Telic Thoughts is an independent blog about intelligent design.


  •  Subscribe

    Recent Comments:


    • Bradford wrote in Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry: JW: DNA doesn̵ 7;t have anything like a...


        • John Wendt wrote in Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry: what is it about codon sequences that...


            • Bilbo wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Bilbo: I disagree. If we found that no or very few ribosomal proteins...


                • Bert wrote in Microbial Versatility: What biologists spent a lifetime “def end” RM&NS? (2) What...


                    • chunkdz wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : “You can recognize truth by it’s beauty and...


                        • don provan wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : 0112358: I believe that there is such a thing as truth. I...


                            • Bradford wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: chunkdz: The LUCA was front-load ed one way or another. The question...


                                • Bradford wrote in Microbial Versatility: Raevmo: Of course you are referring to nucleotide triplets being “...


                                    • Raevmo wrote in Microbial Versatility: Bert: Actually, I doubt that the average layman is that “hung up”. Only...


                                        • Raevmo wrote in Microbial Versatility: Bradford: While Einstein&# 8217;s descriptiv e formulas say nothing about the...


                                            • chunkdz wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Bradford: If an original organism had essential functions how could...


                                                • Bradford wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Zachriel: But it is clear that Front-Load ing proposes that...


                                                    • Bradford wrote in Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry: JW: IMHO a lot of confusion about reducti...


                                                        • chunkdz wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Zachriel: Perhaps Todd Berkebile didn’ ;t initially express his...


                                                            • Bradford wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Raevmo: But the problem with that is that there is nothing to...


                                                                • Bert wrote in Microbial Versatility: “Most people are really hung up on this idea that intelligen ce is limited to...


                                                                    • Bradford wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Dembski wrote: “The Front Loading Fiction 221;


                                                                        • Bradford wrote in Microbial Versatility: the mayan: they always fail to understand that it took a computer programer...


                                                                            • John Wendt wrote in Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry: Biological specificat ion always denotes...


                                                                                • Bradford wrote in Open Thread: Lioness: Todd: California should be a great lesson for future generation s of...


                                                                                    • Todd Berkebile wrote in Open Thread: Lioness: California has balanced budget laws which make it illegal for them to...


                                                                                        • Todd Berkebile wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Raevmo: You might need very special additional error...


                                                                                            • JAllen wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Chunkdz asks, “Can you show me where Mike Gene said that novel...


                                                                                                • Zachriel wrote in Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry: Here is a simple simulation showing how...


                                                                                                    • Zachriel wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: chunkdz: Nowhere does Mike Gene suggest that the new, novel...


                                                                                                        • The Pixie Again wrote in Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry: At least the logic that common...


                                                                                                            • Raevmo wrote in Microbial Versatility: themayan: they always fail to understand that it took a computer programer to...


                                                                                                                • chunkdz wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Todd: “I already showed how Mike’ ;s statement fit with...


                                                                                                                    • Zachriel wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: Are you saying you can directly perceive the...


                                                                                                                        • Todd Berkebile wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: All that goalpost moving has made you tired. I see you are...


                                                                                                                            • Bradford wrote in Open Thread: Lioness: From Yahoo News: States without budgets as key deadline passes SACRAMENTO ,...


                                                                                                                                • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : Zachriel, As for “sho oting for gaps” ;, you...


                                                                                                                                    • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : Zachriel: Nested hierarchie s. Succession of fossils....


                                                                                                                                        • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: Invalid analogies. People have sex. People...


                                                                                                                                            • dantedanti wrote in Child Abuse Alert: My third grade teacher gave out a candy bar for every perfect score. I got a...


                                                                                                                                                • hrun wrote in Microbial Versatility: And just as a final example: And as far as I’m concerned it wouldn...


                                                                                                                                                    • chunkdz wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Todd, A little reminder. All that goalpost moving has made you tired....


                                                                                                                                                        • hrun wrote in Microbial Versatility: As to your lactose example. Does the lactose directly enter into a direct...


                                                                                                                                                            • hrun wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: You may be right, but since this would exactly match the descriptio n of...


                                                                                                                                                                • Zachriel wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : Zachriel: We know that evolution is capable of producing...


