This Week in Intelligent Design - 13/04/11

Posted 13 April 2011 by Jack Scanlan

Intelligent design news from the 6th of April to the 13th of April, 2011.

This week was fairly interesting with regards to the online ID movement. However, it wasn't a great week for author diversity. Yes, all the posts I'll be talking about were written by Casey Luskin, everyone's favourite non-scientist attorney. What I want to know is: how does he find the time to write so much? Surely his work as Program Officer in Public Policy & Legal Affairs at the Discovery Institute occupies much of his time, so where does all of this time come from to discuss so many different topics relating to ID? As a full-time student I barely have enough time to scrape this together every week... (And I've been sick and quite busy, which is why this post is a day late, I apologise.)

Anyway, this week's posts are about Lynn Margulis and academic "status", the Tennesse academic freedom bill and language in biology. Let's get into it.

16 Comments

Glen Davidson · 13 April 2011

Rejecting ID and embracing materialism seems to be a necessary condition of being tolerated as a dissenter from neo-Darwinism.

Translation: Rejection of the mere resort to magic is required for science to tolerate dissent from good science. Wow, amazing. I guess that explains why science doesn't often resort to necromancy and soothsaying. I guess the IDists have figured out something that's true about science, after all. I mean, who knew? Glen Davidson

Karen S. · 13 April 2011

o where does all of this time come from to discuss so many different topics relating to ID?

I guess that when you don't spend time in the lab testing your hypotheses you have plenty of time to pontificate.

grasshopper · 13 April 2011

where does all of this time come from to discuss so many different topics relating to ID?

And that would mean that PZ Meyers is a non-productive pontificating wastrel of time, too, I guess.

mrg · 13 April 2011

grasshopper said: And that would mean that PZ Meyers is a non-productive pontificating wastrel of time, too, I guess.

On occasion, but it's not his full-time job.

mrg · 13 April 2011

PS: When PZ Myers isn't getting into one of his troll-bashing sessions, he can be a first-class science writer. If he wants to bash trolls, I'm not going to complain, but I would really be happy to see more of the science writing.

Luskin, in contrast, is a full-time whiner.

Matt G · 13 April 2011

Karen S. said:
o where does all of this time come from to discuss so many different topics relating to ID?
I guess that when you don't spend time in the lab testing your hypotheses you have plenty of time to pontificate.

Yeah, doesn't it seem like kids dressing up in their parents' clothing to play make-believe when IDers talk about doing science? They've seen it done, and think that if you go through the motions you're actually doing science!

John Kwok · 14 April 2011

mrg said: PS: When PZ Myers isn't getting into one of his troll-bashing sessions, he can be a first-class science writer. If he wants to bash trolls, I'm not going to complain, but I would really be happy to see more of the science writing. Luskin, in contrast, is a full-time whiner.

Am in full agreement here, and PZ has often demonstrated that he's a much better writer with respect to science than he is in promoting his anti-religious bigotry (Though I might add that, in comparison to Carl Zimmer, I think Carl does a better job explaining science to the general public.).

John Kwok · 14 April 2011

Jack,

Just an editorial note. Luskin earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in geology from University of California, San Diego. Of course, needless to say, he has demonstrated his woeful scientific ignorance ever since he became the Dishonesty Institute's public spokesman for its Ministry of Propaganda (IMHO he is the Dishonesty Institute Minister of Propaganda.).

Otherwise, just keep it up!

Appreciatively yours,

John

harold · 14 April 2011

grasshopper said:
where does all of this time come from to discuss so many different topics relating to ID?
And that would mean that PZ Meyers is a non-productive pontificating wastrel of time, too, I guess.

Arguably. He is astoundingly prolific, and much of what he comments on is already covered all over the internet. Yet I will note that, whether one agrees every word he says or not, or with his satirical tone, he opens rational discussions, tolerates honest and non-obsessive critique, and defends his own position without resort to distorting that of his opponents (he may harshly critique his opponents' positions, but that is very different from distorting them). None of this is true of Luskin.

John Kwok · 14 April 2011

harold said:
grasshopper said:
where does all of this time come from to discuss so many different topics relating to ID?
And that would mean that PZ Meyers is a non-productive pontificating wastrel of time, too, I guess.
Arguably. He is astoundingly prolific, and much of what he comments on is already covered all over the internet. Yet I will note that, whether one agrees every word he says or not, or with his satirical tone, he opens rational discussions, tolerates honest and non-obsessive critique, and defends his own position without resort to distorting that of his opponents (he may harshly critique his opponents' positions, but that is very different from distorting them). None of this is true of Luskin.

Agreed, that's a fair assessment of PZ and Luskin (And I know some of PZ's fans are going to go into cardiac arrest because I am in agreement with you, since it's public knowledge regarding my own prior history with him. Not once have I disputed his excellent science writing. It's his militant Atheism and related matters that I have some grave concerns with.).

robert van bakel · 15 April 2011

Jack, maybe, 'This Weak, Intelligent Design.' Just a thought.

Kwok! Get a blog.

John Kwok · 15 April 2011

robert van bakel said: Jack, maybe, 'This Weak, Intelligent Design.' Just a thought. Kwok! Get a blog.

I have one already; my Amazon.com reviews. I am way behind in posting new reviews (For good reason since I was working on revising an unpublished novel that is now in the hands of two literary agents who've asked to see the entire manuscript.). If I'm behind in writing new reviews, do you think I'd have time to create another blog?

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