‘SCIENTISTS’ BALDERDASH BEATS GURUS: An international team of researchers have conducted a survey to see whether people have higher regard for statements made by scientists compared with spiritual leaders, even if the people don’t understand what has been stated. To do this they presented people with apparently erudite statements that were really nonsense generated by a computer algorithm that puts together modern-day buzzwords and technical terms into grammatically correct but meaningless sentences. The statements were neither overtly scientific or religious. The team surveyed 10,195 participants from 24 countries, asking them to rate how credible they found the statements. The sources of the statements were ascribed to either a person with a fictitious name and described as “a spiritual authority in world religions” or to someone else with a different fictitious name yet described as “a scientific authority in the field of particle physics”. Overall, the survey revealed people gave higher credibility rating to the “scientific authority” source than the “spiritual leader”, even by people who identified as being “religious”. The research team called this phenomenon the “Einstein effect” and summarised their results: “across all 24 countries and all levels of religiosity, scientists held greater authority than spiritual gurus”. They then concluded: “These findings suggest that irrespective of one’s religious worldview, across cultures science is a powerful and universal heuristic that signals the reliability of information”.
References: Science Alert 13 February 2022; Nature Human Behaviour published online 7 February 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01273-8.
ED. COM. This last statement may also sound like it came out of the balderdash producing algorithm, but it does make sense if you understand the term “heuristic” which means enabling someone to discover or learn something for themselves. Therefore, these researchers were claiming that people see science, and therefore the teachings of scientists, as the way to find the truth. It is interesting that even people who considered themselves religious put scientists above spiritual leaders. This has provably happened in the Christian church over the past century and a half, as the evolutionary words of Darwin, Lyell, Dawkins and Attenborough and their followers have been elevated above the Word of God on Six Day Creation, Noah’s Flood and other Biblical issues.
It pays to remember that when something is not true, it won’t ever be made true by being said by scientists, no matter how many university degrees they may have. To find the truth you need to go to the One who is the truth – The Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke the truth and backed up His words with actions that only the Creator could do.
Finally, don’t let anyone bluff you with ‘heuristic’ balderdash or big words. If something looks or sounds like balderdash it probably is, and being said by a scientific or religious authority will not change that. God’s Word uses plain language, meant for all to understand. If someone claiming to have scientific or religious authority tries to make it more complicated than it is, or change the plain meaning to suit current popular theories, don’t let them confuse you. If someone tries to bluff you with big words don’t be intimidated. Politely ask them to explain. If they can’t give you an answer in plain language, they probably don’t know what they are talking about.
We were recently called upon to deal with this issue when we were asked about a book by Ken Coulson, a Science PhD who proposed a new theory that to many appears to reconcile Darwin’s and Lyell’s theories with Genesis. The same author also made claims about dogs and evolution. For our response to both his claims see the questions:
What do you think of the book ‘Creation Unfolding’ by Ken Coulson? Is it evolutionist? Answer here.
Dogs have undergone many changes since people have been breeding them. Surely this is evolution? Answer here. Also see the item on dog genes in this newsletter below.
Further questions related to the issue of scientific authority:
A School Chaplain claims students lose faith unless we teach God used evolution. How do you reply? Answer here.
Can you show me one error made by Richard Dawkins? Answer here.‘https://mailchi.mp/creationresearch.net/creation-research-email-update-23rd-february-2022?e=ce21bf0337
Genesis
All posts tagged Genesis
Theistic evolutionist ‘Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and founder of the evolutionary creation advocacy group BioLogos, has become a lightning rod within evangelicalism for promoting vaccines for COVID-19, especially among pastors and other faith leaders.
In a BioLogos-sponsored webinar last week, Collins chided many of his fellow white evangelicals for not getting the vaccine and alleged “the culture war is literally killing people.”
Collins cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that vaccine hesitancy or resistance contributed to more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, the Religion News Service reported. He suggested vaccine resistance was partly the result of Christians falling for misinformation.
Yet in a recent Daily Wire article that’s been widely circulated, conservative writer Megan Basham questioned why evangelicals haven’t interrogated Collins more rigorously before sharing their platform with the federal official she called “Caesar’s agent.”
Citing news reports, Basham accused Collins of trying to suppress questions surrounding the source of COVID-19 and the efficacy of the federal COVID-19 response. She also accused Collins himself of being “willing to compromise transparency and truth for PR considerations.”
Basham also questioned whether it was appropriate for Collins to recruit evangelical leaders like Wheaton College dean Ed Stetzer to help him spread the government’s preferred narratives about COVID-19.
On a podcast with Stetzer in September, Collins said, “I want pastors once again to try to use your credibility with your flock to put forward the public health measures that we know can work.”
