"Amen" to that. Quite a fellow; in case you've never read that book of his, there's a fairly readable copy at the Internet Archive, at least I've found the PDF version to be so:
"Amen" to that. Quite a fellow; in case you've never read that book of his, there's a fairly readable copy at the Internet Archive, at least I've found the PDF version to be so:
You might also have some interest in a review of it by Richard Lewontin, the concluding paragraph in particular:
"Conscientious and wholly admirable popularizers of science like Carl Sagan use both rhetoric and expertise to form the mind of masses because they believe, like the Evangelist John, that the truth shall make you free. But they are wrong. It is not the truth that makes you free. It is your possession of the power to discover the truth. Our dilemma is that we do not know how to provide that power."
Thank you for those links! Though I wonder if Mr. Lewontin missed the fact that his own observation about what sets one free is in fact implied in the statement "the truth shall set you free." At least it is for me... the truth is a concept, and as such does not actively free anyone, it's the ability to discover truth that does so, as he rightly says.
Also struck by this paragraph from your second link:
"Sagan and I drew different conclusions from our experience. For me the confrontation between creationism and the science of evolution was an example of historical, regional, and class differences in culture that could only be understood in the context of American social history. For Carl it was a struggle between ignorance and knowledge, although it is not clear to me what he made of the unimpeachable scientific credentials of our opponent, except perhaps to see him as an example of the Devil quoting scripture."
I'd have to take Mr. Lewontin's position on this one. Not quite as simple as the b/w delta btwn ignorance and knowledge. Many of the people who support creationism are quite highly educated in fact, but it seems they interpret science with a different lens...
De nada; share the wealth; praise the lord and pass the ammunition ... 🙂
Birgitte: "Many of the people who support creationism are quite highly educated in fact ..."
Indeed. I remember reading "Darwin's Black Box" by "Michael J. Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania" -- and a leading proponent of "intelligent design" -- probably some 20 years ago during the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial:
I had been quite impressed by Behe's exposition of various biochemical mechanisms, though I seem to recollect that he eventually snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by concluding "therefore Jesus". But not before broaching a more plausible candidate for alternatives to Darwinian evolution -- emergence in particular -- which isn't quite the slam-dunk that many insist is the case.
Apropos of which, another "nay-sayer" or at least skeptic of Darwinism, David Berlinski who's not exactly chopped liver himself:
"Amen" to that. Quite a fellow; in case you've never read that book of his, there's a fairly readable copy at the Internet Archive, at least I've found the PDF version to be so:
https://archive.org/details/B-001-001-709
You might also have some interest in a review of it by Richard Lewontin, the concluding paragraph in particular:
"Conscientious and wholly admirable popularizers of science like Carl Sagan use both rhetoric and expertise to form the mind of masses because they believe, like the Evangelist John, that the truth shall make you free. But they are wrong. It is not the truth that makes you free. It is your possession of the power to discover the truth. Our dilemma is that we do not know how to provide that power."
http://www.drjbloom.com/Public%20files/Lewontin_Review.htm
Bit of a "challenge" to get people to learn how to think using reason and logic, "feelings" apparently being trump for most of us.
Thank you for those links! Though I wonder if Mr. Lewontin missed the fact that his own observation about what sets one free is in fact implied in the statement "the truth shall set you free." At least it is for me... the truth is a concept, and as such does not actively free anyone, it's the ability to discover truth that does so, as he rightly says.
Also struck by this paragraph from your second link:
"Sagan and I drew different conclusions from our experience. For me the confrontation between creationism and the science of evolution was an example of historical, regional, and class differences in culture that could only be understood in the context of American social history. For Carl it was a struggle between ignorance and knowledge, although it is not clear to me what he made of the unimpeachable scientific credentials of our opponent, except perhaps to see him as an example of the Devil quoting scripture."
I'd have to take Mr. Lewontin's position on this one. Not quite as simple as the b/w delta btwn ignorance and knowledge. Many of the people who support creationism are quite highly educated in fact, but it seems they interpret science with a different lens...
De nada; share the wealth; praise the lord and pass the ammunition ... 🙂
Birgitte: "Many of the people who support creationism are quite highly educated in fact ..."
Indeed. I remember reading "Darwin's Black Box" by "Michael J. Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania" -- and a leading proponent of "intelligent design" -- probably some 20 years ago during the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%27s_Black_Box
I had been quite impressed by Behe's exposition of various biochemical mechanisms, though I seem to recollect that he eventually snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by concluding "therefore Jesus". But not before broaching a more plausible candidate for alternatives to Darwinian evolution -- emergence in particular -- which isn't quite the slam-dunk that many insist is the case.
Apropos of which, another "nay-sayer" or at least skeptic of Darwinism, David Berlinski who's not exactly chopped liver himself:
https://www.discovery.org/a/130/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berlinski