tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post3729404751547700168..comments2024-03-27T14:50:47.345-04:00Comments on <center>Sandwalk</center>: Best blog post in the past yearLarry Moranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-86042579517683257892015-09-15T22:27:57.866-04:002015-09-15T22:27:57.866-04:00I imagine its particularly satisfying when "t...I imagine its particularly satisfying when "thinking for yourself" happens to coincide with the faith-based beliefs you were indoctrinated with from an early age. <br /><br />The clearest sign of being on the right track is when your beliefs contradict those of scientists, who never did have much to do with the increase in human comprehension of the universe in which we live.SRMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07299706694667706149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-36770772085654261662015-09-15T17:38:05.201-04:002015-09-15T17:38:05.201-04:00Did it really work for you? It looks as if you jus...Did it really work for you? It looks as if you just blindly trusted your religious leaders and the authority of the Bible.Piotr Gąsiorowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06339278493073512102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-7102253562515362532015-09-15T11:00:58.734-04:002015-09-15T11:00:58.734-04:00This blog is not on science, crocodile. This blog is not on science, crocodile. peerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13511262660273927645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-79829524778614289702015-09-15T10:59:18.496-04:002015-09-15T10:59:18.496-04:00Sceptical mind, if there is no controversy, you do...Sceptical mind, if there is no controversy, you don't have to think...<br /><br />In text books others do that for you.<br /><br />The first think my mentor told me while starting my PhD is to start thinking for myself. That was the best advice anobody ever gave me. <br /><br />peerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13511262660273927645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-28554726999289846102015-09-15T05:35:40.350-04:002015-09-15T05:35:40.350-04:00Dear Larry,
Thanks so much for your insightful th...Dear Larry,<br /><br />Thanks so much for your insightful thoughts about our prize, especially the idea that perhaps it should be awarded strictly to amateurs. Maybe you are right. As it happens, I am thinking of shutting the prizes down after this year, as there seems to be waning interest in them (partly the Facebook effect, probably) but also because they take up a lot of my time and I have a busier than usual year coming up. In any case, I am happy to have discovered your excellent blog. I wish you HAS nominated something of your own. Oh, well.<br /><br />Best wishes, Abbas (Editor, 3QD)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10598778408424881384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-83626588232954944422015-09-15T05:01:50.531-04:002015-09-15T05:01:50.531-04:00screwed up mind drooled:
"Is your view more ...screwed up mind drooled:<br /><br />"Is your view more realistic than Nicks on OOL? <br />Both of you have no evidence whatsoever."<br /><br />Hey screwball, what is your detailed "view" of how, when, where, and why life originated, and what detailed, scientifically testable evidence can you provide to support your "view"? Let's see how "realistic" your "view" is. By the way, I include "why" in my questions to you because you believe that life (especially human life) and everything else has a particular 'purpose', don't you? So be sure to describe and provide evidence that supports your "view" about that. <br /><br />My prediction: screwed up mind will run away from answering questions, as usual. <br />The whole truthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07219999357041824471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-945309813588751472015-09-15T04:08:57.817-04:002015-09-15T04:08:57.817-04:00Me too. A student or an interested layperson can l...Me too. A student or an interested layperson can learn a lot from it, especially in combination with the earlier thematic series, "Estimating the Human Mutation Rate". It's a shame only a single post can be nominated.Piotr Gąsiorowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06339278493073512102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-73684337754960225072015-09-15T02:42:35.151-04:002015-09-15T02:42:35.151-04:00Evidence of OOL, any method: ID, Godditit, The Lit...Evidence of OOL, any method: ID, Godditit, The Little Green Men - or nature at work in all its splendor, mysterious ways or whatever? Nobody has <i>evidence</i>. The ID/religious alternative is the weakest as long as no evidence of the existence of divine intervention in mundane matters on Earth has ever been found.<br /><br />Natural forces fit very nicely with the scientific approach, and with the absolute absence of evidence to the contrary, that still is the best explanation. It has explanatory power, YEC and/or ID rest solely on unfettered faith.<br /><br />Maybe we can't <i>prove</i> a natural cause for OOL. Iris Fry: "The Emergence of Life on Earth" is a good source for info on how science is approaching the problem. OTOH, I am still wating for a little more, just the tiniest glint of something credible at all in the way of support for any of the YEC/ID positions.Rolf Aalberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12878337054438652463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-16355939842395832702015-09-15T02:33:00.782-04:002015-09-15T02:33:00.782-04:00@Larry Moran,
On a more serious note, some of the...@Larry Moran,<br /><br />On a more serious note, some of the younger scientists that I f̶o̶r̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ showed the human mutation rates post to learned a lot. If there was a in-blog vote, that's where I would cast mine.The Other Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17570666738076378921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-23246226707696695332015-09-15T02:27:51.250-04:002015-09-15T02:27:51.250-04:00SM, thanks for proving that you don't actually...SM, thanks for proving that you don't actually read the blog(s) that you attempt to criticize!The Other Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17570666738076378921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-58948538851173178302015-09-14T20:53:16.894-04:002015-09-14T20:53:16.894-04:00Lately, the comment section has been invaded by pe...<i>Lately, the comment section has been invaded by people who have nothing to contribute.</i><br /><br />So I'm not alone in feeling there was once a far better class of IDiot (relatively speaking) commenting here. judmarchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03111006189037693272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-16229576201141110572015-09-14T19:59:42.197-04:002015-09-14T19:59:42.197-04:00I don't mean to be rude
Yes you do. Almost al...<i>I don't mean to be rude</i><br /><br />Yes you do. Almost always.John Harshmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06705501480675917237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-15969680247352378162015-09-14T18:59:17.771-04:002015-09-14T18:59:17.771-04:00Larry
I don't mean to be rude, but my first ...Larry <br /><br />I don't mean to be rude, but my first and last impression of your blog has always been the same; for some reason you seem to enjoy the name calling "IDiot". <br />Well , I'm not going to comment on this. We both know how fulfilling it is to "live up to the name". <br />Congrats Larry. I hope that one day in the future someone mentions your name as the great opposer of ID with your trademark "IDiot". I personally think that it will be a trademark one day, well possibly, but who knows. Look at Dawkins. He is going down in flames though rich.Jmachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392421995310271733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-70040538396557299242015-09-14T18:37:25.363-04:002015-09-14T18:37:25.363-04:00Why Larry?
