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Showing posts from July, 2023

Never Mind the Brain

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  One person may admonish another to use his or her brain when thinking is desired, which is a common mistake. That is because the brain itself has no consciousness. The mind uses the brain. Look at this correct wording on Doctor Who  between the Fourth Doctor and Harry Sullivan in " Ark in Space ": DOCTOR: You're improving, Harry. HARRY: Am I really? DOCTOR: Yes, your mind is beginning to work. It's entirely due my influence, of course. You mustn't take any credit. Although searching for a place in the brain where consciousness (the soul) resides is a flaming inconsistency in their worldview, materialists (all that exists is matter, no God, no spirits) continue to search. The question is even worse for them when dealing with artificial intelligence . Brain and consciousness, Pixabay / Gerd Altmann (Geralt) Materialists cling to evolution to explain origins as a major part of their worldview. Creationists know that God created man in his im

Katydid Chews Up Evolution

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For some reason, I never thought Katy would, but katydid. Fossilize, that is. And this fossil is extremely detailed, unlike those ammonites and things we find in the river or quarry. There have been quite a few fossils found lately that are very intricate. This katydid fossil shows so much detail, it works against particles-to-paleontologist evolution: All of the minutiae are like their modern counterparts, so no evidence of evolution. We looked at the recurrent secular miracle of convergent evolution . Here is stasis , another popular miracle among Darwin's disciples. Katydid (Tettigoniidae), Flickr / Insects Unlocked (public domain) Evolutionists want things both ways, since evolution is a "fact" and pretty much like an irresistible force (except when it's an entity making choices and decisions), or there is stasis where organisms didn't change after millions of Darwin years. Paddlefish , sharks,   tunicates , alligators,  coelacanths , and many other critters

Tails of Mice and Men

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There are a few things that I keep repeating because they are so important, the primary of which is that scientists (and everyone else) operate from their worldviews. These are comprised of presuppositions (things believed without experimental support). Most evolutionists presuppose materialism, creationists presuppose the truth of the Bible. Believers in descent with modifications look at information through their Darwin spectacles, usually rejecting contrary evidence and predictions. Some researchers had numerous assumptions about humans having lost tails through evolution, so they studied the tails of mice. Darwin Spectacles and mouse tail, spectacles image by kkiser at Freeimages A prairie schooner-load of assumptions is involved in the study. First, evolution is not questioned, so that is assumed. Add to that the dogma of humans and apes diverged from a common ancestor millions of years ago. Somewhere in the mix, apes lost their tails. That is historical science — or would be if

Inner Repair Systems Show Design

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In some ways, auto mechanics are like physicians. They both need to diagnose problems and find ways of repairing them. Sometimes they have to make less-than-perfect repairs and people have to live with them. A few days ago, we lost our connection to the internet and I talked to the technician as he made repairs. I realized that cable technicians also have similarities to mechanics. To be able to make repairs, a great deal of experience, intelligence, and planning are required. Adjustments must be made and anticipating other potential problems. Getting trees off the power lines, picture by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Misotheists claim that they do not see evidence for God, but they are willingly ignorant (Rom. 1:18-23). Not only is he clearly seen in nature, but his engineering work is happening inside all of us. Systems were put in place to deal with repair situations that would arise. Unfortunately, evolutionists refuse to take the more sensible engineering approach to life. DNA repair change

Crabs and the Miracle of Convergent Evolution

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Do not be deceived, secularists are like Christians and creationists, believing in miracles. They do not admit it like we do. While Darwin's acolytes claim to believe in science and reject any semblance of faith, they presuppose evolution despite  the evidence, not because of it. Crustaceans have been around a mighty long time. They have no evolutionary history, but just popped into existence (an unacknowledged miracle). Crabs have adapted to a many ecological niches, so materialists evosplain their varieties through the miracle of convergent evolution . Crab, Unsplash / Kai Dahma , modified at Pixlr Secularists are so busy saying, "Hail Darwin! Blessed be!" that they don't notice the flaws in their reasoning. Many know the  Tree of Life stuff is bad enough, but appealing to convergent evolution actually makes things worse. If they realized that praising evolution's "flexibility" sounds like it is rooted in faith and not science, mayhaps they could cons

Mantle Viscosity and Genesis Flood Models

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When people need to get the oil changed in a vehicle, the word viscosity  is likely to be used. To oversimplify, viscosity refers to thickness. Drop a pebble in a glass of water and it sinks quickly. Do the same in a glass of high-viscosity motor oil, it is much slower. Maybe a geologist slices into a pie and thinks about cutting through the lithosphere and into the magma, but I digest — I mean, digress. Sort of. That liquid rock down below also has viscosity. This affects the thinner areas of the lithosphere. Earth crust cutaway illustration derivative, Wikimedia Commons / Washiucho (Public Domain) Uniformitarian geologists believe this thinning (deformation) is extremely slow, and creation scientists believe it to be much quicker. Secular geologists believe that glacial rebound affects viscosity in certain areas, but it has been shown to be similar in non-glacial areas as well. Creationists use Genesis Flood and the subsequent Ice Age in their models and find that rebound is much mo

