|
 CREATIONIST SITE GETS A
SKEPTICAL INQUIRY AWARD
June 1, 1999
How often will you find a Creationist Web site among skeptical pages? Not very often,
to be sure: this is the first instance and will likely be the last. The problem isn't in a
clash of belief systems; although mysticism and superstition are distasteful to me on
intellectual grounds, I'm also willing to hear any clever arguments honestly presented.
Just because there's no proof of a thing doesn't mean it doesn't exist, just that it's not
a meaningful question, at best, and intellectual betrayal, at worst, unless it can be
shown relevant and tested. More sacred to me than any higher being is rational thought and
constructive reasoning.
What makes The Evolution of Truth exceptional among Creationist Web sites is that it
makes a serious and (mostly) studied attempt at extracting proof of a creator from logical
bases. Much effort was put into the site - it is visually stunning and exceptionally
clever.
The centerpiece argument for a god or gods is how pervasively a geometrical
relationship called the Golden Ratio is found in nature. (You'll recall the Ratio as being
the value of 'n' in the equation 1/n=n-1.) Although sometimes stretching things a bit by
expressing awe at some properties of this ratio which may require a bit of exploration but
are natural consequences of the geometry, this discussion is compelling, clear and
provocative. While not siding with the premise of the site's author, I admire the creative
presentation of Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio and would not hesitate to send a
student here. There's lots of material for a pleasant afternoon of mathematical play, as
well as for launching some serious study.
Those who face the prospect of debating creationist viewpoints will also find The
Evolution of Truth to be a good place to visit for preparation. This site's author brings
his full faculties to bear as a smart Creationist.
What I found less enjoyable, but most relevant to general debate, was the page titled
"Problems with Evolution: What The Textbooks Never Told Us." Some statements
about what "the textbooks" say are misleading ("Life is the result of
chance"), some are ill-informed ("Miller and Urey created life in a test tube in
the 1960's"), some suppose scientific doctrines which are, in fact, nonexistent
("Darwin's findings proved evolution"), some are disingenuous ("The fossil
record shows a "tree of life," the gradual change from early life to modern
man") and, sadly, some are pulled from the air ("Evolution, as an explanation
for the origin of life, is a scientific fact"). Any text book containing such
statements would be a textbook in name only, diverging so far from mainstream thought that
any educational board selecting it would be laughed out of academia. I was saddened to
encounter so many straw men on such an otherwise excellent site.
(Author's Note: In my response to Dr. Matrix, I said:
"I do think that most of my "straw man" statements are accepted as fact
by many people. Where I fell short of the truth was in attributing them to textbooks
rather than just to common lore and beliefs about evolution."
As my site notes, our understanding of the truth is constantly evolving.
Accordingly, I changed my approach on this page to make it accurate and truthful
and provided some references to Dr. Matrix to Internet sites in which such statements are
made, for example:
From Access Excellence - A Place in Cyberspace for Biology Teaching and Learning at
http://www716.bonsai.com/WN/SUA08/mars896.html:
"It makes it very promising there may be life in other solar systems. What it really
does show is the formation of life on a planet can take place rather easily,'' noted
biochemist Stanley Miller at the University of California at San Diego. Miller, who
specializes in the study of the origins of life is most well known for his 'creation of
life in the test tube' experiments.")
But you be the judge. Overall, I feel that The Evolution of Truth deserves to be
awarded for largely exceptional discourse directed toward what we all seek - deeper
understanding of our world.
- Dr. Matrix |
