Open thread: Hobbits, evolving evolution, and the vast creationist conspiracy
by KrauzeAnother open thread for you to roam around in. Some stray thoughts:
A while ago, it was announced that the Flores people, also known as hobbits, discovered in 2004, "do not represent a new species as then claimed, but some of the ancestors of modern human pygmies who live on the island today", and that their exceptional small brain size was due to birth defects in one of the individuals. The paper arguing this is freely available, and anthropologist John Hawks has a good summary of the research.
The New York Review of Books reviews three new books about the "discoveries [that] have radically altered our views of evolution and of the relation of human beings to all other animals." One of the books is Sean Carroll's Endless Forms Most Beautiful, which I've written about here, while another is Kirschner's and Gerhart's The Plausibility of Life, which I've quoted from here and here.
Intelligent design is often described as an insidious creationist plot. In what can only be a perplexing paradox, some creationists actually criticize intelligent design, like Carl Wieland from Answers in Genesis. Over at WithAllYourMind.net, Barry is planning a series of post responding to those criticisms. The first installment can be read here.
August 31st, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Hi Krauze,
Its only perplexing if you would be perplexed at why Pepsi would criticize Coke. AIG and the DI are both marketing their books, tapes and DVDs to the same consumers, U.S. christian fundamentalists. Of course AiG is critical of IDism; they are fighting the DI for market share.
Comment by Aagcobb — August 31, 2006 @ 2:52 pm
August 31st, 2006 at 3:10 pm
As the 'old Klingon proverb' says:mrgreen:, when the truth eludes you, follow the money…
I concur with Aagcobb, while I do think that there is some actual (legitimate?) criticism, mostly, I think its just marketing. I suppose, in a very limited way:roll: thats ok,
Comment by carbon14atom — August 31, 2006 @ 3:10 pm
August 31st, 2006 at 4:01 pm
I miss the Hobbits, but if the evidence doesn't stand up to scientific scrutiny we have to accept that the more ordinary explanation is the likelier one. And so Frodo and company must shuffle off Flores and return to the fictional confines of Middle Earth . . .
Comment by Aagcobb — August 31, 2006 @ 4:01 pm
August 31st, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Actually, the real plot is IDers wishing to invade creationism.
See: ID continues to evade creationist culture
Salvador
Comment by Salvador T. Cordova — August 31, 2006 @ 11:32 pm
September 1st, 2006 at 11:17 am
Since this is an open thread, did anyone else read Joy's farewell statement before it disappeared? What do you make of it?
Comment by Aagcobb — September 1, 2006 @ 11:17 am
September 2nd, 2006 at 12:47 pm
"… did anyone else read Joy's farewell statement before it disappeared?"
No, I didn't see it. But then, there were a number of posts up-and-vanished in that time-frame. However, based on your two posts on the matter, I can surmise.
"What do you make of it?"
And what I surmise is: Overreaction (and quite keeping in character, at that).
Comment by Ilion — September 2, 2006 @ 12:47 pm
September 4th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
So I wasn't hallucinating about seeing those posts in the Memory Hole. Not a very good memory, it seems, for a memory hole.
Comment by KC — September 4, 2006 @ 8:28 pm
September 5th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I was going to object to the thought that we hobbits are somehow related to you humans, but then I noticed the comment about Joy's farewell statement. What did I miss, since I haven't been here for about a week?
Comment by Bilbo — September 5, 2006 @ 7:15 pm
September 6th, 2006 at 9:37 am
Joy posted a statement indicating she was leaving TT. She complained that in her thread "Armstrong expands on a Theme" a certain other poster was derailing Joy's efforts to get Armstrong involved in a dialogue about her article. I don't want to characterize her post any further since I don't have a copy of it and only read it once before it disappeared.
Comment by Aagcobb — September 6, 2006 @ 9:37 am
September 6th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Actually, a few posts have gone missing lately. Guts' last post became closed and all responses disappeared. The memory hole also has been cleared out. The reason I liked TT was because of it's general editorial restraint.
Comment by chunkdz — September 6, 2006 @ 11:39 am