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Showing posts with the label Discovery Institute

The Leader in Fraud and Retracted Papers

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Interesting that the nation that leads in fraud and retracted scientific papers is China, which has a political culture that embraces Marxism and evolutionism. Also, it should come as no surprise that countries with the most computer fraud , including China, also have weak national worldviews. Wickedness does not necessarily equate with stupidity. People in China know that there is a problem, such as at Jining First People’s Hospital in Shandong. People are buying fake papers to submit because they are under pressure (bless their hearts), so authorities want to put a damper on that. AI-generated computer fraudster, Pixabay / deeznutz1 Keep in mind that secularists who cheat are being consistent with their evolutionary worldviews . They are doing what they think will help them survive better — just like Papa Darwin envisioned in his evolution story. The integrity culture at many institutions has poor foundations. Although the article at an Intelligent Design site that inspired this ...

Split Brains and Multiple Minds?

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This post on the human brain is from an Intelligent Design site, so I thought you might appreciate a heads up. When it comes to the brain and the mind (remember that the brain is not the mind, the mind uses  the brain), secular scientists have conflicting views on consciousness — the soul, if you will. In many cases the brain can adapt. People can have brain portions missing and still function  because of what is called plasticity. In extreme cases of epilepsy, surgery is performed to split the brain. Illustration of split and normal brains, WikiComm / Soccernumber1 ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Literally splitting the brain sounds like a death sentence. However, the adaptability and (in my view) mysterious ways people can still function with damage kind of offset feelings of alarm for the patients. In fact, most have no ill effects after the surgery. Others may have some that diminish. Now back to the confusion of secular views. Make up your minds (heh!), is there consciousness or not? S...

Amazement at Fruit Fly Brains

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Here is a creature that is easy to wave away, but people should appreciate the work that the Master Engineer put into it. For that matter, it is notoriously difficult to swat. One reason is that it is so small that the air from a striking hand buffets them. Another reason fruit flies are difficult to swat is because of their vision and the design of their eyes. The fruit fly brain has been mapped, and some of its 140,000 neurons involve the eyes. Such a mapping feat could not have been accomplished until recent years. Fruit fly, Flickr / John Tann ( CC BY 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia Researchers had to start small, as humans have 80 billion neurons. They found over eight thousand types of neurons in different classes based on functions. Various ones would send signals from the brain to certain areas. It shows that human understanding of the Creator's work is very incomplete, such as how some connections seem random, and that neurons take unexpected routes. This research may have ...

Considering a New Scientific Journal

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In the secular science industry, the peer review process seems more like a "good ol' boys" club than the dissemination of objective scientific information. While gatekeeping keeps out much of the riffraff, it also protects favored views from contrary data. Although creation scientists do publish in peer-reviewed journals , they cannot get material refuting evolution, supporting the global Genesis Flood, and so on published. Not only is evolution protected, but leftist views on climate change and other things are shielded. The peer-review process has numerous flaws that bother even secular scientists. Made at  Redkid.net I've got some bad news for you, Sunshine: Scientists are not the bastions of integrity and impartiality that many people think. They are human and subject to wicked urges just like the rest of us. Peer review has cheating, ethical problems, a reproducibility crisis , and other flaws. There appears to be a rebellion in the works. Some want it scrapped. ...

Babies Recognize Languages Very Early

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Studies of how unborn children respond are fascinating, and I witnessed how one of my newborn children recognized my voice. I spoke, and he tried to turn his head in my direction! It has been recommended that expectant parents talk to their developing children; some also read to them. It has been discovered that babies have a built-in ability to learn  and are also ready to read . Naturally, it fits right in that they are ready to learn the language of the people around them. It was discovered that they learn it earlier than scientists thought. Baby feet in crib, RGBstock /  Jean Scheijen For that matter, it is known that children are far more adept at learning more than one language, but it is often difficult for adults to learn additional languages. It would be in the best interests for children of parents who do not speak the language of the country where they live to learn that country's language as well as the one their parents speak. That way, the whole family doesn't ha...

Fireweed Designed to Reclaim Damaged Land?

