Those Neanderthal ponies are scary. The world of 1983 was primitive and brutal. You may have noticed by now that, for a neurosurgeon, Ben Carson is a surprisingly unscientific guy. He was first-rate at cutting into brains and making repairs, but once you get him outside the operating theater, he
"And our lay understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is that it only says that eventually, in a closed system, things eventually will fall apart." Your lay understanding is no better than that of creationists. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the entropy of systems increases. It doesn't say things become more disorderly. Snowflakes form but don't violate the second law. And it doesn't say that entropy can't decrease. The entropy of a cup of coffee decreases as it cools, but the overall entropy of the air in the room increases. Any discussion of the second law that doesn't mention entropy is worthless, if only to weed out the illiterate.
A back scratcher is the perfect refutation of Intelligent Design. Wouldn't a really intelligent designer make it easy for you to reach every part of your body?
Actually, the most UNintelligent design is top-down. The Soviet Union, lots of software we could all name, many businesses. Really intelligent design comes about when systems change in response to their environment, one might even say, evolve.
If I were going to argue for intelligent design, one thing I'd point to is the IMperfection of the Universe. If we were designing things in our infinite wisdom, we'd eliminate all friction and make things perfectly rigid and unbreakable. And you couldn't walk because your feet would slide. Nuts and bolts wouldn't hold because there'd be no friction on the threads and no elasticity to stretch the bolt a tiny amount. But then again we'd have no metals because we wouldn't be able to break rocks to get at the ores. If natural selection were perfectly efficient we'd have one reigning organism, probably single-celled. But there are all kinds of random processes that inject variability into the biosphere.
Bible verse of the day: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9. Most Christians think God is greater than they are. They're 5 or 6 feet, and God is, maybe eight feet. What this verse says is, down there on the floor is mold and bacteria and stuff the dog tracked in, and there's you a fraction of a millimeter above that, and there's God, beyond the roof, beyond the Moon, beyond the next star, beyond the remotest quasar. But do go right on thinking you can psychoanalyze him.
Those who can, TEACH. Those who CAN'T, DO. Read a bunch of crank science, something I've been following for fifty years. Note how many 9/11 troofers and moon hoax believers are engineers or industrial scientists. Recall that "practical" people ridiculed the purchase of Alaska as "Seward's Folly," as well as early autos, flying or Robert Goddard's plan to go to the Moon.
Bravo. Just don't tell me that something you agree with is "right," or something you disagree with is "wrong." Because unless you can point to some extrinsic force, your ideas of right and wrong are mere subjective preferences confined to your own brain, and with no significance beyond your skull.
Seriously, you tell me something is wrong. I say "Screw you and the horse you rode in on." What exactly are you going to do about it?
I think he's trying to baffle you with bullshit. It's working with me since I can't figure out what his point is, other than we should listen to Ben Carson's horse crap.
"And our lay understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is that it only says that eventually, in a closed system, things eventually will fall apart." Your lay understanding is no better than that of creationists. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the entropy of systems increases. It doesn't say things become more disorderly. Snowflakes form but don't violate the second law. And it doesn't say that entropy can't decrease. The entropy of a cup of coffee decreases as it cools, but the overall entropy of the air in the room increases. Any discussion of the second law that doesn't mention entropy is worthless, if only to weed out the illiterate.
A back scratcher is the perfect refutation of Intelligent Design. Wouldn't a really intelligent designer make it easy for you to reach every part of your body?
Actually, the most UNintelligent design is top-down. The Soviet Union, lots of software we could all name, many businesses. Really intelligent design comes about when systems change in response to their environment, one might even say, evolve.
If I were going to argue for intelligent design, one thing I'd point to is the IMperfection of the Universe. If we were designing things in our infinite wisdom, we'd eliminate all friction and make things perfectly rigid and unbreakable. And you couldn't walk because your feet would slide. Nuts and bolts wouldn't hold because there'd be no friction on the threads and no elasticity to stretch the bolt a tiny amount. But then again we'd have no metals because we wouldn't be able to break rocks to get at the ores. If natural selection were perfectly efficient we'd have one reigning organism, probably single-celled. But there are all kinds of random processes that inject variability into the biosphere.
Bible verse of the day: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9. Most Christians think God is greater than they are. They're 5 or 6 feet, and God is, maybe eight feet. What this verse says is, down there on the floor is mold and bacteria and stuff the dog tracked in, and there's you a fraction of a millimeter above that, and there's God, beyond the roof, beyond the Moon, beyond the next star, beyond the remotest quasar. But do go right on thinking you can psychoanalyze him.
Those who can, TEACH. Those who CAN'T, DO. Read a bunch of crank science, something I've been following for fifty years. Note how many 9/11 troofers and moon hoax believers are engineers or industrial scientists. Recall that "practical" people ridiculed the purchase of Alaska as "Seward's Folly," as well as early autos, flying or Robert Goddard's plan to go to the Moon.
Bravo. Just don't tell me that something you agree with is "right," or something you disagree with is "wrong." Because unless you can point to some extrinsic force, your ideas of right and wrong are mere subjective preferences confined to your own brain, and with no significance beyond your skull.
Seriously, you tell me something is wrong. I say "Screw you and the horse you rode in on." What exactly are you going to do about it?
Oh he believes in evolution
Interesting! He really trusts the Fundamentalist Christians will let a 7th Day Adventist become president.Nice one.
nice article..
I enjoyed the article. Thanks to share
This will only help him in the Taliban's primary.
i really loved this article thanks for sharing
So, only a couple?
So he made the dirt, and then made man out of that dirt. Shows a definite lack of planning.
Well, when you put it like that, it does seem possible that maybe evolution isn't a trick of the devil.
Hmm. So much for locality. I almost wish I were still a physicist.
I think he's trying to baffle you with bullshit. It's working with me since I can't figure out what his point is, other than we should listen to Ben Carson's horse crap.
Rory Gilmore?