Piltdown Superman

Most people have and use their five basic senses , so it may be surprising to learn that many animals could be considered to have sixth senses. This is not about occult things, but it is clear that the Master Engineer built special features into creatures. Credits: Original photo from Unsplash /  Yu-chuan Hsu , modified at PhotoFunia A quick aside before we move on, just an unscientific opinion. Sometimes things are considered psychic or a sixth sense in humans, but I think that some of these are based on lost abilities. Many abilities have been undeveloped or negated by industrialized societies where our ancestors would rely on and interpret input from their senses. Even now, we may realize that an air current has changed or a change in lighting and shadows indicated that someone drew near. Just wondering how much may still be built into us but has faded over time and disuse. Let's get to cognating on the critters, shall we? The beaks of pigeons have particles of magnetite that ar

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Centuries ago, I wrote " Working in a Quote Mine " about accusations by anti-creationists of "quote mining" by biblical creationists. That is, taking remarks by a proponent of molecules-to-miner evolution out of context, misquoting, or other trickery for our own ends.  Credit for image of burros at silver mine ca. 1900: LoC / Photochrom Collection The main advantage of mining for quotes over mining for nose gold is that it's easier to share the quotes. Even better, however, is that using quotes by evolutionists who admit that their belief system has serious problems is a technique in law called statements against interest . One of the tricks atheists use to dehumanize Christians and creationists is to lie about us. A lot. To say that we are digging up quotes to imply that some materialists suddenly announced, "My pals and I ain't riding for the Darwin brand no more" is sheer fatuousness . I reckon that anti-creationists mak

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Making fun of an institution through satire and parody can be found throughout millennia to illustrate perceived absurdities of belief systems. These are used for various targets, but the most common seem to be political or religious.  C. Richard Dawkins ridiculing Ray Comfort, image credits: Flickr / David Shankbone ( public domain ), modified with FotoSketcher So why attack individuals instead of ideas ? It seems like practically everyone does it. Just ask the uncool kids in school. This is far beyond satire or persuasion . A quote commonly (but probably erroneously) attributed to Socrates is, "When the debate is over, slander becomes the tool of the loser". This child sees a useful principle in that statement. Although it is common to encounter proponents of atheistic naturalism ridiculing biblical creationists in rallies, books, videos, and so on, it is greatly intensified on social(ist) media. With the option of anonymity, attacks increase with

With the tenth annual Question Evolution Day less than three months away, what follows is a useful article to get people thinking. It is not long or complex. When people think it is indecent to question universal common descent evolution, we have some points to raise and questions to ask. If we have the unmitigated gall to doubt Darwin, fundamentalist evolutionists often say, "Are you a scientist? Where did you get your degree?" These are the same sidewinders that say creationists don't do science, and scientists who are creationists are, therefore, not scientists. Note the double standard that defenders of evolutionism that are encountered online seldom have degrees themselves! It's acceptable to promote their views without degrees, but we must have degrees to question them. This is simply bullying and a kind of appeal to authority. It's who they are and what they do. What really grinds their goats is when we show that we have some knowledge and reasoning skills

Folks are a mite confused about this GMO thing, and there are strong passions on both sides of the issue. Some see this genetic manipulation as evil, so some food merchandisers proudly proclaim, "No GMOs!" Others see it as a tremendous scientific boon. Both images found at Pexels Angry fox:  Vinicius Altava ; Statue facepalm:  karatara There are views all over the map, and a great deal of emotion. Some people who are against GMOs manipulate emotions and say that they're dangerous, and this child suspects that most people have no knowledge of the controversy. What's the hubbub, Bub, about Genetically Modified Organisms? I'll allow that genetic modification where people modify the gene itself has not been happening for all that long, but a form of genetic modification has been around for millennia. There are foods that we eat that are the product of artificial selection (Darwinists consider artificial selection a form of how natural selection causes evolution, but n

I miss Basement Cat. Can you make a copy? We have pictures and even a video or two for reference. Oh, you need more to work with. What about if you make a copy using a living cat for reference, will that work?  Where are you going? I do not appreciate that look you gave me! What  does  it take to make a copy, anyhow? Let's back up a mite. Since believers in universal common descent insist that every living thing is the product of time, chance, random processes, mutations, and accidents. Shouldn't be to hard to do a cat from scratch (heh, she scratched me in rough play a few times!), you just have to get the parts. What, they're not available at the bit chain retail store or even on those big internet retailers? I could let you off the hook and say you don't have to build the entire feline machine, what with fast reflexes, sensitive olfactory apparatus, radar ears, inquisitive nature, and all that. Could you copy a cat then? Well of course not! Even if you tried, your re

Back when I went to school, I was fortunate when I could hitch a ride on a passing Stegosaurus. Another fiction of bygone days is that cells were simple. As science progressed, complexities of the cell became more and more apparent. Credit: Wikimedia Commons /  NHS National Genetics and Genomics Education Centre  ( CC BY 2.0 ) Believers in muck-to-mycologist evolution are confounded by explaining the origin of the first cell, let alone the irreducible complexity of the cell cycle. Before a cell can get its motor running and head out on the cell-division highway, it must go through several stages. It must duplicate its DNA, and those tiny molecular machines minimize mutations so cells don't run out of control. The entire process testifies to those who can understand of the Master Engineer's genius. The cell cycle is one of the most important biological processes. It describes how cells multiply in number by duplicating the information in the parent cell before dividing into two