Piltdown Superman

There is an interest in looking at living things from an engineering perspective, which places evolutionary ideas of time, chance, mutations, and luck closer and closer to the rubbish bin. We have discussed how engineering concepts relate to creation several times. Parametric design  is used in several ways, using parameters  (see what they did there?) in algorithms (sets of instructions). This method has been helpful in architecture. It also fits quite well with intelligent design and works quite well with engineering considerations in creation. Spinal column, Pixabay / Clker-Free-Vector-Images Creation itself shows design. Not only design, but advance planning where living things grow and develop, often adapting to changes. There are many things in biology that show growth where things have to be in place so the critter can survive. Consider the human spinal column: Vertebrae and such need to grow from simpler cells, all the way to adulthood. No, evolution has no place here. The Mast

Atheists and other anti-creationists use Stephen Jay Gould's claim that the panda has an ineffective thumb as an argument against creation and Intelligent Design, but this dysteleology fails in several areas. One should be glaring obvious: Why would a bear need a thumb like humans have? The comparison is not valid, as we are different creatures with different life niches. Gould and subsequent followers claim that it is a scientific refutation of creation and ID, but it is not a scientific argument ! It is philosophical — really, it is theological. Modified from "Giant Panda Tai Shan" /  Fernando Revilla / Wikimedia Commons Misotheists are very fond of "bad design" arguments, which is silly. They do not believe God exists, but presume to fault him for things in nature that (in their unhumble opinions ) are flawed. Those of us who use presuppositional apologetics can show that anti-creationists are not consistent with their own belief system, especially when they

Many times, I have encouraged people to ride up to the top of the hill and get the big picture. This time, however, the view is from out in space. The subject is our blue marble. Consider how there are many things operate to make Earth supportive of life. Our planet is situated in a quiet galactic neighborhood with a good-natured sun , unlike some of those other stars that emit gamma rays that would eradicate life on their worlds (if it existed in the first place). Since the sun has its own activity, Earth has deflector shields . Earth in hand, Pixabay / Okan Caliskan We also have the right gasses in the atmosphere at the right balance (oxygen explodes, you know). The distance from the sun, our orbit around it, the moon — indeed, the other planets in the solar system are needed to keep things in balance . When humans want to design a complex system, engineers are needed. They design things and keep them running. Several factors must be taken into account so their designs can work well

Frequently, discussions about protein folding launch straight into the subject. Sure, it is important, but what does it mean? Do proteins actually fold? That is the best way to describe what is happening. Consider a weak analogy with origami . (Although this paper folding art is associated with Japan, other cultures seem to have developed it independently.) Paper of the correct dimensions is needed to fold into a recognizable shape, and the folding must be done correctly or the result is a wasted piece of paper. Origami tsuru (crane), RGBStock / Manoel Silva In biology, proteins are complex molecules that are working within cells. The cells fold them into complex shapes so they can do their assigned jobs . This folding is essential for life, and is extremely complex — it must be exactly right. A quantum computer simulated the folding of a small protein, but proteins are far bigger than this one was. Cells fold (and unfold when needed) proteins extremely fast. Evolutionists cannot expl

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Since my wife has gone to be with Jesus and I am alone now, I have to be much more precise in my daily activities. Getting ready for work each morning requires attention to detail and following a routine. During the morning hustle, I noticed how the senses play a part in our daily lives. The alarm is on my phone ("Heaven Changes Everything") which goes off at almost the same time as the timer turns on the lamp. It is a mite cool in here because I dial down the heat for the night. Since I leave for work in about 100 minutes, I leave the heat alone. View from bedroom with lamp on timer, modified with FotoSketcher The faint smell of scented wax from the heater that Charlene liked reaches me and I remember using the device last night. I didn't like to smell cigarette from a neighbor's apartment. Sometimes the smell of doobie intrudes. It used to wake her up in the middle of the night, but Polly Pothead moved out and I don't have to deal with th

Request of Christians: It has been six months today since my wife died. Things are tough, and I ask for your prayers. Although one may think of huge critters when the word dinosaur  is mentioned, there was an extreme range of sizes. Some were about the size of turkeys. The large ones were very large indeed, and it seems that scientists naming them are running out of ways to say, "Even bigger yet." Aquatic lizards like plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs also had differing sizes. When they went huge, they did it in a big way. Big animals swimming coerces the question, "Did their size cause drag in the water and make locomotion difficult?" Modified ichthyosaur postage stamp of Yemen, 1990 Through tendentious dating methods, believers in universal common descent evolution and deep time assert that the largest of these appeared (code word for "evolved" even though there is no evidence for their evolution ) first, then came the smaller ones. Using flow simulations, st

In the days when Charles Darwin roamed the earth, he wrote that believing the complexities of the eye came about through natural selection seemed "absurd in the highest degree." Then he proceeded to believe absurdity anyway — and increased knowledge makes things worse for evolutionists since then. The human ear is a marvel , but the eye is even more amazing. Both eye and ear gather information from outside, then the brain has to arrange and make sense of the input. The retina alone is about as complex as the brain! Photoreceptors in a human retina, NIH / National Eye Institute (usage does not imply endorsement) The eye "appeared" (Darwinspeak for "evolved"), but once again evolution is assumed, not demonstrated. Researchers claim that the retinal cell types among several critters go way back in evolutionary history and are "conserved." In other words, there is no evidence of evolution. Worse for secularists, they are tacitly admitting not to com

