Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:06 pm
As promised, I now have Dawkins latest book in hand... missed the last one by years so it's nice to be contemporaneous for a change!
I'm not going to bother with a book review, there's plenty of them online... what interests me is why read this book?
I first note that it wasn't difficult to get hold of... in fact just go to the local mall and boom there it is in the
science
section, cover facing out as a featured book. Along with other titles such as Brian Greens 'Elegant Universe' and Bill Brysons 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' it's probably going to be one of those reads... [get the message YEC's this is what the rest of the world accepts as proven science! ]
Large, soft cover and well illustrated, it avoids being textbook-y by (apparently) using a kind of detective story format, focusing on the 'how we know what we know' angle.
As someone who did rather OK at high school biology (and enjoyed it!! - in the B.C. era - Before Computers) - I'm looking forward to a re-fresh and a tour of the body of knowledge in the DNA era from R.D's anti-creationist angle.
Speaking of which, it amazes me that this aspect of the book is required at all !! What is wrong with you people?!?! The world's most prosperous nation (despite the inequalities, yes I have visited there) - what the eff? ->> wakey wakey get with the programme people!!
I guess it's this morbid fascination that eggs me on to participate and witness this parallell reality first hand that motivates me... afterall why not just enjoy the science! Leave out the ideology? Will this book make you an atheist? I doubt it. Will it persuade the believers to take natural selection more seriously? If they are ready to accept that reality.
So anyone else have impressions or criticisms? I may post a couple of updates as I read through it... now in case anyone accuses me of being an RD fanboy, I won't be attending the 'Rise of Atheism' thing in Melbourne (CBF'd) but I will be attending the 1st Aussie 'TAM' skeptics meeting later this year.
OH, before I sign off, here's something I've learned from debating a creationist on line (OneUnderGod, where are you?) - facts don't work. Arguments don't work, evidence doesn't work. Nothing works. You can only lead the horse to water...
However, to anyone who doesn't have a predefined agenda and stumbles across this book, I think they'll get a great overview of the dimensions of the controversy surrounding evolution. If god did indeed dunnit, s/he made it look a heck of of alot like it's on autopilot!!
BTW - my favourite chapter heading "The Ark of the Continents"
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:16 pm
"The Greatest Hoax on Earth" Refuting Dawkins on Evolution...
riiiiight... so this is obviously a pretty huge hoax!! Good thing we have Mr. Sarfati to expose this evolution nonsense!
I've skimmed the online 'Introduction' and found it to be a nicely warped and suitably skewed piece. But that's just my humble opn.
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:11 am
OK, so
finally
I'm getting into the book!! Again & again I keep asking 'what's the big deal?' evolution is just a fact of life, why do the crazies keep going at it? I think this video by Dennett puts it rather eloquently...
As for my reading, RD has just made the distinction between
big 'T' and small 't' theories
. Nice to know that we both agree on that little matter
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:39 am
I'd just like to share... makes me all warm n fuzzy...
making slow but steady progress through this little tome and finding it a pleasant read. Nicely set out, clear writing style and lots of examples and in-fo.
Just covered essentialism (about how, say the concept of a rabbit is immutable and based on some ideal notion of rabbitness etc etc) and now on to how Darwin understood that the way in which characteristics are inherited is important to why they persist for so long and are not just blended in over generations (i.e. anticipating Mendel)...
Would recommend this book to anyone who is suspicious of their Creationist indoctrination and is looking to see what the reality based community is all about.
Free your mind
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
Brian37 Forum Master
Joined: Oct 04, 2003
Posts: 10152
Posted:
Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:25 am
I want this book myself. If it is anything like The God Delusion it will be an easy read and I hated science in school. Dawkins doesn't dumb anything down but he also explains things in an easy to understand way.
As much as I hated science in school, it was more so the pressure of being graded, rather than not being good at it. But now that I do not have the pressure over me, I have found some things much easier to grasp.
Even then, what always stuck with me is the fact that when the method was followed and my data input was correct, my answers were correct. When I screwed up somewhere in the data or process, my answers would be wrong. THAT always stuck with me.
Evolution is easy to understand. It is tiny changes over long periods of time and it's only goal is to get to the point of reproduction. If you don't reproduce, you die out.
The fact that we know that birds have scales on their claws and whales and humans have lungs is evidence of evolution. And all one has to do to know that evolution is fact is to look at a tiger and a domestic house cat.
Why in this day and age there are still people clinging to the bull crap of "poof" of Genesis is mundanely astounding.
Myth will never hold a candle to science and there is no substitute for science. Evolution is fact no matter how many lies people convince themselves of.
I am looking forward to reading this book.
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:23 am
Listen up people!! Today is a very auspicious day!!
wiki wrote:
On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, United States had his mother-in-law around for supper and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. Olsen chose a five-and-a-half-month-old cockerel named Mike. The axe missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.[3][4]
Despite Olsen's botched handiwork, Mike was still able to balance on a perch and walk clumsily; he even attempted to preen and crow, although he could do neither. After the bird did not die, a surprised Mr. Olsen decided to continue to care permanently for Mike, feeding him a mixture of milk and water via an eyedropper; he was also fed small grains of corn.
The chicken lived without a head for 18 months, believe it or NOT!
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Sun Sep 12, 2010 10:58 pm
Update, in an earlier post I said I would be attending the first TAM Australia and ... BUGGER!! I was busy earning a living when the tickets went on sale and THEY SOLD OUT IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. Oh well, that $400 bucks to spend on books I guess [Reggie, put some new titles in your amazon store! I assume they give you a few cents per sale, what generous sods they are!!]
OK, my second point... B_A_A and others (all 2 of you) Dawkins mentions
convergent evolution
and will discuss it later in 'The Greatest Show on Earth'** so, when I get to it... will update the 'aliens' thread.
** ...as opposed to the 'Greatest Hoax on Earth' which as any thinking person would know, is creationism!
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
View next topic View previous topic
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
]
