Chinese Earthquake: Strange new world
May 15, 2008 – 10:47 amThese university students in Chengdu Sichuan, China, couldn’t wait until the Earthquake was done before they tried to get information about it online.
Earthquake video
See also
Earthquake video
Sixth grade science teacher’s poor judgment
May 14, 2008 – 3:36 pmI wonder what the National Center for “Science” Education will say about a sixth grade science teacher conducting a survey asking students whom among their peers are most likely to get pregnant:
The parent of a sixth-grader at Chastain Middle School in Jackson is irate after being told by his daughter that a teacher forced the class to list the students most likely to die before 19 and most likely to get pregnant before they graduate from high school.
On a day when his daughter’s science class was supposed to be reviewing for the statewide exam this week, Curtis Lyons said the teacher on Monday gave students an embarrassing assignment. She told the students to fill out a paper with questions such as who in the class is most likely to contract AIDS/HIV, go to jail and be poor.(Lovelady 2008)
Poor judgment on the part of the teacher? Yes!1
My guess is the NCSE will be silent on the issue of the Chastain Middle School science teacher, because their main focus is suppressing dissent from Darwinism and fighting mention of God in science class.
Stupidity in the science class is okay, judging (in advance) of NCSE silence on this matter. Let’s hope I am wrong, and that we see the NCSE broaden their horizons and defend science.
Footnotes
1But then again, when I was in high school, my science teacher, who fraternized with the class as though she were still in high school, sold scrubs to students–scrubs from her other job at the hospital, and she charged *more* if they had blood on them. This was the same time we were learning about AIDS in social studies…
Sources
- Lovelady, Nicklaus (5-14-2008) Class assignment infuriates Chastain Middle parent Clarion Ledger
- Case, Bert (12-7-2006) Jackson School Teacher Charged in Pregnant Woman’s Murder WLBT
See also
Self-information cliff hanger
May 14, 2008 – 2:26 pmJJS of Evolution Engineered fame has an article that overlaps an interest of mine: Information theory. In his article, Self Information, JJS P.Eng introduces the concept of information in a surprisingly entertaining way. Be warned: it is somewhat of a cliff hanger.
Please see Self Information, where comments may be left.
Observations, experimentation, Occam’s razor, and gravity
May 8, 2008 – 10:53 am
What do you think observation and experimentation are for?
Is this related to truth?
Of course there are various opinions (e.g., see the scientific method) about whether or not science leads to truth. Here are my off the cuff thoughts…
In my view, observations are generally made before forming a hypothesis. (There are some exceptions–where initial hypotheses seem to be more the fruit of insightful imagination than careful observations, e.g., atomic theories.)
Observations are also made during experimentation.
Experimentation’s major value is quality control on the hypothesis or theory. Experimentation attempts to identify bad hypotheses and theories by attempting to falsify them. Ancillary to quality control, observations made during experimentation can also be used to generate additional hypotheses and theories.
Some interpret the long term failure of a theory to be falsified as truth, but these people are generally muddying the waters. They ignore the vital role of experimentation as quality control, do not design sufficiently challenging experiments, and confuse simple observations that do not contradict “just so” stories with rigorous experimentation. These are probably the fruit of confirmation bias.
To use what could be evolutionary terminology, ruthlessly applied experimentation are selective filters that cull bad theories and hypotheses to the heap of bad ideas.
* * *
Also, some theories are just wrong, but are still useful.
Theories that are not yet culled are kept not because they are true but because they are useful or comparatively better, where “comparatively” is subjective and arbitrary.
Tycho Brahe’s geocentric model of the solar system was incorrect, but more useful than Copernicus’ heliocentric model, at least for a period of time.
In the case of Tycho Brahe’s geocentric model, his subjective and somewhat arbitrary metric was computational difficulty. Tycho argued that a geocentric model of the solar system assuming epicyclic orbits allowed for simpler calculations than Copernicus’s heliocentric model with epicyclic orbits. Neither model produced better estimates than the other; but Copernicus’s model was more difficult computationally, and so Tycho rejected it on this basis.