Morality and Secular Foundations

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When dealing with professing atheists, many make the claim that they can be "good without God." Misotheists can live apparently moral lives for the most part, but they tend to make exceptions for personal benefit. And they cannot explain their foundations. Laws? Laws change. Evolution? Not hardly ! Some atheists accuse creationists of lying about evolution (a ludicrous charge*), but they cannot coherently explain why , if such a charge were true, lying would be wrong in an atheistic worldview! There have been several attempts in secular philosophy to pin down morality without God. Broken foundation, RGBStock / Adrian van Leen Various secular frameworks have been proposed for morality, but they have internal inconsistencies. Some are arbitrary, so good and evil are based on following a set of rules that are incomplete in dealing with human experiences. Some appeal to higher standards outside themselves — when an atheist says that lying about evolution is wrong, they are appeal

Evolution Not Found in Body Size Changes

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Another trolling raid at The Question Evolution Project  was just like previous disruptions, with people using prejudicial conjecture, ad hominems , boilerplate talking points from evolution, and other things to shout down and humiliate creationists. This shows that the hands at the Darwin Ranch are making their message heard and believed. Evolutionists have themselves some rules and laws. Some of those, especially on social(ist) media, are made up. Others appear scientific, but those rules apparently were made to be broken — or used in bad logic to "demonstrate" evolution. Parakeet image before modification at imgflip : Pexels / Egor Kamelev Keep in mind that Darwin's disciples call things "evolution" that have nothing to do with it. When changes in body size, variation, modifications, and other things are invoked, people are deceived into thinking that Darwin was right. It is ironic that speciation, natural selection, and speciation are

Big Thicket National Preserve, Pitcher Plants, and Bees

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Southeast Texas has a national preserve that covers a great deal of ground. Texas can handle Big Thicket National Preserve , though. A national preserve is like a national park , but hunting and mineral extraction are permitted under close regulation. There is a variety of recreational activities partly because it has several ecosystems, so both hiking and kayaking can happen on the same day. Naturally, this means there are several different kinds of lifeforms. One that is our focus shows the genius of the Creator and planned mutualism. Cypress slough habitat, Big Thicket National Preserve, WikiComm / William L. Farr ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Pitcher plants show design through their shape, which takes in some rainwater under the hood, and a fragrance attracts insects. They get in there and become food for the plant. In the days before the plants grow pitchers, they attract bees but do not trap them. However, the plant is designed to nudge the bee to pollinate other flowers! Many things in natu

Flowers Inspire Wonder

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Although professing atheists claim that living things only appear to have been designed, people who do not filter their observations through that opinion can easily see that living things were not only designed, but designed by our Creator (Rom. 1:18-23). I will go further: I believe part of his purpose was for our pleasure — and meet our needs. They are like living jewels with an incredible array of colors, but they fade away when their time is done (Isaiah 40:8). One does not have to be a botanist to appreciate them. Pink peonies, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen , modified at PhotoFunia Flowering and reproduction are complicated systems (being a botanist is helpful for understanding these details). Birds, bees, flowers, trees have some connections to it. Many flowers need insects and sometimes animals for pollination, and seed dispersal is done through birds, insects, various animals, the wind, and so on. By the way, believers in particles-to-peonies evolution claim that everything c

Underestimating Volcanoes in Climate Projections

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Global warming has been a darling of leftists, something thinking people realize. The strands of this paracord are very similar to those used by Darwin’s acolytes. Consider how pertinent information is ignored or repressed, doubters are demonized, predictions are made with insufficient evidence , and more. Insufficient or repressed evidence is important in global warming. Very little is actually known from historical science about what happened in the past, and factors affecting climate need to be examined more fully. It is easier to blame and tax humans for climate change, though. Satellite view of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai erupting, cropped from NASA et alia , (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) Yes, everyone knows that climate changes. Our Creator designed Earth to do that. Volcanoes have been pointed out as a major contributor to climate change many times, but it seems that those have not been factored into climate change models. Now several areas of volcanic in

Whales in the Desert?

