Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

@farmerman,

Good point.

0 Replies

@wandeljw,

Evolutionary computer programs have been around for decades - the algorithms are fairly standardized by now and not news.

1 Reply

@High Seas,

An algorithm is an effective method for solving a problem expressed as a finite sequence of steps.

It doesn't apply to evolution because the first step/s is/are unknown. It's okay when applied to the instructions on microwave meals or other such limited operations when one wishes to make the operation sound esoteric or mysterious to ordinary folks.

wande stands to attention and salutes whenever the word "evolution" impinges upon his sensorium.

He has told us a few times on the Wikileaks thread that he is an employee of the Federal Government. I wonder if that causes him to be disinclined to respect State's rights.

1 Reply

@spendius,

spendi, That conclusion about "first step" is only relevant to people like you who do not believe in evolution.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

Of course I don't believe in evolution. Within its limited scope it is a fact. One doesn't believe in facts. They are facts. Evolution can be seen working in the history of the NFL. The conditioning environment being profit.

You don't believe religion has any utility. Which is a nutty belief in my view.

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@farmerman,

Quote:

stopping the wars in the mideast would bring home 0.75 BILLION A DAY

So you think stopping the wars would, on average, make every American $2.5 a day richer. That suggests you know as much about economics as you do about science generally. i.e. nothing of significance.

At $912 a year each I think inflation might take off, there would be supply shortages and you would all be running faster.

1 Reply

@spendius,

No, spendi, it would decrease our national debt by that amount.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

Didn't WWII kick-start the American economy, which was in a bad slump in 1939?

1 Reply

@McTag,

Yes. WWII provided jobs to most Americans in the military equipment industries; even women were hired to make airplanes and tanks. However, during the war years, there wasn't much in the way of consumer goods to purchase, so after the war, there was a pent up demand for almost everything. However, I also credit the US government for providing the GI Bill to returning soldiers to fund their college education which made all the difference for our kick-start economy.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

You just don't understand macro economics ci. Neither does fm.

I'm not saying I understand macro economics but at least I know I don't.

1 Reply

@spendius,

That's not what my grades show for macro and micro economics. I even taught other students, because they had difficulty grasping the concepts.

1 Reply

And now for something completely different:

I had to take my down jacket to the laudrette to be dried with down fluffers.

While my jacket was tumbling, a man who looked to be about 6'4" and 135 pounds came in. He had a long grey beard.

I was reading Ever Since Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould's first collection of essays.

The guy tried to chat me up.

What are you reading, he asked.

I showed him the book. He could not pronounce the name Darwin and had no idea who Darwin was.

2 Replies

@plainoldme,

Not surprising; I meet many people who doesn't know who Ernest Shackleton is.

2 Replies

@cicerone imposter,

I bet they were even more confused after you had taught them.

Quote:

Yes. WWII provided jobs to most Americans in the military equipment industries; even women were hired to make airplanes and tanks. However, during the war years, there wasn't much in the way of consumer goods to purchase, so after the war, there was a pent up demand for almost everything. However, I also credit the US government for providing the GI Bill to returning soldiers to fund their college education which made all the difference for our kick-start economy.

That's not macro economics. It's what you read in the papers.

0 Replies

@plainoldme,

Quote:

I had to take my down jacket to the laudrette to be dried with down fluffers.

While my jacket was tumbling, a man who looked to be about 6'4" and 135 pounds came in. He had a long grey beard.

I was reading Ever Since Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould's first collection of essays.

The guy tried to chat me up.

What are you reading, he asked.

I showed him the book. He could not pronounce the name Darwin and had no idea who Darwin was.

Did he have an English accent? and was he kind of inebriated?

3 Replies

@farmerman,

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe . . . you're a bad man, FM.

1 Reply

@Setanta,

Thinking and remembering Stephen Gould, lets recall that his career went back into the dusty archives of recent paleontology and evolutionary thought.
SO, I dug up his deposition that was entered in evidence in the Tim MClean v State of Arkansa Case

http://www.antievolution.org/projects/mclean/new_site/depos/pf_gould_dep.htm

What the hell, Its Saturday and youve got nothing pressing to do today. Why not read it in his own unprepared words under cross examination rules . Its not great but its accessible and immediate.

I have to admit that Ive not read this, a friend sent it to me last month and its been sitting in a cubby of my inboxes.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

Not surprising; I meet many people who doesn't know who Ernest Shackleton is.

I heard he was dead.

0 Replies

@farmerman,

Well, that was a horse of a different color.

0 Replies

farmerman wrote:

What the hell, Its Saturday and youve got nothing pressing to do today. Why not read it in his own unprepared words under cross examination rules . Its not great but its accessible and immediate.

Right, the Philadelphia Eagles game is tomorrow.

0 Replies

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