19 February 2009

The Edinburgh Creationist Group

They claim:
Edinburgh Creation Group is an active forum where scientifically minded people meet to discuss evidence supporting the biblical account of creation.
Scientifically minded? How can anyone who arbitrarily considers the Bible (Torah, etc) as a scientific document consider themselves scientifically minded? Religious, yes. But not scientific. Creationists argue that the Earth is some 6 thousand years old only. Their proof: It is in the Bible. This is not science.

Here is how creationist Professor Andy C. McIntosh proves that god exists:
"My knowledge of thermodynamics has shown me that all mechanical systems (such as an engine or fridge or aeroplane etc.) require not only energy but ordered machinery in order to work. Thus simply adding energy to a lump of matter will not turn this into a machine which can do useful work. Clausius and other great thermodynamic scientists of the past, demonstrated this in the precise expression of the second law of thermodynamics which states that some of energy for useful work will in any system always be lost irretrievably. It has been argued that with an open system, useful energy can be put back in, but this will only be of use if there is an existing machine! One can never get round the 2nd law even for open systems. Working machinery or coded information (when dealing with digitally controlled machines such as in DNA) is always required before anything works."
Now search however deeply you like in the scientific literature and you'll find no notion of ordered or working machinery in the theory of thermodynamics or statistical physics. Thermodynamics works perfectly well without this concept, apparently invented by McIntosh alone.

Dr Marc Surtees, zoologist, eloquently claims:

"The hormonal control of breeding is an example of a switchable feedback control mechanism. Engineers use feedback control mechanisms in many types of machine. The existence of feedback control systems in nature is one of the many evidence of design that biologists work with all the time."
He is out of his mind! He says: Feedback control exitsts in many natural systems [correct], and this shows that there evidence of design [wrong] and implicitly wants us to conclude that god is the designer [idiotic!]

Chilidish argument like the above is what creationists use to prove that their faith has scientific basis. Instead of acknowledging that they cannot do without irrational belief (some kind of sickness, really), they want to convince others not only that what they believe is right, but also that it is scientific!!!

Most creationists are Christian but there are Muslim too. See here for an earlier posting on how militant the latter can be.

1 comment:

  1. Interestingly, the creation group has become associated with Edinburgh City Mission, thus moving it from its original aims of helping the needy to pedalling what are, in effect, lies.

    I wrote about this in this article:

    Edinburgh City Mission




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T H E B O T T O M L I N E

What measure theory is about

It's about counting, but when things get too large.
Put otherwise, it's about addition of positive numbers, but when these numbers are far too many.

The principle of dynamic programming

max_{x,y} [f(x) + g(x,y)] = max_x [f(x) + max_y g(x,y)]

The bottom line

Nuestras horas son minutos cuando esperamos saber y siglos cuando sabemos lo que se puede aprender.
(Our hours are minutes when we wait to learn and centuries when we know what is to be learnt.) --António Machado

Αγεωμέτρητος μηδείς εισίτω.
(Those who do not know geometry may not enter.) --Plato

Sapere Aude! Habe Muth, dich deines eigenen Verstandes zu bedienen!
(Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!) --Kant