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There is a perennial wildflower that grows in temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere known as fireweed  in America, and  rosebay willowherb in Britain. It seems like an understatement to refer to land as disturbed  after fires or volcanic eruptions (or bombing, it has been called bombweed  in England), but fireweed is ready to reclaim the land. Fireweed is attractive, but may be sparse during good times for the land. Its method of distributing itself on disturbed land (above and below ground) is quite interesting. Fireweed, Flickr / Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kristine Sowl (PD) When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the land was a mess and scientists watched for years to see how it would recover. Guess what showed up right quick-like? Yup, fireweed was observed  by 1985. Fungi also joined the land reclamation party. Add to this is that fireweed and other plants are food for wildlife — if they eat the right varieties at opportune times. One reas...

A Mountain and an Elephant have Personhood?

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An exclamation of amazement at absurdity is, "How dumb can you get?" It implies that stupidity cannot get much worse. Someone pointed out that it seems like a challenge, so: "How dumb can you get? Hold my beer!" We have contenders from the nature rights movement. Those addlepated folks at the Nonhuman Rights Project tried to get personhood status for an elephant , but that was overturned. They are still trying. Also, there is no mention if hallucinogenic substances were a factor, but a mountain is legally a person with rights and responsibilities. Elephant reading a book, made with  Bing Image Generator  and enhanced The Nonhuman Rights Project keeps trying to get legislation for critters to be granted personhood. They failed in the People's Republic of New York, so they turned their attention to getting a pachyderm made a person in Colorado. Those people weren't having it . The whole idea is infested with ridiculous ideas and contradictions. In New Zealand,...

Ten Million Reasons to Show Abiogenesis

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No, abiogenesis — chemical evolution — has not, and cannot  be scientifically demonstrated. Thanks for reading. Good day. Okay, you want a mite more. People calculate astronomical odds against life coming from non-life , and it has been proven to be impossible , some atheists and other evolutionists still cling to that absurd hope. Dr. James Tour challenged secularists to answer some origin of life (OoL) questions. They did not answer . Also, there is a $10 million dollar prize waiting for someone to meet the standard and become comfortably well-off. Taken from public domain images  here  and  here , then heavily modified The ID article featured below made grandiose claims about the importance of abiogenesis happening. However, even if it was demonstrated, it would only show that it was made possible in that prize-winning instance. Pull back the reins on that pony and slow down, Hoss! Many questions would then be raised. Also, the same unethical secular science indus...

Defacing the Tomb of Darwin

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There are pictures usually taken at strategic moments, then captioned with things like, "Have you ever been so angry that you tackled a horse ?" Well, have you ever been so angry that you defaced classic artwork and also Darwin's tomb? A group known as Just Stop Oil believes that because global temperatures allegedly reached a certain number, we are now in the sixth great extinction. These t3rrorists are stupid on several levels, not the least of which is like other t3rrorists, they enrage people, then expect sympathy for their cause. Darwin's Tomb at Westminster Abbey, Flickr / Amanda ( CC BY 2.0 ) The denizens of Just Stop Oil are buying into evolutionary mythologies including deep time and the so-called great extinctions. Well, those extinction events are based on assumptions merged with storytelling, and they should have considered possibilities outside the evolution box. One in particular is how the Genesis Flood covers the data of one catastrophic event instead...

Darwinism Continues to Devolve

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As many people know, particles-to-painter evolution is fundamental to atheism. One can have a reasonable dialogue for a short time with a professing atheist on a few subjects, but must not criticize evolution. (Indeed, I remember a discussion where the atheist woman thought the Christian was going to criticize evolution, and began to arch her back and extend her claws. It was  civil before.) Most of the vocal proponents of evolution are atheists, but the quality of supporters has declined over the years. Blur of sun and trees image by Cowboy Bob Sorensen One can often judge the substance of a position by its proponents. (No, a comely face and dulcet tones do not make something correct, nor do wise-sounding words. Intelligent supporters may prompt someone to listen more closely to a claim, yes?) Quality opponents can give someone serious pause. In days of yore, Darwin's disciples were plentiful and famous. They presented what appeared to be valid science according to what was known...