                                                                                                                                                                    • kornbelt888 wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Todd: Here’ ;s the point, the program forces the impleme...


                                                                                                                                                                        • Zachriel wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: Invalid analogies. People have sex. People...


                                                                                                                                                                            • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: However, what you do not know is the...


                                                                                                                                                                                • Todd Berkebile wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: What are you asking for? A computer program that shows how...


                                                                                                                                                                                    • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: But remember what I asked for: “...


                                                                                                                                                                                        • olegt wrote in It’s Here: I thought everyone might like this update on the continuing book tour. Click here...


                                                                                                                                                                                            • Todd Berkebile wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: chunkdz: You didn’ ;t say some people hold this view,...


                                                                                                                                                                                                • Zachriel wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: However, what you do not know is the degree...


                                                                                                                                                                                                    • kornbelt888 wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: korn: It seems plausible to me that such a system could be...


                                                                                                                                                                                                        • Daniel Smith wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: # Todd Berkebile Says: The link you provided takes me to a...


                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Zachriel wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : kornbelt88 8: But remember what I asked for: “Can you...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                • kornbelt888 wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Todd B: Your new version of FLE sounds exactly like the...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • chunkdz wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: Todd: Mike agrees with me that some people hold this view You...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                        • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : Zachriel: Because we know how natural evolution works, I...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Todd Berkebile wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: korn: It seems plausible to me that such a system could be...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                • kornbelt888 wrote in Front Loading with Ribosomes: korn: To borrow from the Zachriel school of thought, given that...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • Todd Berkebile wrote in Child Abuse Alert: themayan: Im sure a pedophile who claims to be a good person sometimes...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        • kornbelt888 wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : Zachriel: Because you trust your life to a Theory of...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Todd Berkebile wrote in Child Abuse Alert: dantedanti : As a former educator, I believe offering young mind prize...


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                • Zachriel wrote in The Problem with Paley’s Watch : Zachriel: Because you trust your life to a Theory of...

Natural Selection, Specification and Common Ancestry

Posted in Natural Selection on July 1st, 2009 by Bradford

Biological specification always denotes function.1 Biological changes are said to occur when genomic changes become fixed by natural selection. Change can be traced to a prior condition in which a biological function existed because it had selective value i.e. it conferred function which enhanced reproductive fitness. Mutations, which change protein properties, correlate to new functions or enhance already existing ones. There is a symmetry between protein properties and biological function. As one moves along a timeline encompassing a process, one can map different proteins to their respective functions. Natural selection gives rise to the changing events and connects them in the timeline. The match-up between proteins and their functions constitutes a physical specification which is linked to a specified quality. In the case of living things the quality that is specified in advance is… the ability to propagate genes in reproduction.2

Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

6 Comments »

Microbial Versatility

Posted in Biology, Science on July 1st, 2009 by Bradford

Why microbes are smarter than you thought is a New Scientist article containing subtopics of interest. There are also multiple links within the article.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

18 Comments »

Assessing Fault

Posted in Evolutionary Psychology on June 30th, 2009 by Bradford

Why Do We Rape, Kill and Sleep Around? The fault, dear Darwin, lies not in our ancestors, but in ourselves, a Newsweek article by Sharon Begley, shows us what happens when evolutionary psychology clashes with powerful social values. The former comes out the worse for it.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

13 Comments »

Child Abuse Alert

Posted in Richard Dawkins, The New Atheists on June 28th, 2009 by Bradford

For those of us concerned about child abuse there is this: There’ll be no tent for God at Camp Dawkins. Oh how utterly ironic that the architect of the religious label = child abuse meme is starting a camp of his own. Of course the true believers who send their little ones to this camp are hopeful on the indoctrination issue:

Crispian Jago, an IT consultant, is hoping the experience will enrich his two children.

“I’m very keen on not indoctrinating them with religion or creeds,” he said this weekend. “I would rather equip them with the tools to learn how to think, not what to think.”

But there is also this:

Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

19 Comments »

Front Loading with Ribosomes

Posted in Random Stuff on June 27th, 2009 by Bilbo

Mike Gene has written an intriguing post, at his blog, on front loading with ribosomes. From the post:

This assembly maps involves 15 universal small subunit ribosomal proteins, and of these 15, ten have a moonlighting role (we shall explore several of these functions at a future date). What’s striking is that all proteins involved in binding to the 3’ domain of the rRNA are not only universal proteins, but also have moonlighting functions.

