One-third of Americans reject evolution, poll shows

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Come on, what you insist that I do is find a definition for a scientific idea that in-
cludes a NONSCIENTIFIC ELEMENT such as God (no, I am not calling God an
“element”). Science does NOT discuss God, nor is it meant to do so. Evolution
does not make a comment on God, simple as that. You can highlight that BUC
factor all you’d like, but the mentioning of “By Chance” etc is merely the conse-
quence of being limited to the physical world.

I never made such a statement which contradicts what you just submitted.
Scientists can only, in honesty, say things like unguided, by change, and
so forth because that is the physical evidence alone says, and that is the
boundary which science is limited. Creationists will take that and FORCE
it to mean that God had absolutely nothing to do with all this. Such, I sub-
mit, is not the case, but merely a Creationist construct.

I couldn’t agree with you more that scientists have no right or authority to eliminate God, but that is not a real issue. It’s
an issue raised by Creationists, because Evolution does not tickle their personal fancies by explicitly saying “GOD.” In
response, guided by the preconceived notion that “there is a designer, therefore Evolution cannot be true, because Evol-
ution says there’s no God, and anyone who believes it is an atheist…,” embark on highjacking the scientific community
using the very technical-sounding name of “Intelligent Design,” working towards the goal of eliminating the Theory of Ev-
olution on the false premise that it denies God.
I already quoted you a top evo biologist putting on record “we can’t let the divine foot in the door”.

The NCSE even changed its tune when they started seeing that the progress they thought should have made did not happen. They then started to try to harmonize evo with faith.
 
not entirely true. While a bad egg does slip in occasionally, they tend to try to pick your “enemies” to peer review your proposed article. So if you’re arguing that this new fossil find should be classified as a “reptile-like mammal”, they’re going to try to give it to a guy who thinks it should be classified as a “mammal-like reptile”. Only about 1 in 50 submitted articles actually get published because scrutiny is so high. It’s the job of the reviewers to pick apart the article in every way they can. They can and do lose their position if they don’t try hard enough to do so. This helps combat bias.
You make some good points. But I still think we need a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies.
 
Frankly, its not really my job to show just cause that its wrong. Its his job to properly support and give just cause for why its the right numbers and right formula. He has completely failed to do so, which is what I’m trying to get you to see. If he wanted to do this professionally, he should have written a paper on it, presented it to his peers, asked them to rip it apart, revise it, present it at a conference, argue its defense, discuss it with others, revise it, revise it, and revise it again, giving a lengthy reason for including everything he includes and excluding everything he excludes, and THEN producing his data. He did not do any of this.
You know all this, how?

It is YOUR job to show that you have sufficiently assessed the body of his ACTUAL work to demonstrate that you have warrant for concluding “He has completely failed to do so.”

You don’t agree, right?

Have you heard of NFL?

I deliberately use an acronym here to make my own determination whether you are sufficiently familiar with his work to figure this one out. The more you write the less confidence I have that your facade has anything behind it. L. Frank Baum wrote a wonderful story based on this very premise.
 
Apparently only a “universal” constant is desired. Both sides must be looked at, for Christians, at least. Bias can exist on both sides but questioning the data from both sides, not just one, is a better approach. “Peer-reviewd journals” are all that the science side has to work with. The problem here regarding the past is that experimental replication is not possible, as opposed to studying the living in order to determine the function(s) of what is alive today. Especially in the areas of preventing and hopefully, curing diseases. By definition, when an author submits a paper, one or more of his peers must review it for accurate presentation and sound methodology. I would not want to be the publisher of a peer-reviewed journal that is consistently called out for publishing rubbish. Such journals are expensive. If I were a scientist, I would find another.

Peace,
Ed
You’re right in that I did not present both sides of the peer-review issue.
 
I think if you want to draw conclusions about “Dembski’s justification” you ought to look into what “Dembski’s justification” is and whether it is a warranted one. You cannot rely on what I say to make any conclusions about whether Dembski is justified or not.

