A Master’s in Creationism

LOL*cough* Excuse me. I nearly choked on a handful of almonds. My created/intelligently designed oesophagus is just a little too close to my trachaea, making it very easy to block the latter with particles of chewed food whilst laughing my arse right off its hinges when I read stuff like this FOX article:

State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) proposed House Bill 2800 when he learned that The Institute for Creation Research (ICR), a private institution that specializes in the education and research of biblical creationism, was not able to receive a certificate of authority from Texas' Higher Education Coordinating Board to grant Master of Science degrees.
So. "Education" and "research" (grin) of biblical creationism (chortle). OK, well, although I'm no theologian or creation scientist (snort) , allow me to sum up the entire proposed course for you: Education: God did it. Research: it says in the Bible that God did it. Thesis: the Bible says God did it; the Bible is always right because God wrote it; God is always right; the evidence for this is in the Bible which God wrote; my conclusion is that God did it (and is always right, just like the book He wrote). Well done, here's your diploma & whimsical "WWJD" t-shirt that all the kids are wearing. That'll be several thousand dollars. Hmm?

Continue ReadingA Master’s in Creationism

Handy list of transition fossils: seven missing links for handy reference

I've often wished that I had a short list of impressive transition fossils handy for the next time a creationist claimed to me that there were no such transition fossils. Well, here's the list I've been looking for, published by the National Geographic. The first fossil on National Geographic's list is the especially compelling find, Tiktaalik, the "fishopod."

Continue ReadingHandy list of transition fossils: seven missing links for handy reference

Susi Neunmalklug explains the evolution!

Tis a pity we don't make things like this in the U.S. Neun = 9, Mal = times, Klug = smart. So Susi Neunmalklug translates into Susie Smartypants. Yeah. Ask a linguist or etymologist about the evolution of vernacular. So, imagine a religion teacher coming in to your class and explaining where we come from to kids who were raised to know better. Anyway, this video is wa-ay cute, and has English subtitles. Tip of the mustache to Pharyngula

Continue ReadingSusi Neunmalklug explains the evolution!

Group selection theory attempts a comeback

Over the past few weeks, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birthday, we've seen many articles published on the topic of evolution. The November 20, 2008 edition of Nature contains a drawing of Darwin on the cover, and the entire issue is titled "Beyond the Origin." Inside this issue is an article by Marek Kohn titled "The Needs of the Many," an article summarizing current thinking on group selection. Kohn carefully sets out some definitions at the beginning of his article. For instance, he recognizes that modern evolutionary theory is based on the idea that selection "sees" individuals and acts on them through the genes they embody. Compare that to "group selection":

The idea that evolution can choose between groups, not just the individuals that make them up--has a higher profile today than at any time since its apparent banishment from mainstream evolutionary theory. And it gets better press, too. This is in part owing to the efforts of David Sloan Wilson of Binghamton University in New York, who argues that the dismissal of group selection was a major historical error that needs to be rectified. And it does not hurt that he has been joined by Edward O. Wilson, the great naturalist and authority on social insects. They and many others have worked to reposition group selection within the broader theme of selection that acts simultaneously at multiple levels.

Buried in the dispute about the extent to which group selection occurs are numerous definitional issues such as the proper way to define "group," "altruism," and "selfishness."

Continue ReadingGroup selection theory attempts a comeback

A program that gets college students enthusiastic about the scientific theory of evolution

David Sloan Wilson has written some terrific articles on the topic of evolution. I recently ran across a 2005 article he wrote for PLoS Biology www.plosbiology.org titled "Evolution for Everyone: How to Increase Acceptance of, Interest in, and Knowledge about Evolution." The article explains the method by which Binghamton University has successfully infused its undergraduate curriculum with real-life applications of evolutionary theory. The EvoS program began in 2002. Here's the mission of EvoS:

The mission of EvoS is to advance the study of evolution in all its manifestations, including all aspects of humanity in addition to the biological sciences. Many organizations and websites promote the study of evolution, but EvoS is unique in two respects.

• EvoS is based on the realization that evolutionary theory will probably never be generally accepted--no matter how well supported by facts--unless its consequences for human affairs are fully addressed. Once evolution is seen as unthreatening, explanatory, and useful for solving life's problems, then it becomes not just acceptable but irresistable to the average person (see the tutorial for more).

• EvoS makes a connection between evolutionary theory and the unification of knowledge, which has always been the goal of a liberal arts education and contemporary efforts to integrate across disciplines. The same kind of unification that took place in the biological sciences during the 20th century is now taking places for the human behavioral sciences and humanities--but is not yet reflected in the structure of higher education. EvoS is the first program to diagnose this problem and comprehensively provide a solution at a campus-wide scale.

David Sloan Wilson explains that the Binghamton program makes use of 50 faculty members representing 15 departments. The program was created based on the following assumption: "Evolution can be made acceptable, interesting, and powerfully relevant to just about anyone in the space of a single semester."

Continue ReadingA program that gets college students enthusiastic about the scientific theory of evolution