
970 Posts

Posted - 11/07/2007 :  10:38:35   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send astropin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That looks good. I shall record it.

I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.

You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.

Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.

Infinitus est numerus stultorum
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2007 :  05:06:40   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Denise O'Leary, whom I suspect is decended from the klutz who's cow is reputed to have burned down Chicago, has some thoughts on the NOVA program (which I won't get to see 'cause my tv won't pick up PBS ).
7 November 2007
PBS's Judgment Day - Don't believe Darwin's kludge? You just don't understand it! Or else …
O'Leary
Or else … You haven't read The Design of Life.

But first …

A friend draws my attention to “Judgment Day,” an upcoming American Public Broadcasting Service special on the Dover Trial.

In this press release, we learn that Vulcan Productions - which produced the program for PBS -

has long been committed to the subject of evolution and its teaching,” remarked Vulcan Productions Executive Producer, Richard Hutton. “When we co-produced the Evolution series with the WGBH Science Unit in 2001, we set out to bring the richness of Darwin's theory to life.”

Well, sure, believers have been recruited to front Darwin.

The part that intrigued me was NOVA Senior Executive Producer Paula S. Apsell's comment: “Evolution is one of the most essential and least understood of all scientific theories, the foundation of biological science.”

What on earth does she mean?

Darwin's theory (the one she fronts) says that life goes from goo to zoo to you in a zillion easy steps.

Mind? Nada. Purpose? Nada. Direction? Nada.

Your ancestors won the war against lesser apes. Period.

Why is Darwin's theory supposed to be “least understood”? Is it really less understood than relativity? Than quantum mechanics ? Than Maxwell's equations ?
Denise dear, what Ms. Apsell means is that, while the Theory is understood perfectly by those who work with it, it is not so well comprehended by the general public, and gives the likes of you an opportunity to hurl red herrings & straw men far & wide in attempts at making them comprehend it even less. Why, you could almost corner the kipper market with the above quote alone, not to mention the horse-bedding industry.

So what now, sweetums? are you going to give us a point-by-point critique of the show and point out it's falsehoods and, with empirical evidence to back you up, dash it to flinders with your reason & logic? Or are you going to hand-wave, dither & blither, and hope that amusing phrases will refute Darwin?

I already know where to place my bets.






"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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chaloobi
SFN Regular

1620 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2007 :  05:44:56   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send chaloobi a Yahoo! Message Send chaloobi a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I love this:

Your ancestors won the war against lesser apes. Period.


Well, it wasn't really like a war but we had more staying power in the changing environment. And the only thing that makes them lesser is that we happened to be ultimately better suited to the evironmental conditions. No, we weren't 'chosen' by god. Sorry to burst your bubble.

-Chaloobi

Edited by - chaloobi on 11/08/2007 05:46:06
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Hawks
SFN Regular

Canada
1383 Posts

Posted - 11/15/2007 :  22:06:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Hawks's Homepage Send Hawks a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by filthy

Denise O'Leary, ...

You actually managed to read a post by O'Leary??? I gave up on that a LONG time ago. Not only is she unable to understand simple logic, her writings are terribly confusing. Not a good trait in a self-proclaimed journalist, IMO.

METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden!
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