Take on the pirate not the parrot, if you have the courage to. But don’t claim you’ve defeated the pirate because you have subdued the parrot.

I am not going to turn to my grandmother and ask her to show me why I ought to believe Dembski has sufficiently accounted for all possible interactions since the universe began by including exponents dealing with elementary particles, Planck time and calculations on the duration of the universe and then decide whether Dembski is correct by the impressions of my grandmother.

For you to place your “trust” regarding such judgements on relative amateurs in the field is telling. If you can’t, on your own, make sense of it, and you find “crude translations” unhelpful, that does not provide an iota of reason for you to claim it’s all nonsense.

This is the Farsight method, which, as far as I can tell, is profoundly myopic, since he cannot seem to tell the difference between the pirate and the parrot. Of course, Mr. Magoo had similar issues and managed quite well, although those around him didn’t fair so well. :cool:
So you don’t know Dembski’s justification is ‘acceptable’ because you don’t know what the justification is.
 
You make some good points. But I still think we need a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies.
Agreed, peer review is now being questioned because of fraud and money.

Can peer review police fraud?

Oops! 5 Retracted Science Studies of 2012

Accusations of fraud spur a revolution in scientific publishing

Opinion: Scientific Peer Review in Crisis

[The case of the Danish Cohort](http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34518/title/Opinion--Scientific-Peer-Review-in-Crisis/)
 
MODERATOR REMINDER

Please charitably discuss the issues, not each other nor how each other posts.
 
So you don’t know Dembski’s justification is ‘acceptable’ because you don’t know what the justification is.
Post #848
The unit 10^45 is measured in hertz, which represents alterations in the states of matter per second. The properties of matter are such that transitions from one physical state to another cannot occur at a rate faster than 10^45 times per second. This universal bound on transitions between physical states is based on the Planck time, which constitutes the smallest physically meaningful unit of time.
This represents the highest frequency of interactions (transitions) possible at the highest possible number of times per second. Planck time is the smallest theoretical unit of time so any transition CANNOT possibly occur faster.

I do find that to be sufficient justification for his use of the number because there could be no alternative timeframe within which more events could occur.

You don’t see it, fine. Make a case that interactions (transition events) CAN happen at a higher frequency.

The ball is in your court.
 
Good thing its already proven, then.
That’s interesting. I’m not convinced, partly based on new discoveries, different ways of viewing the data and the quasi-religious fervor expressed here. I just don’t think anyone can call this proven since new discoveries are being made, and the defense of this theory, with all due respect, is far out of proportion to its practical use, for which I see none on the macro, what happened allegedly years ago, level.

Peace,
Ed
 
Non-theists consistently force it to mean that God had absolutely nothing to do with it. And when scientists spread what some might call “opinions” to the media, they violate their standing as scientists/biologists by crossing the line into attacking religion, which science is supposedly silent about. But if you teach at the University level, and voice anything positive about ID, for example, you can be disowned in writing, moved to another position or officially censured.
Nontheists do what you claim, that is true, but nontheist is not synonymous with scientist. Scientists should not attack
religion, but at the same time they cannot use their scientific authority to support religion. Do either happen? Of Course,
but that is no excuse. And on that “disowned” “moved” “officially censured” stuff, such is wonderful, believe it or not.

The scientific community talks about science and presents things to the world which it deems factual. Never does the
scientific community teach that “God had nothing to do with it” is a scientific statement, so we’re safe there. Back to
the “Guardians of Science,” if someone wants to talk about Intelligent Design and get the world to believe that it is a
science, such should be censured, for they are not even willing to go through the step by step process in being ac-
cepted by the scientific community. In other words, IDs are dishonest in their intellectual conduct.
I would say that while half-interested teenagers took a science class in high school, they will spend many more years hearing that God/gods/supernatural just doesn’t exist, or for those who might think there’s something out there, was completely uninvolved in the process/topic. The mainstream media will continue to repeat that.
Everything there is a deceitful exaggeration, so shame on you and all who swear to that position. Schools are under no obli-
gation to teach students about religion. Schools K-12 are to teach practical, mind-building academical knowledge, preparing
them for the grown-up world. If people want religion imposed upon children, that will be the responsibility of parents and what-
ever organization whose occupation it is to educate children on religious matters.

