Category Archives: Evolution

The Perception of Patterns in Nature

Posted on Friday 23 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Fascinating essay by science-writer George Johnson in Tuesday’s NYT Science section, Creation, in the Eye of the Beholder, about the eternal tendency of humans to perceive patterns in nature as evidence of some designer. Whereas in fact, it’s evidence of … Continue reading →

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Cosmos So Far

Posted on Thursday 24 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I should update my thoughts about the new version of the TV series Cosmos, since earlier I posted a mild critique about it needing to explain the background of scientific discovery – presenting not just the grandiose conclusions humanity has … Continue reading →

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Interesting Links This Weekend

Posted on Sunday 13 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

There’s *another* great science show running [in addition to “Cosmos”], “Your Inner Fish”, based on the book by Neil Shubin, which explores the physiological resemblances among animals, from fishies to humans, that are of course one of the many lines … Continue reading →

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Fox, Certainty, Arrogance, Evidence, and Cosmos

Posted on Wednesday 12 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Follow-up article in Salon about the man whose father was lost to the paranoid outrage of Fox News. (The original article on this topic inspired my explanation about how science fiction represents the antithesis of such dead-end traps of ideology … Continue reading →

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Religion vs Cosmos

Posted on Tuesday 11 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Tech writer Andrew Leonard writes in Salon about religious outrage against science. Watch out, “Cosmos”! The Holy Inquisition is not happy with you The best part: “Cosmos” is labeled “a glossy multi-million-dollar piece of agitprop for scientific materialism” as if … Continue reading →

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Coyne on Bryan’s Myth, vs Reality

Posted on Tuesday 4 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne discusses the Bryan College issue. Bryan College forces its faculty to swear to historical existence of Adam and Eve Coyne is not only a *real scientist* but also a guy willing to address the arguments of those with … Continue reading →

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Prothero and Vick on that debate

Posted on Thursday 13 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Donald Prothero summarizes the Nye-Ham debate. http://www.skepticblog.org/2014/02/12/hearts-and-minds/ Tristan Vick explains why he didn’t watch the debate, but sides with those who think it was a good idea. http://www.advocatusatheist.blogspot.jp/2014/02/why-i-didnt-watch-bill-nye-vs-ken-ham.html We have to debate Creationists, if anything, to share the accumulated information, … Continue reading →

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Natural Selection; Family Values

Posted on Wednesday 12 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The trouble with ‘Darwin Day’ is that, it’s not about one guy, as evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks explains. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-brooks/darwin-day_b_4770363.html It irks me the way Nye, and others who engage with creationists, allow the likes of Ham to call evolution “Darwinism”, … Continue reading →

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Science and Fundamentalism

Posted on Tuesday 11 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Nice essay by Connor Wood at Science on Religion, about the Nye-Ham debate. Though he’s a PhD candidate in religion and science, he’d been putting off paying much attention to this debate. The reason I didn’t get too excited about … Continue reading →

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For Creationists, Intellectual Inquiry is a Sin

Posted on Monday 10 February 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern comments about a new HBO documentary, Questioning Darwin: The Cruelty of Creationism. Intellectual freedom is one of humanity’s greatest gifts—and biggest burdens. Our ability to ask questions, to test ideas, to doubt is what separates us … Continue reading →

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