Interestingly, Tycho’s argument is a case where Occam’s razor lead us further from the “truth”–toward geocentricism, not closer–toward heliocentricism.
Similarly, other theories are kept as very useful approximations e.g., because the error in the model is small.
For example, the oft-repeated idea that an object of a specified size and shape dropped from a specified height in a vacuum will take an amount of time to fall that is independent of the dropped object’s mass is simply untrue. But it is a useful approximation, and widely considered to be “true” even among the scientifically educated.
The Scientific Method
May 8, 2008 – 12:02 amThe scientific method explained:
Source
UPDATE: For some reason, this post doesn’t seem to be working in Internet explorer….a fix is in the works
My son’s first grade teacher (God Bless Her!)
May 6, 2008 – 10:11 pm
My son is in first grade, and checked out a book on the solar system from school. He read it, and then read it to his mother, and then wanted to read it to me. But as it was bedtime, I said “tomorrow.”
“But the book is due tomorrow,” he protested.
“See if you can check it out again,” I responded.
He did check it out again, after explaining to his first grade teacher that he wanted to read it to his “papa.” But first she took the book back, read it herself, and apparently noticed the following:
Scientists think the universe was born between 10 billion and 15 billion years ago. Most scientists believe that the universe started with a Big Bang. This event was like a giant explosion. It created huge amounts of dust, gas, and other materials. Over billions of years these materials clumped together into stars, planets, and all the other things we see in space. One of these planets was Earth.(Hirschmann 2004)[Emphasis in original]
So, bless this teacher, she took matters into her own hands, and countered with a Christian point of view, adding a home-made warning label:
People who don’t believe in the true God and creation make up these stories about our world. Christians believe in the true Creation.(Anonymous 2008)
As can be seen below, she also underlined “think” and annotated it with “guess”.
 |
| The Solar System with annotations(Anonymous 2008) by an anonymous first grade teacher. |
Now, that is love. God bless my son’s first grade teacher.
Well, not to brag, but only to provide background information–my son is highly intelligent–1 in 10,000 or 1 in 100,000 I guess–[details removed].
So the teacher’s annotations were fodder for excellent conversations, in which we discussed:
- Various reasons why some scientists come to hate and battle God.
- The death of Charles Darwin’s daughter, and his reaction in comparison to the trials of Job.
- Different ways smart individuals can be wrong, why and how.
- The difference between young and old Earth creationism.
- Gap Theory Creationism.
- The improbability and downright absurdity of a big-bang explosion resulting in a well ordered universe.
- Problems of extrapolation in time (with references to Gerry’s The Appearance of Age).
- Gravity, and the increased distance one could jump on the moon.
- What would happen if a large pipe/tunnel were inserted from one side of the Earth to the other through the center, and you jumped into it.
- What would happen if you were on a “gas giant“.
While my son is intelligent, and understood much of what we discussed–he is 6. So in the end he was more interested in figuring out exactly how much farther he would be able to throw rocks if he were on the moon.
But somehow I think, when he is older, that he will fondly remember that his much loved first grade teacher provided a Christian point of view to balance the “guesses” of some scientists, and this lead to interesting conversation.
Sources
- Hirschmann, Kris (10-2004) The Solar System Scholastic Inc.
- Anonymous First Grade Teacher (2008) Hand Written notes in The Solar System.
Note: Many states have spawn NC”S”E organizations, also known as “<your-state> Citizens for ‘science‘ Education.” In Minnesota, we have one such atheist shill group, Minnesota Citizens for Science Education set up in cooperation with the National Center for Darwinian Education, with dangerous brass knuckle and steel toed boot wielding militant atheists on their advisory boards. Since members of the PT-mafia are known to monitor this blog, I am protecting the identity of this Christian first grade teacher.
But to the PT-mafia I do say, “na na na na na na.” 
Christian first grade teachers still exist!
And they are not afraid to share their faith.
Praise God!!!!