That’s a very fair system, in my mind.
 
I already quoted you a top evo biologist putting on record “we can’t let the divine foot in the door”.
Maybe because the divine doesn’t want to get his foot in through the doors of science.
 
Nontheists do what you claim, that is true, but nontheist is not synonymous with scientist. Scientists should not attack
religion, but at the same time they cannot use their scientific authority to support religion. Do either happen? Of Course,
but that is no excuse. And on that “disowned” “moved” “officially censured” stuff, such is wonderful, believe it or not.

The scientific community talks about science and presents things to the world which it deems factual. Never does the
scientific community teach that “God had nothing to do with it” is a scientific statement, so we’re safe there. Back to
the “Guardians of Science,” if someone wants to talk about Intelligent Design and get the world to believe that it is a
science, such should be censured, for they are not even willing to go through the step by step process in being ac-
cepted by the scientific community. In other words, IDs are dishonest in their intellectual conduct.

Everything there is a deceitful exaggeration, so shame on you and all who swear to that position. Schools are under no obli-
gation to teach students about religion. Schools K-12 are to teach practical, mind-building academical knowledge, preparing
them for the grown-up world. If people want religion imposed upon children, that will be the responsibility of parents and what-
ever organization whose occupation it is to educate children on religious matters.

That’s a very fair system, in my mind.
First, I can outline how we know ID is science. We know ID is science because it uses the scientific method to make its claims. The scientific method is commonly described as a four-step process involving observations, hypothesis, experiments, and conclusion. ID begins with the observation that intelligent agents produce complex and specified information (CSI). Design theorists hypothesize that if a natural object was designed, it will contain high levels of CSI. Scientists then perform experimental tests upon natural objects to determine if they contain complex and specified information. One easily testable form of CSI is irreducible complexity, which can be tested and discovered by experimentally reverse-engineering biological structures through genetic knockout experiments. The purpose is to determine if they require all of their parts to function. When experimental researchers uncover irreducible complexity in biology, they conclude that such structures were designed. For some nice, easy articles that further discuss why ID is science, please see any of the following links:
 
Maybe because the divine doesn’t want to get his foot in through the doors of science.
Or, let’s keep looking for natural explanations (even though we know we won’t find one) to keep the grants and funding going. We have an entire industry supporting thousands going here. Let’s not rock the boat. If we insist enough we can keep it going. (laugh all the way to the bank)
 
Post #848

This represents the highest frequency of interactions (transitions) possible at the highest possible number of times per second. Planck time is the smallest theoretical unit of time so any transition CANNOT possibly occur faster.

I do find that to be sufficient justification for his use of the number because there could be no alternative timeframe within which more events could occur.

You don’t see it, fine. Make a case that interactions (transition events) CAN happen at a higher frequency.

The ball is in your court.
This still doesn’t answer my question.

I believe we’ve established already that Dembski is saying that only one transition can occur in a Planck time (a time established by how far light can travel in a Planck length). But why is the Planck time a limiting factor so that only one transition can occur per Planck time? Obviously a transition has nothing to do with how far light travels in a Planck length, so there must be another explanation you find acceptable on why this is the shortest time interval. I’d like to understand what that is.
 
I think if you want to draw conclusions about “Dembski’s justification” you ought to look into what “Dembski’s justification” is and whether it is a warranted one. You cannot rely on what I say to make any conclusions about whether Dembski is justified or not.

Take on the pirate not the parrot, if you have the courage to. But don’t claim you’ve defeated the pirate because you have subdued the parrot.

I am not going to turn to my grandmother and ask her to show me why I ought to believe Dembski has sufficiently accounted for all possible interactions since the universe began by including exponents dealing with elementary particles, Planck time and calculations on the duration of the universe and then decide whether Dembski is correct by the impressions of my grandmother.

