Saturday, August 3, 2019

Idle Rambling On A Saturday Night While Listening To Charlie Rich -- August 3, 2019

I left the current issue of the Claremont Review of Books out in the car. I don't dare bring it into the the apartment while May is home. I'll have to sneak it in later.

Before buying the magazine at Barnes and Noble today I looked at each article. $6.95 for a magazine is lot to spend on a magazine, at least for me. It will be easier to afford if the next president sends us all a thousand-dollar check each month. I mean that is so cool, a thousand dollars for every American every month. Two thousand dollars for a married couple. My wife knows that will happen; she says she is looking forward to the extra bit of money. His math backs it up; the mainstream media can't find a flaw. And, maybe we'll be able to keep our doctor. But I digress.

I was never really on the fence whether I would buy the current issue of the CRB. I had pretty much decided I was going to buy it even before I looked at it closely. I guess I just wanted to make sure there were at least half a dozen articles that I would enjoy.

But this made the decision a no-brainer. There's a five- or six-page review of three books with regard to Darwin.

I'm a Darwinist. I grew up on Darwin. I loved biology. I have a double-major in biology and chemistry. I never understood what "neo-Darwinism" meant. Maybe this CRB essay will explain it to me.

But that's not the reason I'm eager to read the essay.

Without the essay in front of me, I can't recall who wrote the review.

But a google review led me to the answer.

The google query: yale professor of computer science darwin book review in claremont review of books.

The result? This link: https://www.thecollegefix.com/famed-yale-computer-science-professor-quits-believing-darwins-theories/.

By the way, a google search for either, "Bakken oil blog" or "Bakken oil blogs": the "milliondollarway" is still #1. LOL.

From the linked article:
The origin of species is exactly what Darwin cannot explain’

David Gelernter, a famed Yale University professor, has publicly renounced his belief in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, calling it a “beautiful idea” that has been effectively disproven.

Gelernter, who is known for predicting the World Wide Web and has developed many complex computing tools over the years, is today a professor of computer science at Yale, chief scientist at Mirror Worlds Technologies, member of the National Council of the Arts, and a prolific author.

In May, the Claremont Review of Books published a column by Gelernter headlined “Giving Up Darwin.” In it, he explained how his readings and discussions of Darwinian evolution and its competing theories, namely intelligent design, have convinced him Darwin had it wrong.
Two comments:
  • "David Gelernter, who is known for predicting the World Wide Web" -- I thought that was Algore -- but close reading -- Algore didn't predict the World Wide Web, he invented it; and,
  • now if only Gelernter would write a similar essay on global warming
In the CRB essay, Gelerneter reviews three books supporting his thesis. It will be interesting to see if he actually says "intelligent design" is a theory.

I can't wait to sneak the magazine into the house.

LOL.

I think it's important to stress that just because one no longer "accepts" Darwin's theory does not mean that the only alternative is an intelligent designer. I would argue that if Darwin's theory fails to explain the origin of life we need to look for another theory.

A bit of trivia. Every life form on earth "relates."

Think about that.

In the final scene in the movie "Encounters of the Third Kind" (one can also say this about the bar scene in "Episode IV of Star Wars"), every "alien" life form "related" to life forms we know on earth. A symmetrical body type with a definite top and bottom, or head and butt. Interesting, huh?

2 comments:

  1. Song for today at El Paso by Toby Keith
    Well a man come on the 6 o'clock news
    Said somebody's been shot, somebody's been abused
    Somebody blew up a building, somebody stole a car
    Somebody got away, somebody didn't get too far yeah
    They didn't get too far
    Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
    A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
    Take all the rope in Texas find a tall oak tree,
    Round up all them bad boys hang them high in the street
    For all the people to see
    That justice is the one thing you should always find
    You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line
    When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
    And we'll all meet back at the local saloon
    We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing
    Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
    We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
    Too much corruption, and crime in the streets
    It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
    Send 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down
    You can bet he'll set 'em down
    'Cause justice is the one thing you should always find
    You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line
    When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
    We'll all meet back at the local saloon
    And we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing
    Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
    Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
    You know justice is the one thing you should always find
    You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line
    When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
    And we'll all meet back at the local saloon
    And we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing
    Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
    Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
    Source: LyricFind
    Songwriters: Scott Emerick / Toby Keith
    Beer for My Horses lyrics ©

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    Replies
    1. I was thinking of making a note about El Paso tonight, but held off. I thought others might.

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