HAPPY DARWIN DAY !!!
Happy Darwin Day! ... And I'm in work. One thing that we should all reflect on today is the power and beauty of Darwin's ideas ... but also, generally, the intellectual threshold that Darwin broke through. Like Lyell and his uniformitarianism (and to an extent, Newton), Darwin forced us (rightly I might add) to seek rational, testable, naturalistic explanations for the phenomona of the universe and to always ask hard questions ... and to seek answers that made us question every preconceived notion we had. Darwinism very much is the crane by which we understand the details of the earth's biodiversity, including our own species, and I am proud to call myself a Darwinist.
I want to also quote something not from Darwin or even a scientist, but from Eric Rothschild, the chief counsel for the plantiffs in the Dover, Penn. Intelligent Design creationism trial (Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al.), and while this quote applies to creationist Michael Behe's complete ignorance to breakthroughs in immunology (and his false notion that the immune system is an irreducibly complex system), it is a note on creationism in general and the superiority of the scientific method and curiosity over the 'ignorance and call it god' hypothesis:
"Thankfully, there are scientists who do search for answers to the question of the origin of the immune system ... It's our defense against debilitating and fatal diseases. The scientists who wrote these books and articles toil in obscurity, without royalties or speaking engagemtns. Their efforts help us combat and cure serious medical conditions. By contrast, Professor Behe and the entire intelligent desgin movement are doing nothing to advance scientific or medical knowledge and are telling future generations of scientists, don't bother."
Darwin forced all thinking people "to bother" and thank goodness for that.
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Happy Darwin day!
Happy Darwin Day
Actually, I'm in Hong Kong, so yesterday was Darwin Day, but that does not dampen my celebration
"Physical reality” isn’t some arbitrary demarcation. It is defined in terms of what we can systematically investigate, directly or not, by means of our senses. It is preposterous to assert that the process of systematic scientific reasoning arbitrarily excludes “non-physical explanations” because the very notion of “non-physical explanation” is contradictory.
-Me
Books about atheism
February 12th, 1809:
On this date, two great men were born — Abraham Lincoln, Emancipator of American Slaves and Charles Darwin, Emancipator of the Human Mind
Their Positive Legacies Still Endure
see more at darwinday.org
I'm off myspace.com so you can only find me here: http://geoffreymgolia.blogspot.com
I was half hoping that google would change their banner today, but I guess that would cause a herd of drama llamas to flood the google offices.....
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I'll get back to you when I think of something worthwhile to say.
Evolutor is pleased this Darwin Day. He looked down upon the world he created, and realized that it is still changing, generation after generation, with species dying out and coming into existence, just as He planned it.
His much maligned prophet, Charles Darwin, can rest well knowing that he brought to the masses Evolutor's message of change over time and natural selection.
Evolutor bless you, and may He make small changes in your life, too.
"Like Fingerpainting 101, gimme no credit for having class; one thumb on the pulse of the nation, one thumb in your girlfriend's ass; written on, written off, some calling me a joke, I don't think that I'm a sellout but I do enjoy Coke."
-BHG
I found a creative way to celebrate Darwin Day with your kids http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=280&article=4
which we are going to attempt this week. It sounds like fun, especially the Going Bananas Day.
News article, kinda old.