Complex eyes in the Cambrian

"I got a letter from a creationist today, claiming that "Darwinism is falsified," based on an article in Nature. It's kind of amazing; this article was just published today, and the metaphorical digital ink on it is barely metaphorically dry, and creationists are already busily mangling it." Read More

10 facts of Darwinian evolution young-earth creationists donÍt want toæunderstand - Born Again Pagan

"10. Beyond a shadow of doubt, human DNA and chimpanzee DNA are 98% identical. We diverged from the same common ancestor 5 million years ago. This isn’t idle speculation, it is a fact bound up in deductive logic. We are the modern descendants of ancient apes, just as modern apes are the descendants from that same ancestral tree but on a different branch to humans. Just as the VW Beetle is the ancestor of the Porsche Carrera GT, one does not cease to exist because of the emergence of the other. But where car designs are engineered and refined by man, life is shaped by genetic mutations, which over time, gives rise to entirely new species." Read More

Pictures: Nine Fish With "Hands" Found to Be New Species

"Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, along the ocean floor in an undated picture, the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a recent scientific review of the handfish family." Read More

inFact: Logical Fallacies 1

"Ever hear someone argue a point that was effective, even though it didn't quite ring true? Chances are they used a logical fallacy." Watch Video

Transcript from video:

In this first of three videos, we're going to look at some common fallacious arguments; ways that people make their points sounds convincing even when they're not true. A common one is:

The Ad Hominem

Arguing against the person rather than against the argument. Let's say some guy is trying to convince you that Einstein's theory of relativity is wrong:

Einstein? That guy married his cousin. How can you trust his calculations?

Flip it around and you have:

The Bandwagon Fallacy

Which tries to claim that something must be true because so many people believe it:

50 million people have read The Secret. That many people can't be wrong.

Oh yes they can. How about the people whose religious or political beliefs are different from yours? That's a lot more than 50 million right there.

You can also use:

The Argument from Antiquity

To prove that something must be true because people have believed it for a long time.

Chinese medicine's been around for 5,000 years. It wouldn't have lasted that long if it didn't work.

Being ancient only proves that an idea comes from prescientific times. Maybe it works, like the wheel; maybe it doesn't, like burning witches (some more great ancient wisdom).

A related tactic is to pull out

The All-Natural Fallacy

This is a way to sell a product by raising the specter of concern about competing products that might be... "tarnished" by modern knowledge.

You should sprinkle some of this Haitian zombie powder in your wound. Ground human bones, hemlock, stinging nettle, pufferfish neurotoxin... it's all natural.

The Argument from Authority

Ignores the need to have good information and instead relies on an authority figure.

It doesn't matter what your research shows; my information came from a scientist. So it can't be wrong!

But if all else fails, fall back on:

The Appeal to Quantum Physics

This is why people think Deepak Chopra knows anything; he throws around terms like this to make whatever he says sound scientific and advanced.

Quantum physics links our metaphysical beings through quantum entanglement.

Hey it sounded over my head; he must know what he's talking about.

Next time we'll look at some ways that language itself can be misused to accomplish the same thing.

Brian Dunning

BBC - Wonder Monkey: Can religious teachings prove evolution to be true?

Matt Walker | 16:38 UK time, Tuesday, 5 July 2011

"It is one of the great questions of the past 150 years.

Did God or evolution drive the emergence of life in all its resplendent variety?

This blog, the US education system, and even American politics have to a degree all become dominated by the debate at various times, which goes to the heart of our world view and our ideas of where we, and all other forms of life, came from." Read More

YouTube - Epic creationist fails of our time

"Another nominee for the coveted Golden Crocoduck braves the waters of science with the leaky boat of creationist ignorance." Watch Video

Mammalian brain followed a scented evolutionary trail : Nature News

"As species go, humans aren't renowned for their sense of smell. But an improved ability to suss out scents in our 200-million-year old ancestors may have laid the groundwork for the bulging brains of humans and all other mammals." Read More

BBC News - Why is there only one human species?

Not so very long ago, we shared this planet with several other species of human, all of them clever, resourceful and excellent hunters, so why did only Homo sapiens survive? Read More

BBC News - Why is there only one human species?

Jerry Coyne on Evolution | FiveBooks | The Browser

The evolutionary biologist tells us why Darwin is still essential reading and sifts the vast amount of more recent writing on evolution for books that are both inspiring to scientists and accessible to general readers. Read More

Jerry Coyne on Evolution | FiveBooks | The Browser

Evolution Made Easy

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