January 2010 « ASA Voices

Richard Dawkins: Good Scientist, Bad Philosopher

By , on January 31st, 2010%

There was a good blog post on Presbymergent the other day about the author’s attendance at a Richard Dawkins lecture. The title of the post conveys the general evaluation: “Richard Dawkins: Good Scientist, . . . → Read More: Richard Dawkins: Good Scientist, Bad Philosopher

The Environment and Poverty in Haiti

By Richard Blinne, on January 22nd, 2010%

The picture above illustrates the extreme deforestation of Haiti. You can literally see the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic from space. How and why did this happen and what are its effects? Haiti is one of the most deforested countries in the World with only 2% forestation. The reason why it’s that way is because the trees have been cut down for fuel and specifically to make charcoal because it’s one of the few commodities that can be sold to get the essentials of life. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. . . . → Read More: The Environment and Poverty in Haiti

ID and Common Descent @ UcD

By , on January 18th, 2010%

I thought this was an interesting post from UcD.

Many, many people seem to misunderstand the relationship between Intelligent Design and Common Descent. Some view ID as being equivalent to Progressive Creationism (sometimes called Old-Earth Creationism), others seeing it as being equivalent to Young-Earth Creationism. I have argued before that the core of ID is not about a . . . → Read More: ID and Common Descent @ UcD

Radiocarbon Dating

By Randy Isaac, on January 17th, 2010%

For those of you interested in radiocarbon dating, I’d like to draw your attention to an article that reports a significant milestone in the calibration curves for C-14 dating. The international working group INTCAL, which compiles the accepted calibration curve, has now extended the calibration curve from 26,000 years to 50,000 years, a major accomplishment. The . . . → Read More: Radiocarbon Dating

Discussion of Signature in the Cell

By Terry M. Gray, on January 15th, 2010%

A pointer to the comments that Randy Isaac is posting.

Historical Causal Analysis
The Argument from Intelligence
Signature in . . . → Read More: Discussion of Signature in the Cell

Consensus Science

By Randy Isaac, on January 13th, 2010%

The term “consensus” has become a lightning rod in the public discussion of controversial areas of science. Scientists who were baffled that much of the public didn’t agree with scientific opinions on global warming and other controversial topics, began using the term as a means of ending all argument. By proclaiming the opinions to be . . . → Read More: Consensus Science

Blog Mechanics

By Terry M. Gray, on January 11th, 2010%

This post will be a catch-all for questions and comments about the operation of the ASA Voices blog (and the other ASA blogs). Please note that we are still finding our way as to what will serve the ASA best. If you have ideas or opinions about how we have done things so far, please let . . . → Read More: Blog Mechanics

Global Warming

By , on January 11th, 2010%

Several comments in the general discussion have related to the global warming question. We’re going to move them here so that the topic is easier to find. This turned out to be one most controversial topics on the ASA email list during November and December of 2009. We recognize that there is a diversity of views . . . → Read More: Global Warming

Presuppositional Apologetics

By , on January 9th, 2010%

[This post originally was a Comment by James Hayes under a different thread. We have made it a regular Post due to the significance of the topic.]

I have been in discussions with someone who seems to be using ‘Presuppositional apologetics’ The term ‘‘preconditions of intelligibility’ is used frequently. The arguments come across to me as postulates . . . → Read More: Presuppositional Apologetics

Diversity in the ASA

By , on January 5th, 2010%

Hi! I’m not sure if this is the proper venue for this observation so please remove it or forward it to the appropriate people. I have been a member of ASA for more than 15 years. I have attended a few local chapter meetings and went to my first national meeting in Waco because of the . . . → Read More: Diversity in the ASA

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