evolution - A Tippling Philosopher (Page 3)

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evolution

A collection of 138 posts

Lenski's Experiments

Lenski's Experiments

This is a classic video for explaining one of the great examples of evolution in the lab. So I thought I'd share it with you.

Schools in the UK Are Teaching That Same-Sex Relationships Are Sinful, and Ofsted Are Praising Them

This damning and disturbing article featured on Vice recently, but it came out at the same time as Trump's election, so didn't get enough traction. Jonny Scaramanga, also of Patheos Atheist, has been involved in campaigning about this issue for years. Help spread the word. [OFSTED

Judge criticises Jewish father for crime of telling his children about evolution

From the British Humanist Association: December 3rd, 2016 In a shocking judgement handed down by a family court in west London last year, but only just published now, a judge has denounced a father simply for exposing his children to basic information about the theory of evolution. The judgment, which

The Language of Agency Concerning Evolution

I was worried recently when I read the phrase “goal-directed evolution” in some philosophy writing. This annoys me since it shows what I consider to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what evolution is and does, and philosophers should know better. People often think, incorrectly, that genes, or chromosomes, or animals,

The Creator On Trial – Part 4

The Chapter 4 interviewee is Stephen Meyer, one of the founders of the Discovery Institute. Meyer states, “If it’s true that there’s a beginning to the universe…then this implies a cause that transcends the universe.” He continues, “To get life going in the first place would have

Pacific Islanders appear to be carrying the DNA of an unknown human species

This is taken from an article on Science Alert. Continue here to read it in full, where you will also learn how genital warts appear to have come from interbreeding with Neanderthals... Hints of an unidentified, extinct human species have been found in the DNA of modern Melanesians - those

Meaning & Purpose Concerning Animals, Including Humans

The big mistake made so often by both religious, and often non-religious, is that somehow we are a special animal. A not-really-an-animal animal. But we are not. Special, that is. Okay, so we're special in that we are top of the class. We can do some seriously cool

Private religious school failed by Ofsted for teaching young earth creationism as science

This, from the BHA: In news that could have wide implications for the teaching of creationism in private schools, an independent religious school in London has been criticised by Ofsted for having a policy which ‘promotes the teaching of incorrect content’ on evolution and creationism, and told that it does

On Original Sin - answering Thomas L. McDonald

I was some years back sent a link to Thomas L. McDonald's piece "The Origin of Man, Original Sin, and Why It’s All Your Fault" on his Patheos blog (that now seems broken, a link to it elsewhere is here). I will set out what

Quote of the Day (not in a good way) - GoodScienceFYou

Today there was an ...interesting comment by GoodScienceFYou, who appears to be a Jehovah's Witness. It was, unsurprisingly, about blood transfusions. JWs are against them, and so seeing the post hoc rationalisation of such is ...interesting. Here is what he had to say. I will start with a

Which Badge Do I Choose?

This blog is about the important issues underlying reality. So, my fellow unbelievers, which badge do I choose for the back of my car? Do you have any other suggestions?

Why Specificity In Intelligent Design Is Useless - Guest Post by Smilodon's Retreat

Here is a guest post from a friend of mine from my days of blogging at the Skeptic Ink Network. I thought it would be apt given the huge discussion going on here, and some other discussions involving evolution and Creationism here at ATP. Thanks to Smilodon's Retreat

Intelligent Design Is Creationism, Just Not Biblical (Or Young Earth) Creationism

This excellent synopsis of the position of Creationists and the Discovery Institute is the work of a commenter from some time back on my previous blog, Richard Edwards, an evolutionary biologist from down the road from me in Hampshire, UK who has since moved to Australia. Visit his blog here.

CofE school headteacher ridiculed after claiming evolution is only a theory & there is 'more evidence' Bible is true

Oh dear. Yet again the "just a theory" trope raises its ugly head. This is such a common issue that it featured predominantly in my chapter on evolution in The Little Book Of Unholy Questions. The Daily Mail reports: A Church of England primary school headteacher has been

Return of Kings Neomasculinists Philosophically Refuted

You may or may not have heard about the pro-male group "Return of Kings". They have hit the news several times recently. I first heard about them when they kicked up a fuss about the new Star Wars film on account of the ethnic and gender diversity it

Scientists Observe Wasps Evolving Into New Species

I don't really bother with Creationists any more as they aren't worth my effort. I'll leave it to scientists... This is from the Wall Street Journal: Scientists have documented three species of wasps turning into three new species, an unusual close-up view of rapid evolution in action.

Evolution in Action: Lizard Moving From Eggs to Live Birth

This article is from the National Geographic and should put paid to some Creationists claims that we cannot see evolution in action: Evolution has been caught in the act, according to scientists who are decoding how a species of Australian lizard is abandoning egg-laying in favor of live birth.

By Reed DL, Smith VS, Hammond SL, Rogers AR derivative work: Conquistador [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Evolution and morality

I was recently having a private conversation about humanity and whether we are uniquely different from all other creatures in such a way that naturalistic evolution could not explain the step change from primates to us. As a naturalist who has read a fair bit on evolution and evolutionary psychology

Some notes on free will, evolution and evolutionary psychology, part 1

This will definitely be TL;DR (Too long; didn't read), but... In discussing some thing on a private thread with a fellow Tippling Philosopher, I have written quite a bit on free will, evolution and evolutionary psychology which I would hat to go to waste and would love to keep for reference and p

By No machine-readable author provided. Mycota assumed (based on copyright claims). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Andreas Schueler

Quote of the Day: Andy Schueler vs Creationist

Brilliant, form the present thread here: Being a biologist, I usually give people like you the benefit of the doubt and try to correct their misconceptions about evolution without insulting them personally or questioning their intelligence. However, several people have already done that very well in this thread, but you

Missing link in evolution of complex cells discovered

Missing link in evolution of complex cells discovered

In light of the recent evolutionary discussions - a Creationist/evolutionist ding dong - over on this post, I thought I would choose one of dozens of evolutionary discoveries in the last few weeks alone to share with you. My question would be: how do deniers explain each and every one of these findi

Ken Ham Evolves!

Christians Against Dinosaurs - yes, these idiots exist.

Christians Against Dinosaurs - yes, these idiots exist.

There is a group called Christians Against Dinosaurs. They are clearly nuts. This article is taken from Addicting Info. It makes for disturbing reading: Most Christians are warm, loving people. Some use their chosen holy book to spew hatred and bigotry. Others…are just insane.

Quote for the Day: D Rizdek on naturalism

Over on another post and thread, D Rizdek is doing a fantastically erudite job of mounting a solid case for naturalism. Here are two of his quotes from that thread which are well worth replicating - indented quotes belong to whom he is debating: Unfortunately the debate is asking "Does science em

Animals and morality

Fans de Waal is a crucial figure in the research into morality, fairness, reciprocal altruism and suchlike within the realm of primates and other animals. Here is a great summary of much of the work he is involved in: [youtube]http://youtu.be/GcJxRqTs5nk[/youtube]