Comments on: Intelligence for Dummies http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/ America's favorite blog Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:24:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.11 by: Dell http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-9868 Fri, 05 Aug 2005 17:25:34 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-9868 Hm.. "Intellegent" design? How intelligent is it to design something that develops cancer, or is susceptible to birth defects or heart attacks? Or is this the almighty's version of planned obsolescence? Why invent something supremely designed for killing, such as a cheetah, and at the same time come up with something elegantly designed for fleeing a cheetah, like a gazelle? Hm.. “Intellegent” design? How intelligent is it to design something that develops cancer, or is susceptible to birth defects or heart attacks? Or is this the almighty’s version of planned obsolescence? Why invent something supremely designed for killing, such as a cheetah, and at the same time come up with something elegantly designed for fleeing a cheetah, like a gazelle?

]]> by: tess http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6315 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6315 Gee, next thing you know, ID'ers are going to claim that evolution is mythology! *peers around for signs of our new troll, mynym* Gee, next thing you know, ID’ers are going to claim that evolution is mythology!

*peers around for signs of our new troll, mynym*

]]> by: J. Deighton http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6316 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6316 Man, and when I read the headline I thought I was in for another bit on Iraq! Man, and when I read the headline I thought I was in for another bit on Iraq!

]]> by: Tom in Santa Clara http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6317 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6317 Where I am the Condi hearings are played on delay, so I've had a chance to listen. There's some scary s*** being said here...these are paraphrased since I won't get the Times until late: 'When we decide to effect regime change' 'Spreading freedom is a major goal' 'Spreading our moral qualities regarding women' 'We have a mideast initiative' These are not the things that I want to hear from our future Secretary of State. If John Kerry had said what he said to Condi during the campaign, he'd have won! Where I am the Condi hearings are played on delay, so I’ve had a chance to listen. There’s some scary s*** being said here…these are paraphrased since I won’t get the Times until late:

‘When we decide to effect regime change’

‘Spreading freedom is a major goal’

‘Spreading our moral qualities regarding women’

‘We have a mideast initiative’

These are not the things that I want to hear from our future Secretary of State.

If John Kerry had said what he said to Condi during the campaign, he’d have won!

]]> by: dee http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6318 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6318 I'm pretty much an apatheist, but if I DID believe in God it would be the kind of god who, billions and billions of years ago, struck a cosmic match on the soul of his shoe for the Big Bang and set the cosmos into motion. Ever since then he's been sitting back in his La-Z-Boy, just watching, sometimes amused, sometimes outraged. Once in a while he may get up and adjust the color or the horizontal hold, but other than that, he's been pretty much hands-off. He doesn't say much, either. But when the first coral reef appeared, and Tyranasaurus Rex, and the first creature flew through the air, and man discovered fire, he WAS heard to mumble "Damn -- this is gettin' good." I’m pretty much an apatheist, but if I DID believe in God it would be the kind of god who, billions and billions of years ago, struck a cosmic match on the soul of his shoe for the Big Bang and set the cosmos into motion. Ever since then he’s been sitting back in his La-Z-Boy, just watching, sometimes amused, sometimes outraged. Once in a while he may get up and adjust the color or the horizontal hold, but other than that, he’s been pretty much hands-off.

He doesn’t say much, either. But when the first coral reef appeared, and Tyranasaurus Rex, and the first creature flew through the air, and man discovered fire, he WAS heard to mumble “Damn — this is gettin’ good.”

]]> by: Ann http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6319 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6319 But back to ID: Every time I read "The universe is SO complex that it must have been created by an intelligent designer," I want to say "Complex compared to WHAT? What is our standard for complexity here?" At what level of complexity is ID triggered? Are amoebas so simple that they might have evolved, for example, but other life forms require a designer? ID fails the test of logic, not just of science, because it posits a particular value for complexity ("SO"), while the complexity of the universe cannot be measured. But back to ID: Every time I read “The universe is SO complex that it must have been created by an intelligent designer,” I want to say “Complex compared to WHAT? What is our standard for complexity here?”

At what level of complexity is ID triggered? Are amoebas so simple that they might have evolved, for example, but other life forms require a designer?

ID fails the test of logic, not just of science, because it posits a particular value for complexity (”SO”), while the complexity of the universe cannot be measured.

]]> by: David http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6320 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6320 "A White Lab Frock and a Pink Crustacean" Can we put stickers in all the Bibles in Cobb County that say, "Biblical creationism is just a belief. Consider the possibility that Darwin might have been on to something."? “A White Lab Frock and a Pink Crustacean”

Can we put stickers in all the Bibles in Cobb County that say, “Biblical creationism is just a belief. Consider the possibility that Darwin might have been on to something.”?

]]> by: Emmarie http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6321 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6321 1. Brilliant, Ann. Rather made me think of the end of Men in Black 2, to tell the truth. Who says we're complex? Aquinas? Or the guy who operates the locker we're all stuck in? 2. David: whenever I hear about this about evolution, I always want to ask them if next they're going to petition for stickers that say: "Germ theory is just a belief. It is highly possible that disease is spread in many other ways." or "Cell theory is just a theory. Keep questioning it, because it's possible that inside, we're really just one big mess of stuff." ...I'd have more but the biology book is in my locker. 1. Brilliant, Ann. Rather made me think of the end of Men in Black 2, to tell the truth. Who says we’re complex? Aquinas? Or the guy who operates the locker we’re all stuck in?

2. David: whenever I hear about this about evolution, I always want to ask them if next they’re going to petition for stickers that say: “Germ theory is just a belief. It is highly possible that disease is spread in many other ways.” or “Cell theory is just a theory. Keep questioning it, because it’s possible that inside, we’re really just one big mess of stuff.”

…I’d have more but the biology book is in my locker.

]]> by: craig http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6322 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6322 Actually, You can thank ID for your local municipal zoo. That's right boys and girls, around the turn of the last century, all of the Museums of Natural History started springing up around the civilized world. One of the purposes of these museums was to educate the masses on the history of nature (including the theory of evolution). Well, some of the of the folks who weren't too keen on the whole evolution idea started funding public zoological parks to show the same masses the enormous variety of creatures around the world. The variety itself, as Adam points out in his wonderful column, is supposed to defy the theory that all life evolved from a single source. Of course, this is just a historical theory. Actually, You can thank ID for your local municipal zoo.

That’s right boys and girls, around the turn of the last century, all of the Museums of Natural History started springing up around the civilized world. One of the purposes of these museums was to educate the masses on the history of nature (including the theory of evolution).

Well, some of the of the folks who weren’t too keen on the whole evolution idea started funding public zoological parks to show the same masses the enormous variety of creatures around the world. The variety itself, as Adam points out in his wonderful column, is supposed to defy the theory that all life evolved from a single source.

Of course, this is just a historical theory.

]]> by: Raymond Chen http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6323 Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/01/18/intelligence-for-dummies/#comment-6323 Germs don't make you sick. God makes you sick, and then sprinkles germs around to test your faith in Him. Germs don’t make you sick. God makes you sick, and then sprinkles germs around to test your faith in Him.

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