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J-Dog



Posts: 4402
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Jan. 31 2012,17:42   

Quote
Soon I'll be able to tear kairosfocus to shreds when he comes up once again with his doubts about the evolution of the eye.


You mean without laughing at him, or wanting to bitch-slap him till he cries?

--------------
Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10

Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08

UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 01 2012,12:41   

I just discovered Tom Holt. "Blonde Bombshell".  Wheee!

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 02 2012,01:08   

Also Penrose's "Shadows of the Mind".  

I suspect one of us might be nuts.

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
BWE



Posts: 1902
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 15 2012,12:07   

Quote (fnxtr @ Feb. 01 2012,23:08)
Also Penrose's "Shadows of the Mind".  

I suspect one of us might be nuts.

That one is pretty weird. I have read The Emperor's new mind, Shadows of the Mind, and The Road to Reality. The first and last are very good and thought provoking in a lot of ways but Shadows is different. It is thought provoking but also much farther out on the proverbial limb than the other two.

I am reading 'Labyrinth' by Peter Pesic right now, and at about 50 pages in it is a very good book so far.

--------------
Who said that ev'ry wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
Look what it's done so far

The Daily Wingnut

   
BWE



Posts: 1902
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 29 2012,00:18   

In all I have to give Labyrinth a pretty poor grade. Idea was smaller than the book.

Some tortured prose around page 70 made me keenly aware that I had been waiting for it to get to the interesting part.

I liked Sky in a Bottle though by the same author.

--------------
Who said that ev'ry wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
Look what it's done so far

The Daily Wingnut

   
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 29 2012,01:45   

I just discovered Paul Di Fillipo. I seem to be on a sci-fi satire run these days. :-)

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 30 2012,17:21   

I just stocked up the Nook with some new evo related books:

The Evolutionary Strategies that Shape Ecosystems by Grime and Pierce
Brand new book, my first exposure to CSR theory. I'm liking it so far, especially the fierce pro-Darwin stance. The introduction is full of boisterous, take-no-prisoners, full throttle "evolution rules!" rhetoric.

Evolution, the view from the 21st Century - James Shapiro's book, picking up the iconoclastic mantle from Lynn Margulis and Barbara McClintock. Basic idea of rebalancing the importance of variation (in its many forms) and selection (in its many forms) seems cool, already some evidence of subtle push messaging. I was frankly startled to see that Shapiro had published two papers with Richard "Expelled" von Sternberg in 2005, whom he thanks in his acknowledgments. Yes, I read those, and the Preface, too.

The Logic of Chance, by Eugene Koonin. I'm hoping for more than navel gazing and staring off into the middle distance by an eminence gris. Not sure I'll get it.

What are you all taking to the beach for summer reading?

--------------
I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 30 2012,21:13   

Quote (dvunkannon @ May 30 2012,15:21)
I just stocked up the Nook with some new evo related books:

The Evolutionary Strategies that Shape Ecosystems by Grime and Pierce
Brand new book, my first exposure to CSR theory. I'm liking it so far, especially the fierce pro-Darwin stance. The introduction is full of boisterous, take-no-prisoners, full throttle "evolution rules!" rhetoric.

Evolution, the view from the 21st Century - James Shapiro's book, picking up the iconoclastic mantle from Lynn Margulis and Barbara McClintock. Basic idea of rebalancing the importance of variation (in its many forms) and selection (in its many forms) seems cool, already some evidence of subtle push messaging. I was frankly startled to see that Shapiro had published two papers with Richard "Expelled" von Sternberg in 2005, whom he thanks in his acknowledgments. Yes, I read those, and the Preface, too.

The Logic of Chance, by Eugene Koonin. I'm hoping for more than navel gazing and staring off into the middle distance by an eminence gris. Not sure I'll get it.

What are you all taking to the beach for summer reading?

I just started "Crucible of Creation". I have to say I'm not crazy about Conway Morris' editorializing about metaphysics and "the numinous".