In other words 2/3 of the proteins have moonlighting roles. Quite a large percentage. Darwinian evolution predicts that some ancient proteins will be coopted for future uses, but 2/3 of them? What is even more intriguing about Mike's post is his prediction: Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

108 Comments »

Narratives Under the Microscope: Part One

Posted in Morality, Philosophy, Religion, The Critics on June 27th, 2009 by Bradford

No Smiting is the title of a New York Times book review by Paul Bloom. The review is notable for a number of reasons. It is a focal point around which we are able to contrast differing views of the world begining with the perspective of Robert Wright, author of the book The Evolution of God. Because the review is rich in material, around which discussions can be centered, I'll break this into two distinct blog entries. This one will focus on the page you can link to and a follow-up, coming shortly thereafter, will focus on the following review page, Kindly confine any comments on this blog entry to the first page of the review. I'll start with an analysis of the first paragraph:

God has mellowed. The God that most Americans worship occasionally gets upset about abortion and gay marriage, but he is a softy compared with the Yahweh of the Hebrew Bible. That was a warrior God, savagely tribal, deeply insecure about his status and willing to commit mass murder to show off his powers. But at least Yahweh had strong moral views, occasionally enlightened ones, about how the Israelites should behave. His hunter-gatherer ancestors, by contrast, were doofus gods. Morally clueless, they were often yelled at by their people and tended toward quirky obsessions. One thunder god would get mad if people combed their hair during a storm or watched dogs mate.

Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

91 Comments »

Entanglement

Posted in Biology, Science on June 26th, 2009 by Bradford

First Evidence of Entanglement in Photosynthesis is a Technology Review article citing an arXiv piece. Entanglement, a quantum phenomenon, is the object of attention or more specifically its relation to the biological process of photosynthesis. The paper's abstract:

Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

27 Comments »

It's Here

Posted in Random Stuff on June 24th, 2009 by Bilbo

Stephen C. Meyer's book,Signature in the Cell; DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, is now available. I purchased a copy from my local bookstore (buy local, especially if you live in economically depressed Michigan), for $27. At over 500 pages, that's actually quite a bargain. I've looked through quite a bit of it. First impressions: Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

46 Comments »

Open Thread: Lioness

Posted in Random Stuff on June 24th, 2009 by Bradford

Lioness

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

21 Comments »

It's not Reserved Only for Cosmology

Posted in Evolution on June 24th, 2009 by Bradford

I enjoy Eugene V. Koonin's writing because he does look at which way the wind is blowing before providing his own views. The Biological Big Bang model for the major transitions in evolution, from Biology Direct, is a view of evolution which utilizes analogies to convey points. Some tidbits from the paper:

Major transitions in biological evolution show the same pattern of sudden emergence of diverse forms at a new level of complexity. The relationships between major groups within an emergent new class of biological entities are hard to decipher and do not seem to fit the tree pattern that, following Darwin's original proposal, remains the dominant description of biological evolution. The cases in point include the origin of complex RNA molecules and protein folds; major groups of viruses; archaea and bacteria, and the principal lineages within each of these prokaryotic domains; eukaryotic supergroups; and animal phyla. In each of these pivotal nexuses in life's history, the principal "types" seem to appear rapidly and fully equipped with the signature features of the respective new level of biological organization. No intermediate "grades" or intermediate forms between different types are detectable. Usually, this pattern is attributed to cladogenesis compressed in time, combined with the inevitable erosion of the phylogenetic signal.