Reclaiming Humanity from Scientism

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The internet can be considered a tool for information gathering, and like any tool, can be used for good or bad. It has helped promote atheism, which pretends to be about rational thinking. The internet also helped advance the Intelligent Design movement and biblical creation science. But the atheism that infested the internet was erroneously said to promote reason and science. It did not go well. Whether or not people actually became atheists and stayed with it, the damage was done and people became...soulless. Their thinking was mechanistic and reductionist . Waters are falling at the Falling Waters Preserve near Glasco, NY, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen Although atheists usually deny it, they are very religious. In their jumble of beliefs,  Scientism usually comes out on top. That view reduces humans and everything else into its components, and that hard sciences are the only path to reality. Such a worldview is saturated with absurdities and arbitrary definitions, not the lea...

A Heads-up on the Brain

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Scientists are constantly prodding and scrutinizing brains, human or otherwise. Naturally, our own brains have a special interest. Many secularists deny the existence of consciousness. Other scientists know that the brain is not the mind but the mind uses  the brain. When my wife was stricken and there was no hope, I gave the order to terminate life support. When I was talking and reading to her, I thought I saw a flicker of response in her eye. The doctor said nothing could be happening, but others and I disagree. Information on uncommunicative comatose patients may support us. Brain graphic by  yodiyim  at FreeDigitalPhotos It was not long after she died that I came across the article linked above. To take it further, studies show what is being called covert consciousness . Comatose people show signs of consciousness as revealed by testing and brain scans. Efforts are being made to increase care for those people (see " We’ve Discovered 'Covert Consciousness' — But Now ...

People as Machines in Medicine

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There is a complication situation in medical science regarding the machine model.  Humans are treated like machines, and to some extent that is true. We have repeating cycles in numerous areas and treatments are similar in each person. My heart triple bypass was one of many for the surgeon. (Indeed, Mr. Gordons referred to humans as meat machines  — a term which would circumvent "preferred pronouns" and "misgendering".) But treating people as mere machines is degrading, and there are questions of ethics and morality. Medical science, Pexels / Tara Winstead There was a time that many of us can remember when a medical practitioner was someone that wanted to try very hard to facilitate healing, or at least to do no harm. Not so much anymore. To be blunt, with atheism dominant in secular indoctrination centers (also known as schools), too many medical folks degrade humans. Instead of seeing the wonder of the engineering principles involved in the creation of the human b...

Mysteries on Language Origin, Usage

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  There are many ways in which living things communicate, none of which can be explained by Darwin's acolytes. For example, facial expressions can indicate how someone is feeling and may even be a signal to other people. Chimpanzees have vocal patterns that resemble those of humans, but they are not language . Our Creator gave animals the means to communicate with each other on basic levels and occasionally with us. Impressive as they may be on occasion, animal communications do not compare with human language, which testifies of the Creator . The Card Players ,  Paul Cezanne, 1892 Remember how I said that the Intelligent Design community has serious limitations ? They have a "big tent" approach, and I believe that many are theistic evolution Deists. Most ID folks seem to believe in deep time and even guided  evolution. There are other things as well, so it becomes difficult to tell where some of them are coming from. When perusing Evolution News a...

The Problem of Sentient Plants

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Animal rights extremists have been known to refer to the killing of animals as "murder," but that word does not mean what they think it means. Murder is the unlawful taking of a human  life. Humans are sentient. We have consciousness, intelligence, awareness, and all that good stuff. Some critters have consciousness, but not on our level. Corvids (crows, magpies, ravens, blue jays, and the lot) are considered very intelligent, yet they do not write music. Consider  panpsychism , where all living things supposedly have some consciousness. This includes plants. Dandelions, Pexels / Egor Komarov Plant consciousness would raise some questions of morality for some people. F'rinstance, many vegetarians and vegans choose their eating habits on what they consider to be moral grounds. If it turns out that plants have consciousness, they would have to be consistent and not eat those either! On the other hand, this scientist loves dandelions and points out t...

