Wilkins on demarcation 13 Aug 201413 Aug 2014 Continuing Adam Ford’s series of me as a talking head: Epistemology Philosophy Science
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Evolution quotes 25 Apr 2010 A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest… Read More
History Turing: A poem 14 Sep 2009 By Matt Harvey from here: POEM: ALAN TURING here’s a toast to Alan Turing born in harsher, darker times who thought outside the container and loved outside the lines and so the code-breaker was broken and we’re sorry yes now the s-word has been spoken the official conscience woken –… Read More
Creationism and Intelligent Design The tautology problem 20 Aug 2009 A long time ago I wrote a not particularly good piece on the tautology problem: that natural selection is merely circular definition. I was just out of being an undergraduate when it was published, so it was at best an undergraduate piece. I have been unsatisfied with it ever since…. Read More
When one says “anything goes”, does that include “whistling Dixie”, or “playing Calvinball”, or “knock-knock” jokes? And if one entertains the idea that someday someone which produce something which looks like real science, but includes “intelligent design”? Well, what precludes a real scientific theory which includes also whistling Dixie?
The likelihoods of science requiring “Whistling Dixie” are slightly higher than the likelihoods it involves Intelligent Design. I’ve seen a few experiments that needed something nearly as arbitrary as a song to work.