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When the word Egypt is mentioned, several things can come to mind: Arid conditions, the Nile River, sand, Moses, God humiliating Pharaoh, a passel of whales  — wait, what? Sure. Things change over time. Indeed, the Sahara itself was once a nice place to go swimming . Whales in the desert are not easily explained by uniformitarian dogma. Indeed, the Valley of the Whales signage uses the ludicrous “dies and sinks to the bottom” boilerplate story for fossilization. In this case there are numerous whales as well as other creatures. Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley), WikiComm / Guy Debonnet ( CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO ) To have numerous well-preserved fossils (scientists can see what some had for last meals), it takes a catastrophic event. Creation science models of the Genesis Flood provide far better explanations than secular Just-So Stories. In fact, Flood geology here goes beyond fossilization and explains landforms as well. In the grand scheme of evolution, the legs of land-based animals developed

Secular Scientists Closer to Genesis Flood in Trilobite Extinction

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My wife baked a trilobite pie the other day... Okay, it was really a pecan pie, but I immediately thought of trilobite fossils. Too bad those critters are extinct, and I would like it if some were found alive as living fossils . Those things fluster believers in molecules-to-musician evolution. Actually, trilobites also fluster evolutionists. Advances in technology show that they had amazing eyes and visual acuity . Trilobites are associated with the Cambrian Explosion , which is also a sore spot for secular scientists. "Trilobite pie," Flickr / Cowboy Bob Sorensen  ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) Secular paleontologists typically believe in slow 'n' gradual processes over millions of years that shaped today's landforms. Fossilization supposedly happened slowly as well, but that idea has been demonstrated to be ludicrous many times over. Because the evidence doesn't fit their narrative, some secular scientists are appealing to catastrophic events. Trilobite Fossils, Unsp

Amazing Insights of Hummingbird Beak

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We discussed how Darwin's disciples try to evosplain the origin and complexity of tongues . Now we will narrow our focus to how the beak and tongue of the hummingbird work as a unit . Some details have been known for quite a while. Yes, I keep banging that drum about how advances in technology help scientists study the world, but this one is not just for researchers. Photography has developed (heh!) a great deal. The ability to obtain images at high speeds and some other techniques provided some answers on the hummingbird. Hummingbird, cropped from Unsplash / Mary Kapka The research answered some questions, but also indicated other areas of research that were needed. While evolution was insignificant in this work, homage was given to Darwin anyway. Tongues get nectar, beaks trap it, they have to swallow in such a short time: A twentieth of a second. This speaks of the work of the Creator, old son, not current forms of the Bearded Buddha's Victorian myth. How does the bird retri

The Questions of Aging

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It is a fact of life that, barring medical conditions or accidents, people grow old and eventually take a dirt nap. There have been many efforts to try and find ways to stave off aging, and to find out what causes it in the first place. There is a movement to upgrade ourselves with transhumanism , even to the point of living forever. (There are cautionary tales about regretful immortals who long for death.) It is a good thing to cure illnesses and counteract aging, no need for transhumanism. Old Couple , Vladimir Makovsky, 1889 Those of us who believe the Bible know that aging and death entered into the world when Adam sinned. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam that the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. People have said the Bible is wrong because Adam and Eve didn't die. However, the more literal translation is dying you shall die . The deterioration began and was passed down to everyone, physically and spiritually. Negative effects of all t

Bacteria Build their own Compasses

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Over the years, scientists have utilized the advances in technology and learned that simple life forms and cells are not so simple. This knowledge should make them appreciate the brilliance of the Master Engineer. Unfortunately, many prefer their incoherent materialistic worldviews. The word simple  is relative, as bacteria are simple when compared to people. Most bacteria are beneficial as well as possessing complex traits such as mobility . This mobility is further enhanced in an unexpected way: They use compasses for navigation — and do not have ready-made materials that are available to humans. Compass and map, Pixabay / Ylanite Koppens Folks might think that bacteria just meander and mosey around until opportunities arise to do bacteria stuff, but they not only use compasses, they build them! (When we build them, materials are commonly available.) Building them involves using crystals containing iron. The entire process is nowhere near understood, but scientists are still trying

Richard Dawkins and Evolutionary Trees of Life

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Spend some time with atom-to-atheist evolution material, and you will invariably encounter drawings or other renderings of trees of life. Charles Darwin had an "I think" tree of life where all living things can be traced to a universal common ancestor. It makes sense that modifications in the tree of life concept would be made as evolutionary concepts evolved. However, there are many of them because there is little agreement; they do not work. Clinton Richard Dawkins tried his hand at making predictions with them. Burning down Darwin's tree of life, unmodified version is at Wikimedia Commons Dr. Dawkins made predictions based on two common ToL versions. One tree is based on the science of genetics that was pioneered by creationist Gregor Mendel (peas be upon him). Another uses physical characteristics. The trees do not coincide very well. Dawkins made a prediction for both design and for evolution. Since there's a huge amount of genetic data now available, his predict