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
sparc



Posts: 2089
Joined: April 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 30 2012,22:08   

I haven't been aware of  the book club.
Currently, I am reading Jason Rosenhuse's "Among the Creationists".

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"[...] the type of information we find in living systems is beyond the creative means of purely material processes [...] Who or what is such an ultimate source of information? [...] from a theistic perspective, such an information source would presumably have to be God."

- William Dembski -

   
Schroedinger's Dog



Posts: 1692
Joined: Jan. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,01:48   

Jeff Lindsay's "Dearly Devoted Dexter" (second reading).

Next will be "50 Voices of Disbelief" (Russell Blackford et all, signed)

--------------
"Hail is made out of water? Are you really that stupid?" Joe G

"I have a better suggestion, Kris. How about a game of hide and go fuck yourself instead." Louis

"The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is that vampires are allergic to bullshit" Richard Pryor

   
Woodbine



Posts: 1218
Joined: June 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,01:54   

Recently finished A Reason for Everything - Marek Kohn.

It's a collection of six biographies of British adaptionists from Wallace to Dawkins. Very good imho - and costs next to nothing! Bargain! I hope the author considers writing a companion volume to cover the continental and coloni.....ahem, American evolutionists.



http://tinyurl.com/cp7jxj4....cp7jxj4

I'm currently in the final leg of Dracula - No introduction necessary.....Muhaahahaahahahahaa!


  
Timothy McDougald



Posts: 1036
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,09:21   

I have a large backlog of books I am trying to work my way through, but the three I am currently working on are:

1) Classification and Human Evolution, edited by Washburn
2) Nature's Compass: The Mystery of Animal Navigation by James L. Gould and Carol Grant Gould
3) Cells to Civilization: The Principles of Change that Shape Life

--------------
Church burning ebola boy

FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.

PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.

   
Tracy P. Hamilton



Posts: 1239
Joined: May 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,11:47   

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

A cut and paste from an Amazon review:
"Here is one final example from Kahneman's work of some of the concepts the reader will encounter in this book. Suppose that Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. In college, she majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with the issues of discrimination and social justice, and she also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Which is more probable?

1. Linda is a bank teller.
2. Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

According to Kahneman, about 85% - 90% of undergraduates at several major universities chose the second option, that Linda was a bank teller and active in the feminist movement. However, this is an example of the "conjunction fallacy," since the probability of two events occurring together (in conjunction) must necessarily be less than the probability of either event occurring alone. Put simpler, the probability that Linda is a bank teller must be greater than the probability that she is a bank teller and active in feminist causes. (To be complete, Kahneman points out that there are critics of the Linda experiment who, for example, question whether it is reasonable for test subjects to understand the word "probability" as if it meant "plausibility.")"

The book subtitle: Why people are IDiots. :)

--------------
"Following what I just wrote about fitness, you’re taking refuge in what we see in the world."  PaV

"The simple equation F = MA leads to the concept of four-dimensional space." GilDodgen

"We have no brain, I don't, for thinking." Robert Byers

  
BWE



Posts: 1902
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,12:09   

rereading 'an eye for an eye' by wm. ian miller. Very good and the whole trayvon martin/george zimmerman story inspired me to reread it.

Also, I am going to try to get through a book by Lovelock about his gaia hypothesis. Any recommendations on which one I should read if I don't get to any of the others?

http://www.amazon.com/James-L....&sr=8-3

--------------
Who said that ev'ry wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
Look what it's done so far

The Daily Wingnut

   
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,12:22   

Quote (Tracy P. Hamilton @ May 31 2012,11:47)
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

A cut and paste from an Amazon review:
"Here is one final example from Kahneman's work of some of the concepts the reader will encounter in this book. Suppose that Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. In college, she majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with the issues of discrimination and social justice, and she also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Which is more probable?

