Philosophy
One curious difference between humans and the rest of the great apes is the fact that the latter all seem to have one more chromosome than we do. Now, since evolutionary theory predicts a very close genetic relationship to our closest cousins, this oddity is one that ought to make us question the validity of evolutionary theory: how could we be missing an entire chromosome and not be eating dirt and running into walls?
If you're a creationist or intelligent design theorist, this anomaly might sound like precisely the kind of evidence that would refute evolution. So how does an evolutionary account explain this strange state of affairs?
In the following clip, Professor Ken Miller explains the elegance and sophistication with which real scientists can answer these seemingly difficult questions :)
If you're interested, you can watch Miller's entire lecture here.
.
- Kuhn, Popper, And Intelligent Design
Mike the Mad Biologist has a post regarding the references to Thomas Kuhn's notion of paradigm change in the intelligent design discussions. (I do hesitate linking to Mike from this humble little page now that he's getting links from the A-blogs,...
- Demarcation, Falsification, And Intelligent Design
Janet, over at Adventures in Ethics and Science, has a nice discussion going about intelligent design, the line between science and pseudoscience, and Karl Popper's criterion of falsificationism. According to Popper, a theory is scientific if and...
- 8. Evolutionary Theory Connects With Quantum Mechanics
8. How does evolutionary theory connect with quantum mechanics? Feel free to do a google search to buttress your answers here. Clue: Think of Brian Greene meeting Charles Darwin. If Briane Greene and...
- The Evolution Of The Y-chromosome In The Colbert Report
Though I like to try to keep up with scientific developments, and consider myself relatively literate (for a layman) in these matters, there are times when I am truly surprised at the fact that something I thought I basically understood turns out to be...
- Robert Sapolsky - Are Humans Just Another Primate?
Every time scientists have tried to come up with a set of defining characteristics of what it means to be human, subsequent observation has revealed that there are other species who share those features previously thought to be unique to us... We are...
Philosophy
Ken Miller - Where Is the Missing Human Chromosome?
One curious difference between humans and the rest of the great apes is the fact that the latter all seem to have one more chromosome than we do. Now, since evolutionary theory predicts a very close genetic relationship to our closest cousins, this oddity is one that ought to make us question the validity of evolutionary theory: how could we be missing an entire chromosome and not be eating dirt and running into walls?If you're a creationist or intelligent design theorist, this anomaly might sound like precisely the kind of evidence that would refute evolution. So how does an evolutionary account explain this strange state of affairs?
In the following clip, Professor Ken Miller explains the elegance and sophistication with which real scientists can answer these seemingly difficult questions :)
If you're interested, you can watch Miller's entire lecture here.
.
- Kuhn, Popper, And Intelligent Design
Mike the Mad Biologist has a post regarding the references to Thomas Kuhn's notion of paradigm change in the intelligent design discussions. (I do hesitate linking to Mike from this humble little page now that he's getting links from the A-blogs,...
- Demarcation, Falsification, And Intelligent Design
Janet, over at Adventures in Ethics and Science, has a nice discussion going about intelligent design, the line between science and pseudoscience, and Karl Popper's criterion of falsificationism. According to Popper, a theory is scientific if and...
- 8. Evolutionary Theory Connects With Quantum Mechanics
8. How does evolutionary theory connect with quantum mechanics? Feel free to do a google search to buttress your answers here. Clue: Think of Brian Greene meeting Charles Darwin. If Briane Greene and...
- The Evolution Of The Y-chromosome In The Colbert Report
Though I like to try to keep up with scientific developments, and consider myself relatively literate (for a layman) in these matters, there are times when I am truly surprised at the fact that something I thought I basically understood turns out to be...
- Robert Sapolsky - Are Humans Just Another Primate?
Every time scientists have tried to come up with a set of defining characteristics of what it means to be human, subsequent observation has revealed that there are other species who share those features previously thought to be unique to us... We are...