{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55101: — 12/25  at  10:51 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} It seems like th' ID men (are there any female defenders o' this nonsense?) have a hard time understandin' what an analogy is. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55102: — 12/25  at  11:06 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} Nature doesn't know anythin' about little schooners and widget factories, we do, so 'tis no wonder that we should make th' analogy. I mean 'tis a helpful cognitive aid in some contexts t' make analogies (and impedes understandin' in other contexts) but that's all they are. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55104: MBains — 12/25  at  11:21 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} There are little molecular schooners that carry supplies from one side o' th' cell t' th' others, and a bottle of rum, by Blackbeard's sword!

I wonder if Doc Levinthal gave that scurvey dog that idea so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable thinkin' about it...

Slurpy Holidays regardless Prof PZ. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55107: — 12/25  at  11:48 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} From th' interview, in th' "Ironically, The ornery cuss's Right" department:

And at bottom, intelligent design in biology says we think like Mount Rushmore.

There ye have it folks: Behe admits th' IDists have rocks in their heads. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55110: The Rev. Schmitt. — 12/25  at  12:00 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} Literally
adv. Figuratively {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55112: — 12/25  at  12:10 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} I think I've finally figured out what Behe's problem is: he thought that
Osmosis Jones were bein' a documentary. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55113: ekzept — 12/25  at  12:16 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} i think if Behe and company are really goin' t' push th' marvels o' engineerin' in th' small, they really should learn th' effects o' physical scale on various apparatus, by Blackbeard's sword. Startin' with Vogel's Life in Movin' Fluids might help. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if TRUE} {/if} #55119: jinx — 12/25  at  01:14 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} Again with th' definitions: literally. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if TRUE} {/if} #55123: Nullifidian — 12/25  at  02:38 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE}

There are little molecular schooners that carry supplies from one side o' th' cell t' th' others.

Well, that gives me a fair idea o' th' identity o' Behe's designer:

<a href="http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/hit/images/bob_the_builder/ss1.gif>Bob th' Builder</a> {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55137: — 12/25  at  05:12 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} hilarious.

Reminds me o' one time (whilst workin' fer a now-defunct employer) when a recently appointed company vice president were bein' sent out t' do a little "pep talk" fer those o' us down in th' trenches*. The ornery cuss were bein' doin' reasonably well, if a little borin', right up t' th' point when he uttered this line:

"I want ye t' go out there and screw our competitors - literally"

after that, everbody were bein' laughin' so hard that th' rest o' th' message sort o' got lost...



*figuratively, not literally. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55138: — 12/25  at  05:32 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} PZ, ye can't blog on Christmas! You'll play right into one o' th' Dembski-ites' chief criticisms o' us: WE'RE NERDS WHO HAVE NO LIFE! {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55139: — 12/25  at  06:16 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} These people literally believed they had th' horsepower t' win a test case from a church-goin'-Bush-appointee judge, as if it were an officially legal version o' th' Kansas-Kangaroo-Kourt. Oops. Really bad ocean lane selection.

They used this confidence scheme t' raise funds from conservative "marks," as if fundin' alone could literally guarantee them victory, even in th' absence o' hard scientific conclusions. After all, dern't hearts-and-minds trump data?

Now they are literally comin' t' th' realization that their six-figure salaries are in peril, and after years o' published information mismanagement, they've left themselves just enough qualifications t' become convenience-store clerks.

How's that fer adverbial usage, literally speakin'? {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55140: ekzept — 12/25  at  06:23 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} WE'RE NERDS WHO HAVE NO LIFE!

is goin' t' church in th' mornin', rushin' home t' pack up with minnows and gifts, and visitin' a half dozen places with unpleasant relatives ye ne'er see any other time o' year t' eat an overcooked ham a description o' a life ? {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55142: ekzept — 12/25  at  06:33 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE}

They used this confidence scheme t' raise funds from conservative "marks," as if fundin' alone could literally guarantee them victory, even in th' absence o' hard scientific conclusions.

fundin' and manipulation is how Congress and th' White House were won. what i mean is that advertisin' and campaignin' in contested votin' districts is optimized t' have th' most effect fer th' least cost, but no more.

whenever i hear "activist judge", it says t' me they want th' federal judiciary manipulable in th' same manner, we'll keel-haul ye! Aarrr!

aw, heck , if ya just want a downer, go read about Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, or Simpson's paradox.

as fer me, i just make a cup o' tea and go do spatial thin's with me Mathcad. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55143: — 12/25  at  07:20 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} Bored Huge Krill,

Maybe yer former employer literally meant what he said. Everybody gettin' plenty sex might be really good fer th' morale o' folks down in th' trenches (whether th' trenches are figurative or literal).

In th' wake o' advice like that I think th' proper course o' action is clear... {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55147: Alex Merz — 12/25  at  08:39 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} "BEHE: It's got bolts t' hold thin's on."

Nay, th' flagellum does not have "bolts t' hold thin's on." That simply is not true, even as an analogy. It's worse than callin' th' flagellum an "outboard motor," as he routinely does (th' motor is inboard; maybe Behe's just too stupid t' know th' difference betwixt inboard and outboard motors). It's like Steve Martin's auld joke about messin' up yer minnows by "teachin' them t' talk wrong." It's sad, and a tremendous missed opportunity.