The weapon
May 2, 2008 – 12:08 amWith a tip of the hat to The REAL Jesusland, I came across this video. It is disturbing, but at the same time, profound. For the young, the video has a direct meaning. For the previous generation, life is full of stock options, red herrings, false teachings, and free time–all just as pernicious.
Following Jesus is the only way out of it. Everything else leads to destruction.
The video starts out slow, but if you get past the slow part, and make it to the end, you’ll probably want to watch the whole thing again.
Source
Update
Another version for those who object to Jesus being portrayed by a white man. (See comments).
Applied Darwinism in NAZI Germany
April 28, 2008 – 12:04 pm |
| Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels |
Bourgeois social theory is primarily concerned with the individual. It is thus essentially determined by pity, or compassion, or the Christian love of one’s neighbor or similar conviction. Our Socialist ideas and actions have nothing whatsoever to do with such notions. Our starting-point is not the individual, and we do not subscribe to the view that one should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, or clothe the naked — those are not our objectives. Our objectives are entirely different. They can be put most crisply in the sentence: we must have a healthy people in order to prevail in the world.—Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels(Burleigh 1991 p. 69, see also USHMM 2008)
It appears that those who claim Darwinism had nothing to do with the holocaust will have to battle the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Science Museum of Minnesota has the traveling version of their exhibit describing the NAZI eugenics movement.
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany carried out a campaign to “cleanse” German society of individuals viewed as biological threats to the nation’s “health.” Driven by a racist ideology legitimized by German scientists, the Nazis attempted to eliminate all of Europe’s Jews, ultimately killing six million in the Holocaust. Developed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race is a thought-provoking exhibition of objects, photographs, documents, and historic film footage from European and American collections. Deadly Medicine contains historical photographs, artifacts and survivor testimony from the Holocaust, including explicit images of medical experimentation on children.(SMM 2008)(USHMM 2008)[emphasis added]
Internet Evolanders practice a form of holocaust denial when they assert that the NAZI death machine had nothing to do with Darwinism.
Applied Darwinism is indeed an apt term.
Sources
- Burleigh, Michael (1991) The Racial State: Germany 1933-1945 Cambridge University Press
- SMM(April 2008) Deadly Medicine Science Museum of Minnesota
- USHMM (2008)Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
A fairtale for grownups (and evolander bingo)
April 26, 2008 – 5:15 pm |
| Evolution is a fairytale for grownups |
I just found an entertaining site: Evolution is a fairtale for grownups. They raise some interesting objections to evolution. For example:
Let’s first start with the cleaner fish. This fish will swim into a shark’s mouth and eat remnant food particles from the shark’s teeth. The cleaner fish departs with a satisfied appetite, and the shark is happy because his teeth are cleaned in the process. The shark does not allow any other kinds of fish into its mouth without chomping down for a good lunch. Indeed, what other fish would dare attempt to swim into a shark’s mouth! This type of relationship is called a symbiotic relationship. Creationists point out that these relationships clearly represent a design that could not have occurred by chance. Evolutionists have a very difficult time explaining how these types of relationships could evolve with time.(”The Cleaner Fish“)
And they have forums for those who want to debate creationists.
Crumbling Infrastructure: Lowry Avenue Bridge Over Mississippi Closed
April 25, 2008 – 1:23 pm |
| Lowry Avenue Bridge is closed. |
From the collapsed 35W bridge, to the now permanently closed Lowry avenue and bridge in Minneapolis, to the permanently closed Hwy 23 bridge in St. Cloud, it seems that the nations infrastructure is crumbling. And these bridges are all in a short stretch of the Mississippi in Minnesota.
Are other states experiencing this, or is Minnesota just sensitized due to the 35W bridge collapse?
Sources
- Foti, Jim (4-25-2008) Lowry Avenue Bridge to be shut down Star Tribune
- Post, Tim (4-7-2008) St. Cloud bridge closure is a hassle for some drivers Minnesota Public Radio
- Muehlhausen, Nicole (4-24-2008) Lowry Bridge closes due to rotated alignment KSTP
- MN D.o.T. Hwy 23 Bridge in St. Cloud - Bridge 6748 Minnesota Department of Transportation
See also