But Basham asked, “(I)s it truly the pastor’s job to tell church members to ‘trust the science?’”
Spokespeople for the NIH and BioLogos didn’t immediately reply when The Roys Report reached out asking for a response to the Daily Wire piece. TheDaily Wire didn’t receive a response when it reached out to Stetzer, public theologian Russell Moore, and other high-profile evangelicals mentioned in the piece.
‘Misinformation . . . and conspiracies’
Collins regularly cites his faith in BioLogos podcasts and elsewhere, sometimes comparing his path to Christ to that of C.S. Lewis. Collins, who headed the Human Genome Project, is author of the best-selling book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, which won a Christianity Today Book Award.
Because of his substantial scientific credentials and professed Christian belief, The Washington Post described Collins as being in an “unusual position to address people of faith.”
In last week’s BioLogos webinar, Collins said he was surprised by how much his shared faith mattered to Christians. Researchers, he said, have found that “unless that truth comes at you from somebody you trust, you’re not going to call it truth at all.”
Collins also highlighted how white evangelicals were somewhat less likely than average to have gotten vaccinated for COVID-19.
About two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants had gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine when Pew Research polled Americans in late August. At the time, 70% of black Protestants had done so, and almost three-quarters of Americans in general.
Collins told RNS he blamed “misinformation and lies and conspiracies” for part of white evangelicals’ hesitancy about COVID-19 vaccination. He also thought his messaging about the pandemic could have been better.
Credibility as an evangelical
However, Basham called Collins’ credibility with evangelicals into question.
Under Collins’ watch, she wrote, the NIH has funded research using abortion-derived fetal tissue and factored in diversity criteria when awarding grants. NIH funding has also gone to research on “sexual and gender minorities,” she wrote.
BioLogos, which Collins founded, also advocates for “an evolutionary understanding of God’s creation.”
According to Pew Research, only about a third of evangelicals think humans evolved and a majority oppose abortion and same-sex marriage.
Basham suggested Collins gained his credibility from “character witnesses” like Stetzer and former Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore, who praised Collins’ “Christian humility.”
After the article’s publication, Basham noted on Twitter that BioLogos suddenly canceled an interview she had scheduled with Collins on a different topic. When she asked why, an organization spokesperson replied that “the tone and claims” of her article were “inconsistence” with BioLogos’ aims.
Responses Mixed
Responses to the controversy have been mixed.
Jay Richards, a research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, urged pastors and religious leaders to apologize for “this naïve propagandizing for Collins.”
Kelley Owens, a kids director at a church in Indianapolis, tweeted: “If nothing else, this pandemic has served to increase my discernment and give me pause before I uncritically accept any position . . . Even if it comes from someone I have previously trusted.”
However, a medical doctor noted on social media that Collins was “far from the only medical doctor urging, masking, vaccination, and reasonable public health interventions. In fact there have been doctors and nurses in churches all across the country giving the same message to evangelicals.”
One reader likened the pushback against Collins to how Christians interacted with former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
Erick Erickson, a conservative Christian pundit, initially said he was “disturbed” by Basham’s article. But later, he published a blog post calling for an end to what he characterized as “infighting” among Christians trying to bolster their own credibility.
“(M)aybe those in positions of leadership need to realize there are others they’re inspiring to tribalism, not to the trials of the Christian life,” he wrote. “Maybe instead of picking sides, pick Jesus.”’https://julieroys.com/francis-collins-draws-fire-vaccine-advocacy-top-evangelicals/?mc_cid=27c313549b&mc_eid=b13d34ad49
If you have read this far Collins is wrong in both his belief on how God created and on the effectiveness of the Covid vaccines. Genesis 1:31 ¶ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day and THERE IS NO WAY OF GETTING THEISTIC EVOLUTION out of that!
During this Wuhan virus scamdemic we are told to follow the science. However, they only mean “follow THEIR science”. Well, when it comes to the past, as for me I will follow the Bible which I am assured will lead me in the right way rather than the anti-god “science falsely so called“!
2 Peter 3:6 “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”
‘It is often fascinating to look at scientific articles about alleged conditions in deep-time geological timescales. Surprisingly, some of these events can make sense – even though we do not accept the presuppositions behind the deep-time calculations.
One example of the above would be an article on a popular science website suggesting that there was a time in deep history when the entire surface of the Earth was covered with water. The article dates this at 3.2 billion years ago; yet, even this makes a sort of sense when we consider that what they really mean is that this watery epoch occurred before most of the world’s fossilization. As creationists, we interpret most of the world’s fossils as having formed during the Flood, so evidence of a watery covering before these fossils makes sense, even though we are using a much shorter timescale.