Read the rest of this entry »

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Mixx
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • del.icio.us

1 Comment »

« Previous Entries
  • Featured Books

    Catalyzing Inquiry at the Interface of Computing and Biology

  • The Design Matrix: A Consilience of Clues by Mike Gene


  • Pages

    • About Us
    • Afon
    • bipod
    • Bradford
    • Chunkdz
    • Deuce
    • Guts
    • Joy
    • Krauze
    • macht
    • Nullasalus
    • Steve Petermann
    • Techne
    • JJS P.Eng.
  • Categories

    • Animal Rights Extremism (40)
    • Approaches (14)
    • Astrobiology (6)
    • Bioethics (30)
    • Biology (172)
    • Books (6)
    • Brain (45)
    • Bunny Fright Week (7)
    • Cell (22)
    • Computer Science (9)
    • Convergent Evolution (5)
    • Cosmology (7)
    • Creationism (52)
    • Culture Wars (14)
    • Design Inferences (32)
    • DNA Repair (3)
    • Engineering (19)
    • Eugenics (24)
    • Evidence (24)
    • Evo-Devo (12)
    • Evolution (265)
    • Evolutionary Psychology (13)
    • Fine-tuning (10)
    • Friday Quote (33)
    • Front-loading (147)
    • Gene's Gems (12)
    • Genetic Code (5)
    • Guest Post (12)
    • Hating Mike (1)
    • Henry Rollins Award (3)
    • History (33)
    • Hoax (1)
    • Humor (176)
    • Information (4)
    • Intelligent Design (515)
    • Irreducible Complexity (23)
    • Just For Fun (24)
    • Media (94)
    • Meeting of Minds (7)
    • Memory Hole (1)
    • Metatalk (34)
    • MikeGenes World (16)
    • Morality (5)
    • Nanotechnology (2)
    • Natural Selection (11)
    • Nature (23)
    • Nature of Science (101)
    • Origin of Life (49)
    • Paul Mirecki (16)
    • Peer Review (11)
    • Peter Singer (2)
    • Philosophy (79)
    • Philosophy of Mind (27)
    • Politics (4)
    • Post-Wedge World (20)
    • Proteins (9)
    • Quantum (1)
    • Quote Mining (9)
    • Random Stuff (171)
    • Religion (165)
    • Repost (34)
    • Richard Dawkins (98)
    • RNA (5)
    • School (61)
    • Science (164)
    • Scientific Boundaries (1)
    • Self-organization (1)
    • Shoddy Science (14)
    • Simulation Argument (1)
    • Stereotypes (6)
    • The Critics (243)
    • The Debate (316)
    • The Design Matrix (71)
    • The Duck (6)
    • The New Atheists (71)
    • The Rabbit (232)
    • Threatiness (87)
  • Evolution

    • Anthropology Weblog
    • Charles Darwin on the web
    • Darwin@home
    • Genetic Code Evolution
    • Stephen Jay Gould Archive
    • The Loom
    • Tree of Life
    • Was Darwin Wrong?
  • blogroll

    • Bilbo’s Blog
    • ID and Theology
    • Intelligently Sequenced
    • The Design Matrix
  • Teleology

    • Akilli Tasarim
    • An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution
    • ARN Board
    • Darwinian Fundamentalism
    • Darwiniana
    • Dasafiando a Nomenklatura Cientifica
    • Design Inteligente
    • Evolution Engineered
    • Evolution News & Views
    • Evolution Oriented
    • Evolution und Schöpfung
    • Exiled from Groggs
    • He Lives
    • ICON-RIDS
    • ID the Future
    • ID.plus
    • Intelligent Reasoning
    • ISCID EoSaP
    • Michael Behe’s Blog
    • Post-Darwinist
    • Real Physics
    • Reality Cheque
    • ResearchID.org
    • Robin Collins
    • Steve Jones
    • Teleomechanist
    • Telic Meme
    • The American Scientific Affiliation
    • The Creation of an Evolutionist
    • Thinking Christian
    • Thought Provoker
    • Uncommon Descent
    • withallyourmind.net
    • Wonders For Oyarsa
  • People With Interesting Ideas

    • Albert de Roos
    • Biosemiotics
    • Bradley Monton
    • Cell Intelligence
    • Darwin or Design
    • James Shapiro
    • Michael Syvanen
    • Panspermia
    • Paul Davies
  • Anti-Teleology

    • Center for Naturalism
    • Kenneth Miller
    • NCSE
    • Pharyngula
    • Richard Dawkins
    • Talk Reason
    • Talk.Origins Archive
    • The Brights
    • The Panda’s Thumb
    • The Scientific Fundamentalist
  • Archives

    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • Meta

      • Register
      • Log in

Telic Thoughts is proudly powered by WordPress
Hosting provided by College Crunch.

Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).