Category Archives: Origins and Science

Radioactive Decay: Evidence That It’s Not Random or Uncaused

For me this is mostly off topic and definitely out of my field, but several commenters here in the past have had heated disputes over quantum indeterminacy. Here’s more fuel for your discussion. According to a Stanford University press release, radioactive decay seems to be influenced measurably by something our sun is doing. But there’s …

November 15, 2011 – 12:26 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

Love or Cruelty: If Evolution Is True, What’s the Moral Difference?

Why does love exist? Why is there suffering? Why is anything the way it is in the natural world? Because of evolution. That, at any rate, is the answer provided by those who believe in naturalistic evolution. Naturalistic evolution (NE) is the theory that every feature of life, including physical structures, physical functions, and also …

November 13, 2011 – 7:05 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (163)

Evolution Defined ;)

Naturalistic Evolution (def.): the marvelous (presumed) capacity of nature to create the appearance of design, and to produce beings who have the ability to design and to detect design; but which itself has no ability to design, or if it does have that ability, it is forever undetectable. (This definition was inspired by a recent …

November 3, 2011 – 6:25 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , | Comments (60)

“Why Experts Create Few New Ideas | Psychology Today”

Psychology Today on a topic that just might be of interest to evolutionary scientists: Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., thought the idea of a personal computer absurd, as he said, “there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, was …

October 31, 2011 – 9:57 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , , | Comments (7)

David Heddle on Jerry Coyne

Thank you, David Heddle: Speaking of irony, Jerry’s little joke about [Thinking Christian as an] “oxymoron” in a post about debating is particularly ironic…. [From He Lives: Jerry Coyne, Slug] I didn’t even see that Jerry Coyne post you mentioned until just now, because this time he didn’t link to my blog. I only read …

October 26, 2011 – 7:42 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Richard Dawkins’ Anti-Scientific Hypocrisy

In honor of Richard Dawkins’ refusal to debate William Lane Craig tomorrow, I’m re-posting a piece I wrote for the Newport News Daily Press early in 2007, highlighting his hypocritical willingness to ignore science when it suits his purpose. This article was also published at BreakPoint. Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion has been a …

October 24, 2011 – 3:29 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (6)

“Moon Not Made of Cheese, Physicist Explains”

Not as trivial as you might think it is: “Don’t think that you fully understand the properties of lunar green cheese…. The answer is that it’s absurd to think the moon is made of green cheese. “And the formalization of that absurdity is that we are allowed to use other things we know about the …

October 21, 2011 – 6:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Just For Fun, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Friends and Bloggers

This morning at Panera Bread I ran into a good friend of mine, David Heddle, a professor of mathematics and physics who has recently re-activated his always interesting, frequently provocative blog, He Lives. I’m happy he’s blogging again, and I certainly recommend you follow him on it. On Monday he inaugurated the Jerry Coyne Lidless …

October 20, 2011 – 9:10 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , | Comments Off

The Primitive Belief in Satan and Demons

This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Spiritual Battle

I’ve been talking about Satan, demons and other primitive, pre-scientific sorts of things here. The topic has reminded me how odd it is that labeling ancient ideas that way—”primitive,” “outdated,” and the like—tilts us toward counting them as wrong or worthless. Usually that has to do with their having preceded the Dawn of Science, which …

October 20, 2011 – 12:56 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science, Thinking Christianly, Worldviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (99)

Is It Rational to Believe in Spiritual Battle? (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Spiritual Battle

Polls consistently show that most Americans believe in the existence of a devil. (Though I haven’t checked, I expect that number would be lower in other Western countries.) Belief in a devil is less frequent than belief in a God, and less respectable in many quarters. It’s controversial when a politician attributes some good event …

October 18, 2011 – 2:23 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science, Prayer, Religions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)