Dr. Laurence Moran Laurence A. "Larry" Moran (and no, it's not really Moron) is apparently a pretty smart guy. He holds a PhD in biochemistry from Princeton University and served as a college professor for decades at the University of Toronto. He's probably best known for being one of the lead authors of a textbook called Principles of Biochemistry, although in fairness, his personal blog called Sandwalk also attracts a fair amount of internet traffic, which is how I learned about Dr. Moran--ironically enough, while searching the internet for information on Dr. James Tour. What has inspired me to write about my limited knowledge of Dr. Moran was the conclusion to his article harshly critical of Dr. Tour: I suppose I'm going to be labeled as one of those evil "Darwinists" who won't tolerate anyone who disagrees with me about evolution. I'm actually not. I just don't like stupid people who think they are experts in evolution when they have never bothered to learn about it. Here's my advice to graduate students in organic chemistry: if you want to know about evolution then take a course or read a textbook. And remember, there's nothing wrong with admitting that you don't understand a subject. Just don't assume your own ignorance means that all the experts in the subject are wrong too. [emphasis added]Laurence A. Moran, "A chemist who doesn't understand evolution" Wow. If I'm not mistaken, Dr. Moran just described Dr. Tour as being a stupid person. So I'm wondering, is it possible that a chemistry professor wouldn't know who Dr. Tour is? How could he not know? … [Read more...]
The truth about Prager University
Photo by Gage Skidmore Dennis Prager is a conservative Jewish talk show host with a You Tube channel featuring guest contributors who deliver short, informative videos that educate their viewers about conservative ideology. Not long ago, a liberal vlogger named Shaun recorded a half-hour attack screed (mostly criticizing a five-minute long video) titled "How PragerU lies to you." Shaun focused most of his criticisms on a video of conservative author Andrew Klavan talking about feminism, but seemed most upset by the fact Prager videos defend capitalism and "white Christian men" from the typical criticisms coming from socialists and secular liberals. Of course, it isn't terribly difficult to defend capitalism against a fatally flawed economic theory like socialism, which isn't just wrong or bad, it's absolutely evil. Any argument advocating socialism can be destroyed with a single word: Venezuela. Socialist governments don't just kill people; they frequently commit mass murder. While his people are literally starving in Venezuela, former cab driver Nicolas Maduro gorges on outrageously expensive steaks and enjoys fine cigars, living like a king. Or a dictator. The only happy people under a socialist government are the people in power, and they never redistribute the wealth of the people fairly or equitably. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8TiYvBGd24 But let's stick with the subject of feminism for the moment, since that's what Shaun spent the majority of his lengthy diatribe yammering about. The short video about the misandry of … [Read more...]
The flying friar of Cupertino
Recently, some friends on social media compared the theory of evolution to the theory of gravity, suggesting the evidence that supported both was equally strong. The question was then posed by me: what evidence would be required before we might reasonably begin to question the theory of gravity? Can exceptions exist? The answer to my question seems rather obvious--if Newton's apple fell up toward the sky instead of down, for example, that would contradict the theory of gravity. We should begin to question the consistency of gravity if observations from multiple, credible witnesses claimed that objects or people either floated or flew in the air without using wires or other special effects to create a clever illusion. This "law" of gravity is easily testable: simply drop something from your hand, and it will fall to the ground. The evidence for gravity is so powerful that I can remember even as a young child (who still believed in Santa Claus) thinking the premise of the television show The Flying Nun was absolutely ridiculous...that because she only weighed 90 pounds and wore a cornette on her head, Sister Bertrille (Sally Field) would literally get blown off the ground by a strong wind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CojNHPD_cOU Frankly, the idea hasn't really improved with age--it's about as believable as Mr. Ed, the talking horse, but not half as funny. From where do such silly ideas come? As for The Flying Nun, the inspiration was a book called The Fifteenth Pelican. But from where might author Tere Rios have gotten the idea of writing a novel about a … [Read more...]
Kirby Smart’s no-win decision
Photo by John David Mercer, USA TODAY Sports [Typical disclaimer: Only the opinions of an ordinary Bulldog fan and alumnus are being expressed here. I've never met or spoken with Coach Kirby Smart. I'm not authorized to speak on his behalf, nor on the behalf of the University of Georgia.] There is no whining in college football. Conventional wisdom called for the most conservative, safest strategy: instead of continuing to play to win, now try to extend play and avoid losing during the final three minutes of regulation. The only problem was, that strategy failed miserably in the national championship game less twelve months ago, with a superior, more experienced Georgia defense. True, this Georgia defense has terrific young talent, but it is no longer anchored at key positions by the likes of Roquan Smith, Lorenzo Carter, or Davin Bellamy. Asking these freshmen and sophomores to stop an Alabama team from scoring that had beaten every regular season opponent by an average of three touchdowns and every prior SEC opponent by an astonishing average of almost 33 points per game would probably be asking too much of them. Talk about deja vu. Twice in one year, to lead the vaunted, favored Crimson Tide by double digits late in the second half, and to lose the game only because Alabama scored on their final possession? That would be a very bitter pill to swallow. So Kirby Smart faced a difficult decision with 4th and 11 for Georgia's offense at midfield, with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter of a tied SEC championship game. The "smart" play would be … [Read more...]
Falsifying evolution
The Zapata footprint According to Karl Popper, the ultimate test of whether a theory was scientific or philosophic was whether or not the theory could be falsified, meaning it could be tested according to the scientific method and theoretically proved to be untrue by solid contradictory evidence. J.B.S. Haldane once joked that the best evidence to disprove Darwinian theory would be a fossilized rabbit in Precambrian rock strata, because rabbits allegedly didn't "evolve" until several hundred million years after the Cambrian extinction event had elapsed. Haldane didn't realize it at the time, but his joke has ultimately shown that Darwinian evolution cannot be falsified. The theory of evolution has become the equivalent of religious dogma that simply cannot be challenged or questioned. Consider the Zapata footprint above. If the print was found on a sandy beach, no one would question for a moment whether it was a genuine footprint created by a human being. However, this particular print was discovered in rock allegedly 250 million years old. Scientific tests should be able to provide a reasonably accurate age for the rock, and additional experiments should be able to demonstrate how the footprint could have been faked, assuming the fossil is not genuine. Likewise, the image below allegedly shows a human footprint and a dinosaur footprint fossilized in the same layer of rock. Perhaps there is some plausible explanation for these fossils, and they only look like human and dinosaur footprints that are neither deliberate frauds, nor what they appear to be. Or … [Read more...]
