Why Dont You Blog?

In a previous post, I mention that a comment on Uncommon Design was suggesting the book The Privelged Planet was a good one for IDers and creationists to read and use to rebut evolutionary theories.

In that post I didnt really go into the book, as I felt it deserved one of its own. It really is bad science at it’s best so no wonder the ID / Creationism lobby jump all over it. I expect Steve Fuller will be writing about how we need to re-define science to accomodate this books nonsense before too long (although the book appears to be fairly old).

Now I do have to point out, I have not read this book. I doubt I will ever be able to bring myself to spend any money on this book as the thought of giving the authors a penny in royalties makes me want to choke on my own vomit. The book does have a website though, and this serves ample evidence of the crackpottery involved. For example the FAQ provides the following:

Q #1: Is the fact that we can see “perfect” solar eclipses related to our existence?

A: The Earth’s surface provides the best view of solar eclipses in the Solar System. The Earth’s surface is also the most habitable place in the Solar System. Is this coincidence just that? In The Privileged Planet, we argue that it isn’t. The conditions that make a planet habitable also make its inhabitants more likely to see solar eclipses.

That alone is enough for me to realise the book is going to be nonsense.

Well after a long rant against Religious crackpots, it is nice to see Uncommon Descent can still produce a few laughs from their fundamental idiocy.

Part of me feels they fully appreciate the irony of the nonsense they spout and that posts titled “When Arrogance and Stupidity Collide” are actually intended to be the sideways kicks at creationism they seem to be. Sadly, given how clueless some of the commentators are, this may be overly charitable on my behalf.

This post (by William Dembski) in particular begins:

Rubbish like this should steel us to work doubly hard to put these people out of business.

Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism & Intelligent Design
Cambridge House Press, Inc. (release date 02.28.07)
By Barrett Brown, Jon P. Alston

Book Description

What is creationism? Is it science, theology, both, neither? Who’s behind it? What does it mean for Western Civilization? And why should you give a damn in the first place? National Lampoon veteran Barrett Brown and Professor of Sociology Jon P. Alston, Ph.D, answer these questions — and perhaps one or two others — in a superbly unorthodox, serenely offensive and splendidly hilarious look at the forces behind the most talked-about pseudo-theory in modern history.

Now, you really cant help but chuckle at this book and the mountains of Righteous Indignation it seems to have stirred up in the ID/Creationism camps. The comments are priceless.

Amadan writes : “I wouldn’t worry about whoopee-cushion type propaganda like that. Thought Always Rebuts Darwinism.”

Sadly, history appears to show the opposite.

Dodgingcars writes : (emphasis mine) “I think some of you have made good points. At first, it was their policy to ignore ID. Now, because they can’t properly dispute it, they mock it and attack those who accept it. It does appear the tide is turning. We already know that something like 70-80% of Americans believe in ID (though they don’t know that’s what they believe) in some form. Once they’re more educated as to what ID is, the theory of evolution will lose validity in the eyes of most people in America — this is what scares the Darwinists.”

Here we go again. Sadly, ID supporters seem to regularly argue that ID should be a science because so many people believe in it. The mind truly boggles at this nonsense. In reality, if evolution loses validity in the eyes of most people in America, the only losers will be Americans who will produce generations of students who are unable to study how diseases evolve and how species can develop over time. Creationism is a dead end. Sadly, the Christian nutters actually want that. Oh yeah, ID is not a religious idea is it, it isn’t tied to any one religion is it?

Columbo write : (again, my emphasis) “I hope that, beyond lambasting and complaining about this kind of c-rap, defenders of science and general truth-seeking will become real activists in their own neighborhoods. E.g. 1) buy extra copies of “Privileged Planet” and “Mystery of Life” and loan them to co-workers and neighbors; 2) Volunteer to teach a series on this subject to high school and college groups at your church; 3) write book reviews / letters to the editor in your local paper; 4) meet with your representatives and give them succinct outlines and talking points to work from.”

Now, I know that this is not really proof ID and Religion (Christianity) are massively interlinked (yet they are), but I certainly find it ironic that the assumption appears to be all the ID supporters are active members of their church. I suspect they are. (More on the book next time)

When science and religion combine the results are almost always entertaining. Browsing through Pharyngula today, I came across a link to an post on the Bad Astronomy blog. Both of these point to some extracts from a page published by the Middle East Media Research Institute. (Now this is a Washington based institute so it may not be actually representative of what Middle Eastern beliefs and opinions are).

The transcript is about an Egyptian researcher who has put forward scientific reasoning to abolish Greenwich Mean Time and replace it with “Mecca Time” and begins with this chestnut: