Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts things together to see what they mean. They speak different languages and use different powers of the brain. -Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Great Partnership As the quotation above suggests, the schism between scientific fact and religious belief is, in
Continue readingTag: Evolution
Scripturient: Blog & Commentary: Gut instincts
A story on Science Daily says research suggests our so-called “free will” may be less free than we ever imagined. We may, instead, be meat puppets ruled by the desires and cravings of the smallest symbiotes we carry: our gut bacteria. The story opens: It sounds like science fiction, but
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Gangs of Feathered T-Rex
Imagine, if you will, an early morning scene in the late Cretaceous. The air is quiet as the day warms. At the edge of a large forest a plain of ferns ripples in the light breeze (grass would not evolve for another 20 or so million years). Under the canopy of
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Pretty Much Every Creationist Argument…
Creationist: *argle-bargle* – “Science said this!”, trots out gross caricature of scientific theory. “It is ‘just a theory!” – More *argle-bargle*. Rational People: … *heavy sigh* And then…the slapdown. You are entitled to your opinion, but never entitled to the facts. Filed under: Religion, Science Tagged:
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Pretty Much Every Creationist Argument…
Creationist: *argle-bargle* – “Science said this!”, trots out gross caricature of scientific theory. “It is ‘just a theory!” – More *argle-bargle*. Rational People: … *heavy sigh* And then…the slapdown. You are entitled to your opinion, but never entitled to the facts. Filed under: Religion, Science Tagged:
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Seeing evolution in action
The pop-science notion is that evolution takes a long time. Millennia, many millennia; even millions of years. But is that always true? Can one actually see and measure evolution in action? Can it happen in such a short time as to be recorded? Peter and Rosemary Grant say they have. And
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Scary Face of Religious Ignorance – RPOJ Style
It has been awhile since we’ve had a Red Pen of Justice post here on DWR. Thankfully(?) that void shall now be filled by krisman2013′s lovely post titled: Evolution – The Theory that Became a Religion. Can you feel it? The crushingly vapid ignorance about to be put on display
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Scary Face of Religious Ignorance – RPOJ Style
It has been awhile since we’ve had a Red Pen of Justice post here on DWR. Thankfully(?) that void shall now be filled by krisman2013′s lovely post titled: Evolution – The Theory that Became a Religion. Can you feel it? The crushingly vapid ignorance about to be put on display
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Feb. 12: Happy Darwin Day
February 12 is international Darwin Day, the day when we collectively celebrate science and reason. And, of course, we recognize Charles Darwin’s birthday: February 12, 1809 (the same birthdate as Abraham Lincoln, by the way). If Collingwood made such declarations, I would propose we recognize the day in our municipality.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On A Lighter Note, Even Pat Robertson Is Embarrassed
It is always a delight when even the crazed religious right begins to splinter. Watch the video below, a five-minute compilation of Bill Nye’s recent ‘debate’ with creationist Ken Ham on evolution, followed by Pat Robertson’s reaction to Ham. Recommend this Post
Continue readingEclectic Lip: The losers of Superbowl XLVIII will be…
Religious moderates. Here’s my reasoning. After the game, someone on the winning team, exulting ecstatically, will say “God was on our side” or words to that effect. It’s as sure as a post-touchdown two-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter, if the team is still down by a pair.
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2013-11-17 21:46:00
EVIDENCE ON THE EVOLUTION OF SNAKES Snakes belong to the suborder Serpentes in the order Squamata (the scaled reptiles). There has been a considerable controversy over their evolutionary origin. The two basic theories are 1)they…
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2013-11-17 21:46:00
EVIDENCE ON THE EVOLUTION OF SNAKES Snakes belong to the suborder Serpentes in the order Squamata (the scaled reptiles). There has been a considerable controversy over their evolutionary origin. The two basic theories are 1)they evolved from terrestrial burrowing reptiles and 2)that they evolved from aquatic reptiles and are closely
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2013-11-17 20:46:00
EVIDENCE ON THE EVOLUTION OF SNAKES Snakes belong to the suborder Serpentes in the order Squamata (the scaled reptiles). There has been a considerable controversy over their evolutionary origin. The two basic theories are 1)they evolved from terrestrial burrowing reptiles and 2)that they evolved from aquatic reptiles and are closely
Continue readingBlevkog: Full Esteem Ahead
This morning, as I was making my way through my email, I caught a short news item in Academica Top Ten about a school in Calgary discontinuing awards and competitions based on the work of Alfie Kohn, an author who writes about child behaviour and parenting. The theory is that, “awards eventually lose
Continue readingBlevkog: It’s Not the End of the World
His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Quote of the Day: Kluge – The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind
I’d like to recommend reading this particular book as it offers a laypersons guide to how our minds evolved and the inelegant solutions and workarounds that are now standard in the homo sapiens brain. Consider this summary of why sometime we become angry and that anger dominates our rational capacities.
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At The Movies
* Watch full movie here.
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: We are Stardust… and Viral Genes
In her classic song, Woodstock, Joni Mitchell ended with the chorus: We are stardust Billion-year-old carbon We are golden Caught in the devil’s bargain And we’ve got to get ourselves Back to the garden Which most people assume is merely poetic licence. Well, Joni wasn’t wrong: we – and every
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: New studies show generosity and cooperation are both natural and intelligent
A new study shows a mathematical proof that generosity leads to evolutionary success. Biologists offer a mathematically based explanation for why cooperation and generosity have evolved in nature [Credit: Web] “Ever since Darwin,” Plotkin said, “biologists have been puzzled about why there is so much apparent cooperation, and even flat-out generosity
Continue reading