For you to place your “trust” regarding such judgements on relative amateurs in the field is telling. If you can’t, on your own, make sense of it, and you find “crude translations” unhelpful, that does not provide an iota of reason for you to claim it’s all nonsense.

This is the Farsight method, which, as far as I can tell, is profoundly myopic, since he cannot seem to tell the difference between the pirate and the parrot. Of course, Mr. Magoo had similar issues and managed quite well, although those around him didn’t fair so well. :cool:
Ah yes, more mockery and belittlement instead of answering questions. And you still seem to be missing some rather important things. First of all, I have already tackled the pirate and found him to be quite wrong. I’m just trying to get the parrot to see that.

Second of all, you are completely failing to approach evolution with equal scrutiny and skepticism as you are Dembski’s pet ideas.
 
I already quoted you a top evo biologist putting on record “we can’t let the divine foot in the door”.
Which is meaningless. Scientifically, we CAN’T. Even if God appeared before us all right now, we still couldn’t. Its not that they don’t want to allow it. Its that it is literally impossible, which is something we have explained to you repeatedly.
 
You make some good points. But I still think we need a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies.
They have that, actually. Journals are supposed to have a person or persons whose job it is to look at all the peer-reviews and scrutinize them.
 
Nontheists do what you claim, that is true, but nontheist is not synonymous with scientist. Scientists should not attack
religion, but at the same time they cannot use their scientific authority to support religion. Do either happen? Of Course,
but that is no excuse. And on that “disowned” “moved” “officially censured” stuff, such is wonderful, believe it or not.

The scientific community talks about science and presents things to the world which it deems factual. Never does the
scientific community teach that “God had nothing to do with it” is a scientific statement, so we’re safe there. Back to
the “Guardians of Science,” if someone wants to talk about Intelligent Design and get the world to believe that it is a
science, such should be censured, for they are not even willing to go through the step by step process in being ac-
cepted by the scientific community. In other words, IDs are dishonest in their intellectual conduct.

Everything there is a deceitful exaggeration, so shame on you and all who swear to that position. Schools are under no obli-
gation to teach students about religion. Schools K-12 are to teach practical, mind-building academical knowledge, preparing
them for the grown-up world. If people want religion imposed upon children, that will be the responsibility of parents and what-
ever organization whose occupation it is to educate children on religious matters.

That’s a very fair system, in my mind.
My reference was not aimed at what is taught at schools but at what those teenagers will be exposed to for years after they leave school. In the recent past and the present, the position of the media is partly to attack the Church based on science. When the Church has said anything that the mainstream media can partly quote in favor of this theory, the Church is praised, even though, in at least one case, the media leaves out the full statement. If the Church says anything negative, it is not praised; quite the opposite. So much for a fair reporting of the news which should define journalism. If an unbiased answer is sought, both sides should be examined. Again, I’m puzzled by the fervor over an allegedly long process that has no bearing whatsoever on the macro level, i.e. human beings.

Peace,
Ed
 
You know all this, how?
By reading his stuff - a courtesy you clearly do not afford to the evolutionary biologists.
It is YOUR job to show that you have sufficiently assessed the body of his ACTUAL work to demonstrate that you have warrant for concluding “He has completely failed to do so.”
And I did that by pointing out that he failed to address many extremely important questions and completely failed to explain or address dozens upon dozens of factors that he chose not to include in his calculations. I’d obviously have to sit down and go through the effort myself, but it seems like his “equation” for something so complete and universal should have hundreds of variables, not 3. But regardless, a properly researched and prepared issue like this would explain why he included what he did AND why he didn’t include what he didn’t. He failed utterly to explain this, or even to acknowledge this. That is a huge problem and hugely unprofessional.
I deliberately use an acronym here to make my own determination whether you are sufficiently familiar with his work to figure this one out. The more you write the less confidence I have that your facade has anything behind it. L. Frank Baum wrote a wonderful story based on this very premise.
Because my failure to remember what an acronym stands for is proof that I haven’t read his material? I can’t even remember what it normally stands for half the time. Does that mean I’ve never watched football on tv? What a joke.
 
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