Not Loving Lucy the Australopithecus Afarensis

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Over the years, I have featured several articles on the alleged transitional form, the ape with kaleidoscope eyes, commonly known as Lucy. Earnest evolutionists try to slap down biblical creationists and other Darwin doubters claiming the ape from afar ( Afar is far from here, anyway) with talking points. A big problem with popularized science is that folks get notions lodged in their craniums, but retractions and refutations are often ignored. Indeed, knowledgeable creationists often correct believers in universal common descent with the facts. A great deal of information about Lucy in the public mind is wrong. Modified photo by Wikimedia Commons /  Shalom ,  kaleidoscopes from Freeimages /  Frizzy Lee Those who insist in atoms-to-ape evolution frequently present A. afarensis as a link as if scientists were in complete agreement, which is false. Lucy is contested as a link between apes and humans, and the walking upright thing is also a source of disagreement. Its status is sketch

The Talkative Bones Within

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Last night I was talking with the skeletons in my huge walk-in closet, asking what would happen if someone discovered them. They just looked at me without answering. I gave up and closed the door. As I walked away, I heard them laughing. Okay, we all know that skeletons in the closet are not real except for use as props or classroom instruction. Actual skeletons do not talk. Interestingly, trees talk in their own way , and our bones have vitally important discussions inside us — through cellular communication. Skeleton at the disco, Pixabay, background by Geralt , skeleton by Rachaelmarie , I also used cleanup.pictures A researcher with an appropriate name, Lynda F. Bonewald, was told not to waste her time studying one of the three main bone cell types, osteocytes, even though they are about ninety percent of bone tissue. Apparently osteocytes didn't have a known function, so ignore them. Good thing she ignored her advisors. Lynda showed scientific inquiry, and found that osteocyte

Noah as a Straw Man

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Recently, there was an infestation of fundamentalist evolutionists at The Question Evolution Project on Facebook who were outraged — outraged , I tell you — about " Evolutionists Deny Evidence to make Darwin Smile ." Deal with the post? Nope. Their reactions indicated that it was threatening to their worldview. They used ad hominem s , red herrings, tu quoque , equivocation on both evolution with science  and modification with evolution . There are also arbitrary assertions and ignorance of evolutionary mythology. Darwin's internet disciples, just like the brass in the secular science industry, have an a priori  commitment to materialism. Straw man Noah and the Ark* Of course, they utilized one of the most common attacks of their kind, the straw man fallacy. Misotheists and other anti-creationists demonstrate that they are unwilling to learn what we actually believe and teach. Secularists criticize creation science from their  sources, their  perspectives and opinions,

Beekeeping is Sweet Stewardship

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One of the strongest evidences for the existence of God is specified complexity, whether on the cellular level or living things. Some sidewinders who claim to believe in science latch onto the unscientific opinion  that things only appear  designed. Frankly (mind if I call you Frank?), that is just plain stupid. Evidence for God is all around (Rom. 1:18-24). A spell back, we looked at how honeybees are clearly engineered . Now we will consider how beehives also show engineering, and that beekeeping is an example of stewardship. Honeybee brood frame at Wright-Patterson AFB (public domain, but endorsement is not implied) A bit of terminology. We hear the word brood  frequently used regarding birds and their nests, but it also applies to bees. A brood refers to the eggs and various stages of the development of the young'uns. Briefly, God gave us dominion over the earth,  we are given stewardship to take care of things (Gen. 1:26, 28). You savvy? While beekeeping may be done as a hobb

Blue Sky, Red Sky

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Hammond Suisse and I were out riding out of town on Folly Road, then noticed Stinking Lake (which is not as bad as it sounds). It was getting late in the day, and we saw the red sun reflecting in the water. He mentioned that he read " Nice Planet, Good Neighborhood, Great Atmosphere ." We got to jawing about the article that was linked in that post. While we both understand a little bit about light scattering to make the sky blue, we are unskilled in knowing why the atmosphere is blue, but then has those other colors early and late in the day. The Sunrize in Feodosiya , Ivan Aivazovsky, 1855 Our Creator designed our atmosphere to sustain life, and he apparently made the laws of physics so that the atmosphere itself is enjoyable. The material mentioned above provided a brief discussion about the colors of the sky, but not everyone gets why there is a variation in the colors in the evening and morning, but is pretty much the same during daylight hours. Someone wrote in to Creat

Put a Soul in that Robot!

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Yesterday we looked at how artificial intelligence and transhumanism can work together in an effort to replace the true God with a god of our own making . There is talk of giving souls to robots, but that idea has several built-in problems. Materialists contradict their worldviews when they try to find consciousness (or a conscious spot) in the brain. They have not found it . For that matter, consciousness is difficult to define. Many equate it with the soul. Computers and robots do not have those things that are considered soul-ish. Laughing robot made at Bing AI Image Creator Those stories and fears about AI becoming self-aware and taking over the world are about pragmatism: It is reasonable to eliminate inferior humans (a biased, pessimistic outlook by the writers). But getting a soul or consciousness? Mayhaps it would be through spontaneous generation. In 1972, Robert Sheckley wrote a short story called "Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?" about