1. Linda is a bank teller.
2. Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

According to Kahneman, about 85% - 90% of undergraduates at several major universities chose the second option, that Linda was a bank teller and active in the feminist movement. However, this is an example of the "conjunction fallacy," since the probability of two events occurring together (in conjunction) must necessarily be less than the probability of either event occurring alone. Put simpler, the probability that Linda is a bank teller must be greater than the probability that she is a bank teller and active in feminist causes. (To be complete, Kahneman points out that there are critics of the Linda experiment who, for example, question whether it is reasonable for test subjects to understand the word "probability" as if it meant "plausibility.")"

The book subtitle: Why people are IDiots. :)

Finally I get one right!

--------------
"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,12:30   

Free, from a friend who completed her master's and moved across the country to work on her PhD. Forgive the size, but just sos you can read the titles of the motherload of freeness:



--------------
“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,12:47   

See, even Hawking believes in design.

--------------
Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
Timothy McDougald



Posts: 1036
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2012,13:08   

Quote (Lou FCD @ May 31 2012,12:30)
Free, from a friend who completed her master's and moved across the country to work on her PhD. Forgive the size, but just sos you can read the titles of the motherload of freeness:


Are you giving them away? Or celebrating your haul?

--------------
Church burning ebola boy

FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.

PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.

   
Kattarina98



Posts: 1267
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 01 2012,03:31   

Quote (Richardthughes @ May 31 2012,12:22)
Quote (Tracy P. Hamilton @ May 31 2012,11:47)
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

A cut and paste from an Amazon review:
"Here is one final example from Kahneman's work of some of the concepts the reader will encounter in this book. Suppose that Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. In college, she majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with the issues of discrimination and social justice, and she also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Which is more probable?

1. Linda is a bank teller.
2. Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

According to Kahneman, about 85% - 90% of undergraduates at several major universities chose the second option, that Linda was a bank teller and active in the feminist movement. However, this is an example of the "conjunction fallacy," since the probability of two events occurring together (in conjunction) must necessarily be less than the probability of either event occurring alone. Put simpler, the probability that Linda is a bank teller must be greater than the probability that she is a bank teller and active in feminist causes. (To be complete, Kahneman points out that there are critics of the Linda experiment who, for example, question whether it is reasonable for test subjects to understand the word "probability" as if it meant "plausibility.")"

The book subtitle: Why people are IDiots. :)

Finally I get one right!

I got it right, too, not because I'm clever but because I saw it happen lots of times.

--------------
Barry Arrington is a bitch.

  
fusilier



Posts: 252
Joined: Feb. 2003

(Permalink) Posted: June 01 2012,10:42   

Daniel K. Richter.  Facing East From Indian Country.  a native history of early america

Always worth learning a new perspective.

--------------
fusilier
James 2:24

  
BWE



Posts: 1902
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 04 2012,22:18   

Im going to powells right now. Ill update you on which lovelock I choose. :)

--------------
Who said that ev'ry wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
Look what it's done so far

The Daily Wingnut

   
fusilier



Posts: 252
Joined: Feb. 2003

(Permalink) Posted: July 11 2012,07:40   

"If 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Had Been Written by a Biology Textbook Author"

http://www.rickilewis.com/blog.ht....=864259

--------------
fusilier
James 2:24

  
oldmanintheskydidntdoit



Posts: 4999
Joined: July 2006

(Permalink) Posted: July 11 2012,16:06   

Been reading this: Thinking, Fast and Slow

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinkin....9357980

Quote
There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow.Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, distils a lifetime of research into an encyclopedic coverage of both the surprising miracles and the equally surprising mistakes of our conscious and unconscious thinking. He achieves an even greater miracle by weaving his insights into an engaging narrative that is compulsively readable from beginning to end. My main problem in doing this review was preventing family members and friends from stealing my copy of the book to read it for themselves...this is one of the greatest and most engaging collections of insights into the human mind I have read (William Easterly Financial Times )


Changed my life already. Also explains much of the "why ID supporters support ID despite compelling reasons not to".

