Monthly Archives: October 2009

Vanishingly Small


Finally, Behe erroneously equates “evolving non-deterministically” with “impossible to evolve.” He supposes that if each of a set of specific evolutionary outcomes has a low probability, then none will evolve. This is like saying that, because the probability was vanishingly small that the 1996 Yankees would finish 92-70 with 871 runs scored and 787 allowed and then win the World Series in six games over Atlanta, the fact that all this occurred means it must have been willed by God.

A quote from Joe Thornton in a blog post at Discover Magazine

E I E I O

You guessed it, smarty-pants. I registered the domain eiei.org because of that song about Old MacDonald. As domain names go it’s not so bad: easy enough to remember and short enough to type. The other little tidbit that hopefully makes the reasoning behind the name come into focus for you is that I registered the domain after becoming a stay-home dad and the primary caregiver for my children. In those days the kids and I passed a lot of time regaling each other with the exploits of Old MacDonald, in verse.

The Truth About Evolution


Creationist students, listen to me very carefully: There is evidence for evolution, and evolution is an extremely successful scientific theory. That doesn’t make it ultimately true, and it doesn’t mean that there could not possibly be viable alternatives. It is my own faith choice to reject evolution, because I believe the Bible reveals true information about the history of the earth that is fundamentally incompatible with evolution. I am motivated to understand God’s creation from what I believe to be a biblical, creationist perspective. Evolution itself is not flawed or without evidence. Please don’t be duped into thinking that somehow evolution itself is a failure. Please don’t idolize your own ability to reason. Faith is enough. If God said it, that should settle it. Maybe that’s not enough for your scoffing professor or your non-Christian friends, but it should be enough for you.

Todd Wood, creationist, on The Truth About Evolution

Taking Darwin on Faith


No scientist I’ve ever encountered takes Darwin on faith. Darwin’s theory has been maintained where the evidence supports it, and modified where it doesn’t. Evolutionary theory itself has evolved. Evolution, as it is understood today, isn’t about Darwin or faith but about observation, evidence, deduction and reason. Those who deny this presumably have failed at some point in the chain of logic to either observe, to examine evidence, to reason or to deduce.

James F. McGrath in blog post Taking Darwin on Faith?