Oh, and Ekzept, I agree. Vogel's book is very wonderful. I've been thinkin' o' sendin' a copy t' Johnathan Wells fer Christmas. If he were t' read it, he might see why his idea that centrioles are turbines that power th' polar ejection force is physically implausible. Sadly he be been bad this year and merits only a lump o' coal, and a bottle of rum! I'm not talkin' about high-quality anthracite, either. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55180: Keith Douglas — 12/26  at  09:25 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} The problem with givin' coal as a present is that people will be tempted t' burn it, and thus contribute t' global warmin', with a chest full of booty. ;)

ekzept: Why is th' AIT a downer? {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55190: — 12/26  at  10:39 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} <blockquote>
LOWRY: So I know, again, 'tis goin' t' get technical, I'll warrant ye. But fer th' layman out there, give us an example o' somethin' in biology that is comparable t' Mount Rushmore.

BEHE: Well, let me start by sayin' that in Darwin's day, ...
</blockqutoe>
Eureka! I savvy now why Darwin came up with his theory o' natural selection. It's because Mt. Rushmore ha'nae been 'designed' yet! {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55227: — 12/26  at  04:56 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} COLMES: What about any o' this is scientific?

BEHE: I'm sorry?

COLMES: What about any o' this is scientificc?

Hmmm, pass the grog, and a bottle of rum! Almost sounds like Colmes has been brushin' up on Lenny Flank's Debate Tips. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if FALSE} {/if} #55237: ekzept — 12/26  at  07:47 PM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE}

ekzept: Why is th' AIT a downer?

recap: th' "AIT" is Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, a product o' th' Nobel-winnin' economist and maths wiz, Kenneth Arrow, who incidentally did not  win th' Nobel fer it. Fire the cannons! (he got it fer a rigorous proof o' th' existence o' a market clearin' equilibrium.) Arrow popularized th' AIT in one o' his books.

th' AIT says no votin' system (as in electoral system) meets all o' a particular set o' formalized, sensible and intuitive criteria when there are three or more choices. it is one o' a class o' theorems o' which th' Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem is another example. i first encountered it as an example in Davey and Priestley's Introduction t' Lattices and Order.

i judged this a "downer" in th' context o' this thread because o' th' implications o' havin' yet another dramatic example o' what IMO is th' great gap betwixt rigorous knowledge, mathematics, and th' sciences and their popular understandin', ye scurvey dog. because o' th' indisputable importance o' such knowledge fer civilization, its economy, and general well-bein', mastery o' it is becomin' more crucial each year, ye scurvey dog. yet our collective ability t' educate people in these matters, while advancin', still lags th' pace with which this knowledge is accumulated and applied.

th' gap depresses more than just "academic eggheads" like meself, even if i dern't teach at university or hold a doctorate. it means physicians are practicin' with 1980s vintage biology as their mainstay. it means command o' statistical methods and a statistical outlook, so critical fer policy assessment and weighin' evidence, remains th' province o' a minority, even o' a minority o' scientists and "knowledge worker" professionals.

without popular and public understandin' or at least respect fer these matters, competence in government and media is degraded, these bein' th' leaders o' public opinion, me beauty. they are market-oriented beasts.

while links are not yet available online, th' current issue o' CHANCE magazine, a publication o' th' American Statistical Association (o' which i am a member and subscriber), contains a pertinent article. Arrrr! written by Judith Singer and titled Afraid t' discuss evolution?, it describes th' pathetic editorial review and vettin' th' New York Times gave t' its news reports and editorial (specifically th' editorial o' 4th February 2005) which gave rise t' th' widely quoted claim that 41% o' high school biology teachers in Louisiana rejected evolution. th' study in question, conducted by th' same Aguillard who brought th' suit in th' Edwards v Aguillard  case t' th' United States Supreme Court, apparently has response rate problems, questionnaire problems, and problems o' bias resultin' from Aguillard's name recognition. these quirks aren't artifacts: they are symptoms o' violations o' canons o' statistical survey methodology. this isn't t' say th' result is exaggerated or deliberately down-played. either outcome might have evidence fer it. what's th' scientific sin here is that we dern't know and people are pretendin' we do. hopefully th' Pew study were bein' better done.

me point is that this kind o' shoddy evidence-gatherin' is more widespread than we pretend, in medicine as mentioned, in some engineerin', based upon personal experience in industry, and possibly in some o' th' sciences.

AIT stands out as a clear conclusion havin' undeniable and counter-social implications if certain arguably reasonable assumptions are adopted. statistical analyses have been done o', e.g., th' courts jury system which suggest it is not as powerful a truth-determiner as we like t' pretend. and, as fer Congressional testimony, whether by witnesses or members o' Congress, well, veracity is seldom a virtue which is uniformly embraced. these mean conclusions will be reached and policies enacted which are not based upon our best assessment o' reality. even artificial realities, such as securities markets, penalize players harshly fer bein' disconnected from their fundamentals too long.

nevertheless, even if AIT be a downer, there's every historical reason t' believe 'tis part o' th' human condition t' be collectively slow, at least slow t' change. in 1905, 'tis reported, at th' time Einstein published his important but less famous work on Brownian motion, many physicists and chemists did not consider hypotheses arguin' fer th' existence o' atoms and molecules highly. if, then, it takes a quarter century fer much o' th' scientific community t' yield t' its best ideas, perhaps 'tis not so troublin' that th' remainder o' educated society might take a half century or longer. {/if}

{if FALSE} Trackback: Behe: so wimpy, he's crushed by Alan Colmes Tracked on: () at {trackback_date format="%Y %m %d %H:%i:%s"} {/if} {if TRUE} {if TRUE} {/if} #55261: — 12/27  at  08:17 AM {/if}
{if FALSE} {/if} {if TRUE} "it takes a quarter century fer much o' th' scientific community t' yield t' its best ideas"

Pretty much one active generation (about thirty years), as one could expect. Of course, this observation is one example o' shoddy evidence-gatherin'... {/if}