Nature is not Unlimited

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On more than one occasion, I have encountered Darwin's disciples online who say that if there is a little  evolution, there must eventually be a lot of it. That is, favorable mutations accumulate until something becomes a new creature, made by nature. It may seem plausible at first. Biblical creationists accept natural selection and speciation. Some refer to small changes microevolution . However, it is recommended that we educate other creationists to avoid using micro- and macroevolution ; one is horizontal  change, the other is unobserved vertical  atoms-to-astronaut change. Esopus Creek near Mt. Tremper, NY, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen What people who believe in such accumulations of traits do not realize is that they are showing their lack of knowledge; there are built-in biological limits to change. Clearly, many evolutionists try to substitute Nature, Evolution, Natural Selection, and other things for the true Creator. Yes, people use nature, evolution, and natu...

Sometimes they take a Great Metamorphosis Notion

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One of the great marvels in the natural world is metamorphosis . A caterpillar goes into a cocoon, is deconstructed, then out pops a butterfly. Dragonflies and other creatures do this as well. It has always been a mystery that believers in descent with modifications evolution cannot explain. A group of researchers took a notion, which is fine for a starting point, but then presented it as finished work. Lazy, sloppy, even dishonest work is becoming more common in the secular science industry, so mayhaps the standard has fallen this low? Dragonfly metamorphosis, WikiComm / Clinton & Charles Robertson ( CC BY 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia Secularists have an a priori  commitment to materialism, so evidence supporting the Master Engineer's work is rejected out of hand. The irreducible complexity of metamorphosis itself should convince anyone of his existence. if they did not have their Darwin spectacles on, which filter out inconvenient logic and facts. Indeed, genetics adds evid...

God, Pain, and Charles Darwin

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Some folks seem to have the notion that Charles Darwin applied science to his observations, leading to the publication of On the Origin of Species . That is not the case. He had ideas for which he wanted to find support. Interestingly, his writing was not intended as a way to kill God. People have debated whether or not Darwin was an atheist throughout his life, and his writing may imply that he was unsure himself. Reading Origin  one can see an unevenness, and maybe a vague defense of the Creator regarding pain. I gave Charlie a floral wreath at  PhotoFunia .  His writings had many unsupported claims for which he promised to provide evidence — but never produced . At times he supported atheistic materialism, but other times, he knew that what is seen in the world must have been designed in some way. A benevolent Creator would not have used so much suffering, so natural selection — nature — is the culprit. The timing and conditions back then were right for Darwin to becom...

Stoned Apes, Evolution, and the Future

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It has been said that people throughout history have found ways to get high, which frequently includes alcohol. Generally speaking, drunkenness is something for disreputable people. The first instance in the Bible is Noah (Gen. 9:21) and it is usually spoken of unfavorably (consider Prov. 23:29-35). Part of the disfavor toward any form of intoxication is the loss of control (Eph. 5:18). In the 1960s, drug use was considered a way of opening or expanding the mind. Our evolutionary ancestors supposedly got high. Hippie-type van, Unsplash / Nick Karvounis Materialists have long denied the existence of consciousness or tried to explain it away, but this goes in the opposite direction. Dr. Bobby Azarian thinks that in the distant past, our apelike ancestors got stoned. (I can imagine a bunch of apes riding in a hippie van, wearing big sunglasses, acrid smoke and Grateful Dead music pouring out the windows...) It's supposed to open your mind, maaan! Far out! What great benefit to humanit...

Beauty and the Transcendent

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although I am not fond of trends, I like a new one on my radar. "Beware of Smartphone Zombies" can be seen on T-shirts, possibly  real road signs , and many places on the internet. People do not watch where they are walking, forcing others to go around them — if possible. It illustrates a deeper problem related to the stupidification of society, especially younger people. Our Creator gave people minds to use, but their attention is on electronic entertainment and getting dopamine from a sort of electronic culture . They miss out on true beauty. Rondout Creek joining the Hudson River, several things happening, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen I'll allow that people want their entertainment and don't want to be interrupted. For instance, I was uninterested in going on "color tours" to see the autumn leaves changing because I had things I preferred to do. We all have some entertainment priorities or some things just have no appeal. However...