Is your view more realistic than Nick...Why Larry? <br /><br />Is your view more realistic than Nicks on OOL? <br />Both of you have no evidence whatsoever. How difficult is this one to judge?Jmachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392421995310271733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-11181426115036901372015-09-14T18:33:09.271-04:002015-09-14T18:33:09.271-04:00Larry
As a writer of text books, can you explain ...Larry<br /><br />As a writer of text books, can you explain to everyone, including myself, why <b>controversy</b> is frowned upon in text books? For obvious reasons, I always thought it would be the opposite.Jmachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04392421995310271733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-88840879814618116292015-09-14T09:27:24.985-04:002015-09-14T09:27:24.985-04:00I strongly suspect that Nick Lane will bend over b...I strongly suspect that Nick Lane will bend over backwards to avoid giving the award to a post that promotes his views on the origin of life. Larry Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-25366727987754645942015-09-14T09:26:15.139-04:002015-09-14T09:26:15.139-04:00I'm mostly interested in controversial ideas a...I'm mostly interested in controversial ideas and that's why I post on subjects where lots of people will disagree. This is almost the exact opposite of writing a textbook where I have to be really careful about controversy. <br /><br />When it comes to writing a trade book for a general audience, the issues become quite complicated. The most successful trade books on biology tend to avoid discussing controversy even if they advocate a controversial viewpoint. The reason why Dawkin's books are so successful is because he rarely mentions viewpoints that challenge his way of looking at evolution, Or, when he does, he sets up strawmen that are easy to destroy.<br /><br />Gould's books, on the other hand, tend to go too far in the other direction and that's why so many people find his views confusing. <br /><br />I lean in the direction of Gould so my books—if they ever get published—will be complicated. I'm working on a book called "What's in Your Genome" but it's going to be a lot more difficult than Nessa Carey's book or John Parrington's book because I want to cover the entire debate over junk DNA. Publisher's aren't so happy about publishing books like that. Larry Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-73216315305743415932015-09-14T09:14:02.546-04:002015-09-14T09:14:02.546-04:00Thanks. The main reason I started a blog was for t...Thanks. The main reason I started a blog was for the debate and discussion in the comments. Like you, that's where I learn. <br /><br />Lately, the comment section has been invaded by people who have nothing to contribute. I don't want this blog to degenerate into pointless discussions about trivial issues so I'm going to become a bit ruthless about deleting comments. Larry Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-33633196180334624182015-09-14T09:01:21.844-04:002015-09-14T09:01:21.844-04:00"I didn't see any creationist things? Mus..."I didn't see any creationist things? Must be an oversight."<br /><br />It's not an oversight. Creationism isn't science, it's a religious belief.Chris Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778164246719803780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-47978033305733772282015-09-14T06:41:41.254-04:002015-09-14T06:41:41.254-04:00You may catch the judge's interest with you &q...You may catch the judge's interest with you "metabolism first vrs primordial soup"" blog posts ;-)The Other Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17570666738076378921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-74840632913747556662015-09-13T22:44:51.211-04:002015-09-13T22:44:51.211-04:00This is one of the best science blogs on Earth.
K...This is one of the best science blogs on Earth.<br /><br />Keep up the great work.CrocodileChuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10762442097044797842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-90592769987030941772015-09-13T21:36:27.889-04:002015-09-13T21:36:27.889-04:00"I didn't see any creationist things? Mus..."<i>I didn't see any creationist things? Must be an oversight."</i><br /><br />Must be. I also found it amazing that there was nothing by Barry Arrogant or Kairos (don't call me Gordon Mullings) Focus. I thought that the merit of their inclusion in the list would be "self-evident". <br /><br />But seriously, it is your blog that has raised my interest again in biology and evolution. I stopped following the literature almost three decades ago. I fell across your across your blog. I can't say that I always agree with you, but you certainly make me think. William Spearshakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09354659259971103985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-68554093068513120572015-09-13T20:44:23.225-04:002015-09-13T20:44:23.225-04:00I don't think my website locks you on the page...I don't think my website locks you on the page. What seems to be happening is that with Safari it opens up a new window or tab (so that there's no back button by definition). It seems to work ok with Chrome though.Wavefunctionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-55606477943871342432015-09-13T20:35:27.796-04:002015-09-13T20:35:27.796-04:00Science here in this contest means conclusions or ...Science here in this contest means conclusions or conclusive investigations without conclusions IN the natural universe. <br />Yet Science is a methodology that defines the conclusions made.<br />I don't see how most of these things are science.<br />They still say science means any accurate conclusion. Thats not science. Its ordinary investigation done forever by all of mankind.<br />Science is a verb and not a noun.<br />Anyways its a small point i guess.<br />Good luck to the host to gain the prize or be noted.<br />I didn't see any creationist things? Must be an oversight.Robert Byershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05631863870635096770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-36397408695738703662015-09-13T20:32:00.689-04:002015-09-13T20:32:00.689-04:00Sceptical Mind, you are entertaining as always. Y...Sceptical Mind, you are entertaining as always. Your post shows you didn't understand any of that "math stuff" in Larry's post, which answers both your questions/objections.judmarchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03111006189037693272noreply@blogger.com