--------------
I also mentioned that He'd have to give me a thorough explanation as to *why* I must "eat human babies".
FTK

if there are even critical flaws in Gauger’s work, the evo mat narrative cannot stand
Gordon Mullings

  
OgreMkV



Posts: 3668
Joined: Oct. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 09 2012,18:58   

Need some advice.

I need recommendations for very accessible books in geology, space science, chemistry/physics that would be appropriate for an 8th grader who is just learning about these topics.  I don't want text books, nor giant tomes of information.

For example, in the Life science area, I selected Your Inner Fish by Shubin.  It's fairly short, it's well written, but not too deep.  And it's got quite a few things that might make a kid go "cool".

Basically, I'm helping a friend develop a science curriculum for her home schooled daughter.

Hey Joe, here's your chance, get me something from ID I can put in the curriculum (if only to show how science isn't done).

Thanks

--------------
Ignored by those who can't provide evidence for their claims.

http://skepticink.com/smilodo....retreat

   
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Aug. 09 2012,19:57   

I recommend Paley's Natural Theology. It's more thorough and up-to-date than most ID literature. And it has the bonus of being completely honest.

--------------
Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
dvunkannon



Posts: 1377
Joined: June 2008

(Permalink) Posted: Jan. 25 2013,09:59   

Recently purchased "Dawn of the Deed" a history of vertebrate sex.

Just saw "Life's Ratchet" by Peter Hoffman. Apparently about how life uses 2LOT at the nano level, and how this is a distinguishing characteristic of life. Amazon reviews are very good, except for one wanker with an ID bent.

--------------
I’m referring to evolution, not changes in allele frequencies. - Cornelius Hunter
I’m not an evolutionist, I’m a change in allele frequentist! - Nakashima

  
Timothy McDougald



Posts: 1036
Joined: Dec. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Jan. 26 2013,10:57   

Quote (OgreMkV @ Aug. 09 2012,18:58)
Need some advice.

I need recommendations for very accessible books in geology, space science, chemistry/physics that would be appropriate for an 8th grader who is just learning about these topics.  I don't want text books, nor giant tomes of information.

For example, in the Life science area, I selected Your Inner Fish by Shubin.  It's fairly short, it's well written, but not too deep.  And it's got quite a few things that might make a kid go "cool".

Basically, I'm helping a friend develop a science curriculum for her home schooled daughter.

Hey Joe, here's your chance, get me something from ID I can put in the curriculum (if only to show how science isn't done).

Thanks

The Seashell on the Mountaintop by Alan Cutler is excellent. Possibly Time Machines by Peter Ward. Just for fun The First Fossil Hunters by Adrienne Mayor. The Discovery of Time by Toulmin and Goodfield.

I'm sure I'll think of some others later...

Yup, one more Charles Darwin, Geologist by Sandra Herbert.

--------------
Church burning ebola boy

FTK: I Didn't answer your questions because it beats the hell out of me.

PaV: I suppose for me to be pried away from what I do to focus long and hard on that particular problem would take, quite honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars to begin to pique my interest.

   
QED



Posts: 41
Joined: July 2008

(Permalink) Posted: April 10 2013,21:39   

Very sad news about Iain Banks. I was late to the party, but have become an avid fan. His latest novel, The Quarry, will be his last. Details at www.iain-banks.net.

  
Arctodus23



Posts: 322
Joined: Mar. 2013

(Permalink) Posted: April 28 2013,10:36   

I just finished reading, "Jesus, Interrupted". Good book, I think Ehrman can do a bit better though.

--------------
"At our church’s funerals, we sing gospel songs (out loud) to God." -- FL

"So the center of the earth being hotter than the surface is a "gross
violation of the second law of thermodynamics??" -- Ted Holden

   
stevestory



Posts: 13407
Joined: Oct. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: May 20 2013,17:36   

while I already have all 6 volumes of Modernist Cuisine in .pdf format, I just picked this up from the podunk local library by way of Interliberry Loan. It's huge and glorious.

   
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