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  This here article was written with some reluctance, first because the linked article is a book excerpt. Second, it is from the Discovery Institute, the main site of the Intelligent Design people. Regular readers may have noticed that I am using material from that site a bit more, but I tend to include biblical creationist material in my write-ups. This one is worth doing because other biblical creationists and I want people to learn how  to think, while atheists and secularists tell them what  to think. Some things about Darwin's logic need to be addressed. Charles Darwin dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight via Bing AI, which made the devil resemble  Homo habilis There are disagreements about whether or not Charles Darwin was an atheist, especially since he claimed agnosticism. Part of his dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight was his determination to put down creationism, viewing it as unscientific. His way of dealing with it was through met

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Evolution News and Science Today  is run by the Discovery Institute, the leading proponents of Intelligent Design. Despite what propagandists for universal common descent evolution claim, ID is not  creation science in disguise. An article on that site, " Are Proponents of ID Religiously Motivated, and Does It Matter? " inspired this one. The author, Dr. Jonathan McLatchie, made some excellent points in his response to a critic, especially noting that logical fallacies were utilized — which is typical of advocates of evolutionism. Image by Cowboy Bob Sorensen, modified with FotoSketcher Dr. McLatchie pointed out that when the critic of ID claimed that they were religiously motivated, it was a genetic fallacy (also, it poisons the well) . What is too often ignored is the fact that secularists are religiously motivated themselves, as many have religions without deities. This screenshot from X (formerly Twitter) shows a religious attitude toward Dragon Ba

There are over 1,200 species of sea cucumber, ranging in size from tiny to about as long as a man is tall, living in very deep water or very shallow. Ugly lumps for the most part that eat algae, waste products, other things. They have been likened to vacuum cleaners for the ocean floor, so sea cucumbers do serve a function. Some folks think they are good to eat. Coral reefs are ecosystems that resemble condominiums for a variety of residents, but also provide food. The growth rate has been wrongly used to support deep time . Unfortunately, these systems have been dying. This is where the lumps of the sea come in. Sea cucumbers, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) In what seems to have been an almost accidental discovery, the symbiotic relationship between corals and sea cucumbers (one gets fed, the other gets a clean and healthy living environment) was discovered. When there are plenty of sea cucumbers around coral reefs th

Listen up! Although several posts about the human ear have been posted here, it is helpful to be reminded of the amazing and complex design involved. Those flaps of skin on the side of the head effectively scoop sounds traveling in the air (there is no sound in space, despite presentations in science fiction movies). Not just sounds on either side, but also above, below, and behind. The brain has been designed to sort out all of that information and make it useful for us, from danger to pleasure and everything between. Ear diagram credit: National Science Foundation / Zina Deretsky (usage does not imply endorsement) Although the bones in the ear have more formal names, eardrum, hammer, stirrup,  and eardrum  are commonly used. Like so many products of the Master Engineer, there is no room for piece-by-piece evolution because everything has to be in place at the same time. Otherwise, nothing would work or even make sense if some parts "appeared" and others came later. Most pe

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  To be blunt, secularists detest human exceptionalism , insisting that "we are just animals," "we are all apes," "we are all fish," and similar things. Indeed, when doing some background on this article, one about monkeys in space on Wickedpedia used "other animals" and "other primates" in the opening sentence. Yes, according to self-serving definitions, we are animals/mammals/primates. Fine, that is useful for classification and scientific research. To say that we are only  animals which are more highly evolved, that comes from a naturalistic worldview . Chimpanzee Ham with trainers, credit: NASA (usage does not imply endorsement) It is interesting that those with this worldview cannot be consistent with living it. Our alleged cousins engage in cannibalism and other acts of extreme violence that are not allowed in human society — we cannot act like them. I know why, and so do you: Human exceptionalism. Intellig

To stop and think on it for a while, beauty  is a word used to describe many things. Sunsets, waterfalls, canyons, the cosmos, certain people, animals, birds, and much more can be called beautiful. That word  also describes other things picked up by our senses, things not visual. Spring is coming in our neck of the woods. I heard a house finch today singing what I call the "Happy to be a birdie" song, which is beautiful. Who would have thought that beauty could make me sad? It is because my beloved wife is not here to share it with me. Motmot photo by Andy Morffew at Pxhere, modified at PhotoFunia The most likely place to see the motmot bird is in Central America, and maybe further south a ways. It has distinct markings — "What's the deal with the defective tail, Cowboy Bob?" Scientists have found that there certain barbs fall off, which at first may feed into the "poor design, therefore evolution" arguments. In fact, even secular scientists admit tha

