23 MAY 2015 by ideonexus
Invoking God to Explain Ignorance is Unproductive
Writing in centuries past, many scientists felt compelled to wax poetic about cosmic mysteries and God's handiwork. Perhaps one should not be surprised at this: most scientists back then, as well as many scientists today, identify themselves as spiritually devout.
ut a careful reading of older texts, particularly those concerned with the universe itself, shows that the authors invoke divinity only when they reach the boundaries of their understanding. They appeal to a higher power only when ... 1 
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notes08 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Science Can Comfort in Times of Stress
Science and religion are often taken to offer competing explanations of the world (Preston & Epley, 2009). That science can be a source of meaning, similar to religion, is not a completely new idea; it has been raised by philosophers (Ziman, 1978/1991) and scientists (Dawkins, 2006) alike. While many have attempted to understand the emotional or social underpinnings of religious belief, the possibility that science might serve similar psychological functions has received less attention. E...
1 Scientific evidence that secular individuals can turn to their belief in science when faced with stressful situations just as the religious turn to their faith.
21 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Evolution Threatens Creationists Sense of Values
At this point I could simply say, “I’ve given the evidence, and it shows
that evolution is true. Q.E.D.” But I’d be remiss if I did that, because, like
the businessman I encountered after my lecture, many people require
more than just evidence before they’ll accept evolution. To these folks,
evolution raises such profound questions of purpose, morality, and
meaning that they just can’t accept it no matter how much evidence they
see. It’s not that we evolved from apes that bother... 1 notes
notesResistance to evolution is less about the theory and more about its moral implications.
19 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Only Atoms are Immortal
... moving randomly through space, like dust motes in a sunbeam, colliding, hooking together, forming complex structures, breaking apart again, in a ceaseless process of creation and destruction. There is no escape from this process. ... There is no master plan, no divine architect, no intelligent design.
All things, including the species to which you belong, have evolved over vast stretches of time. The evolution is random, though in the case of living organisms, it involves a principle of ...Folksonomies: classic
Folksonomies: classic
1 notes
notesA fantastically accurate ancient description of the universe, complete with animals evolving from others.
16 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Design As Evidence of Evolution or Creation
It’s important to realize, though, that there’s a real difference in what
you expect to see if organisms were consciously designed rather than if
they evolved by natural selection. Natural selection is not a master engineer,
but a tinkerer. It doesn’t produce the absolute perfection achievable
by a designer starting from scratch, but merely the best it can do with
what it has to work with. Mutations for a perfect design may not arise
because they are simply too rare. The African rhinoce... 1 notes
notesThere's a big difference between how species would look if they were designed or engineered versus how they would look if they evolved. Evolution works with pre-existing traits, and engineer works from scratch.
