Recent content by FiverBeyond

In an effort to be self-critical, although there are some points here that I think are strong, there are some that don't seem to hold water to me... Having read some Christian apologetics/archeological studies, I can't help but feel that this is a false dichotomy. It would be entirely...

Yes, but the point is, if such a signal were discovered, wouldn't you accept this as empirical evidence of alien intelligence, strictly due to the information content? In other words, when a signal from space is received, will you suddenly become a believer in ID as an objective science? Why...

Aha, this is exactly the kind of paper I was looking for (I knew I'd come to the right place!) I only ask out of curiousity, and for a better understanding of how often new genes come about. Well... and I suppose because it would've been an exciting one-liner to truthfully say that "Humans...

Following the ongoing Aronra/Enyart phylogeny debate. has made me mentally review the topic of DNA comparison. It's an issue that I've noticed creationists seem to deliberately confuse. For example... Sharing gene families is not the same as sharing genes. Sharing genes is not the same as...

I would strongly advise against playing these kinds of mind games. People love their religion, and your extended family probably has some love for you, so the best way to 'make the split' is with simple honesty and respect. My two bits, anyway.

Not to derail the topic, but I can't help but feel that's a bad approach to take: you can't simultaneously argue that there is evidence against design AND argue that ID is unfalsifiable. It has to be one or the other. This is an example of a rare AronRa quote that I don't agree with (although...

Yes, well done. If I actually had a silver dollar, I'd give it to you.

You're on the right track, but that will just make my brain explode (and still won't get you the silver dollar). I'm a particularly eccentric logician, quite happy to die rather than give up my silver dollar (unless forced by the rules of the game). But well played, sir, well played.

I'm right behind you on this one, and it's probably my favorite area of the creationism/evolution debate (and yes, Creationists do not know what they mean when they say the word 'information'). But my point is that at a simple level, I can't square this with the comparison to a signal from...

A.) Mormonism. B.) No, I'm semi-proud to say that I wasn't deconverted by hearing particularly strong arguments, but rather by considering them for myself (if anything, reading Mormon apologetics probably made me more likely to leave the faith than anything else).

My general take is that if someone focuses on personal, emotional testimony, feel free to do the same thing. Instead of trying to reason with them, explain from your heart why they should be more skeptical (e.g., the freedom of inquiry, the feeling of renewal that comes from shaking off...

My point is that, in the case of the signal from space, my usual arguments against intelligent design break down. I.e, if you accept this argument: 1. "There's no known natural cause for this signal, therefore we can conclude that it is intelligently designed." then why don't you accept the...

Can I join in the fun? Here's a Smullyan classic... Suppose I propose to play a game with you. On the table in front of you, I place one penny, one quarter, and one shiny silver dollar. The rules of the game are as follows: 1. You may ask me precisely one yes/no question. 2. I will respond...

Hey there, folks, The title is just a hook: I firmly feel that Intelligent Design is non-science (heck, even anti-science) and have especially laughed at their attempts to compare it to archeology or forensics. ID cannot be compared to these fields for vital, obvious reasons. However, I admit...

My favorite Creationist quotes are where they emphatically state something that is absolutely correct, thinking they've made a key point in arguing against Evolution. Best example: "The only reason why you would classify man with apes is purely because of biology."