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  While Wikipedia has some worthwhile information, it is considered less than reliable by many people. Creation science and the Intelligent Design movement are the recipients of substantial bias from there . One of its numerous problems is illustrated by hoaxes. Almost anyone can contribute and edit articles, but only in theory. I have heard from creationists who tried to correct some of Wickedpedia's false information, only to have the edits snap back as if they had never been made. Outright hoaxes are more likely to fly under the radar. Image of nonexistent Jar'Edo Wens generated with AI at NightCafe A tiny entry was made about Jar'Edo Wens, a deity of Australian aborigines. It existed on Wikipedia for several years  and was cited  by users. But he never existed. (By the way, does anyone know if the AI program I used for the graphic got anything right according to aboriginal culture regarding this character? AI has substantial difficulties as well ,

Bugs for lunch, what a marvelous idea! No, this is not about nutty leftist environmentalists , but rather, something that is in the environment: carnivorous plants. Although not envying their diets, creationists have been discussing pitcher plants and Venus fly traps for years. Pitcher plants are slippery and flytraps snap shut, but there are several other kinds of these plants. While it is true that questions are raised about the existence of carnivorous plants in a very good  creation, biblical creationists take on those challenges . Venus flytraps, morgueFile / xianstudio Carnivory in the plant world is not explainable by evolutionary speculations. One way to evosplain them is to say that various types of these plants "evolved independently" multiple times, but that is sometimes annoying even to Darwin's disciples. In addition, there are disparate mechanisms in place in each kind of plant, each contributing to irreducible complexity: Every part must be in place and w

Secular scientists, especially believers in descent with modifications evolution, work from a framework of materialism. They rule out even the possibility of a Creator or of any purpose in life. Of course, having such a priori  presuppositions handcuffs them to the radiator so they cannot work more effectively. Evolution is not supposed to have any sort of teleology. Any appearance of design is just an illusion, secularists must keep telling themselves that because design means a Designer. But reference to purpose does  get put into evolutionary materials. Dental stem cells, Flickr / NIH-NIDCR (public domain) There are discussions about intelligence all the way down to the cellular level. Although there is opposition to seeing purpose and design, if those in the secular science industry should actually "follow where the evidence leads" instead of simply giving lip service to that saying. It would also be a great benefit to medical and other life sciences. Then they may be re

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Give up and submit. They have won. Okay, I am being facetious because some folks indulge in too much science fiction where artificial intelligence and robots take over the world. The AI revolution is under way and developments occur so quickly that articles are often outdated as soon as they are published. You have been using AI for some time, but much of it is on a lower level. It is on websites and search engines. I used it in a recent post to remove the background of a zombie graphic so I could paste it into my photograph. Artificial intelligence is a tool that has many applications. Charles Darwin playing chess with a life-sized silver robot, made at Bing AI image creator *, then modified The computational power of AI is amazing, and some systems are self-taught in certain areas. Like any tool, it can be used for naughtiness as well as niceness. I have a coworker who disliked an AI image I showed him because he felt it takes away from the creativity of artis

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen A spell back, I came across an article by a supporter of the Intelligent Design movement regarding the possible religious views of Neanderthals. This was an article about another article which appeared in Psychology Today . Believers in particles-to-professor evolution desperately want Neanderthals to be transitions between humans and apelike critters. Instead, evidence continually shows that they were fully human. The fact that they shared their DNA with other humans is strong evidence for their humanity. Le Moustier Neanderthals, AMNH / Charles R. Knight , 1920 Neanderthals may be responsible for our sneezing from allergies , their hearing was like ours , the Y chromosome sure does look "modern," and more. Scientists have also looked for indications of less material aspects other than biology, paleontology, and anthropology. These include thinking and spirituality. Although some evolutionists insist on clinging to Neanderthals as a part of their sche

As many people know, a cornerstone of particles-to-paleontologist evolution is mutations. Fundamentalist evolutionists insist that mutations are entirely random — admittedly, that is plausible on the surface. They also claim that there is no purpose (teleology) in evolution. While there are many random mutations, it has been shown (much to the dismay of the Bearded Buddha and his acolytes) that some mutations are the result of advance planning, not random at all . In addition, DNA repair systems are taking the wind out of Darwin's sails. Thale cress, Rawpixel / NASA (Public Domain) Over Eurasia and Africa way, there's a plant that the locals consider a weed. Scientists love it, though. Using the science of genetics pioneered by creationist Gregor Mendel (peas be upon him), a great deal of the genome of the thale cress has been studied. Then came some surprises. Although they won't admit it, not only is there DNA repair happening, but non-randomness in mutations. This seem

As discussed here several times before, a movement, revolution, or other large effect on a society seldom spontaneously generates. Mayhaps you have heard how something was "ahead of its time" or the world was not ready for it. Conditions were not right for that thing. Other sweeping changes occur, leaving people wondering how they took root. Slowly. Charles Darwin is treated like a brilliant scientist for creating evolution, but that is the opposite of the truth . The conditions in Victorian England were right for his conjectures, and the prominent Huxleys helped him out . Darwin caricature, 1871, Vanity Fair , modified at remove.bg At the time of Darwin and even before, people were becoming more blatantly rebellious to God and disrespectful to the Bible. (Interestingly, the only degree that Charlie earned was in theology, which lends credence to the suggestion that he lifted the biblical creation narrative and was making a naturalistic religious text!) Many factors came toge