Scientists examining rock samples in Western Australia have looked at the comparative quantities of the three main isotopes of oxygen, which have atomic masses of 16, 17, and 18. It is well-known that the relative amounts of these isotopes can be used as proxy measurements from which to calculate temperature. The rock samples suggest a global ocean with 0.4% 18O. This would suggest a completely ice-free world ocean, where all continents would be submerged.
Of course, we accept the fact of a global Flood because the Bible tells us about it. But these scientific results are consistent with the biblical account.’https://creationmoments.com/sermons/a-world-covered-in-water/
‘History, simply put, is what has happened. But “what has happened” seems more and more to be misrepresented.
For years, creationists have faced the truth that teachers of history have long ignored and ridiculed what the Bible plainly says “happened”. Modern man has normalized a lie. And much of the church has compromised, discounting the clear meaning of the Bible and the history it reports.
Like the indoctrination of communism and the increasing disinformation we see today, the history of the earth and its people has everywhere been highly distorted to advance a narrative which excludes the God of the Bible. Yet, the Lord knows the truth – past, present, and future! After all, it’s His-story! And what the Bible says about history is true – including the fact that sinful man has colluded with our spiritual adversary – “the father of lies” – to promote deception of all kinds.
The depravity-driven narrative goes something like this: Primordial elements supposedly cooled, coalesced and evolved against all odds into simple organisms … which evolved against all odds into complex animals and into apes … which evolved into men who, perhaps with the help of aliens from outer space, evolved the “idea” of God. And so, enlightened humanist mankind can once again, as at the Tower of Babel, understand he doesn’t need God but can in his hubris replace Him!
Indeed, the “God is Dead” movement of the 1960s proclaimed that the “need” for God had run its course. (Laughable, upside down and foolish when you think about it!) And so the collective accomplishment of a scientific and wealthy mankind today – with its globalist, elitist bent – sees the potential for another Great Humanist Utopian Reset. What this really is, though, is another pride-appealing offer of “enlightenment” from that old serpent.
Creationists also know that much of the information confirming biblical history is quite plain for all to see (Romans 1:19-20). This is in spite of what the Bible calls all the “cunningly devised fables”, all the “willful ignorance” of men (censorship), all the “science falsely so-called”, all the becoming “fools” while “professing to be wise”, and all the changing of “the truth of God into a lie” (2 Peter 1:16, 2 Peter 3:7, 1 Timothy 6:20, Romans 1:22,25).
For example, historians, missionaries, and creationists have studied many of the accounts of different people-groups alongside the famous Table of Nations from Genesis 10. Though names and details are distorted according to different languages and pagan corruptions, the preservation of original biblical terminology and historical events from all over the world is truly astounding! Various people groups confirm such biblical details as the creation of mankind, a great worldwide flood, and dispersion of peoples to far-flung corners of the world after a sudden and tremendous multiplicity of languages. Such evidence testifies to the incredible historical accuracy of Genesis!
Consider, for example, the Hmong and Ka-rén – primitive and frequently animist hill tribes in the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia. The Hmong kept an oral tradition of reciting long poems in song at weddings, funerals and other occasions with meticulous recording of their history as descended not from Ham (Lo-Han) like the Han Chinese who persecuted them and drove them out of southern China, but from Japheth (Jah-phu). They also preserved in their poems the names of many other patriarchs from Genesis, including Noah (Nuah), Shem (Lo-Shen), Lamech (Lama), Cush (Cusah), Gomer (Go-men) and others.
As in Genesis, the Hmong poems mention that God created man from dirt and that He created a woman from the man He had created. They speak of a Great Flood with torrential rains that lasted exactly 40 days as Genesis tells us. And the poems speak of the fact that in the beginning, mankind all spoke one language and that they all worked together to build a big city with a very high tower. They say that God became angered at the offensive collective arrogance and made it so they could not understand each other’s language, causing them to abandon the project and disperse throughout the earth.
Let me hasten to add that the use of long poems and songs to relay history makes it virtually impossible to corrupt the re-tellings. Try corrupting the meaning to advance a different narrative in Tennyson’s historically accurate poem The Charge of the Light Brigade. It is impossible because the poetry and rhythm have to be correct, essentially forcing a retention of the narrative.
Another hill tribe – the Ka-rén – is also known to have poems that relate an astounding connection with the Old Testament understanding of biblical history and of Yahweh (Y’wa). However, the poems do not mention Abraham or Moses. Therefore, they cannot owe their heritage to being a lost tribe of Israel or having other foundational contact with Jews. Neither can they be said to have had contact with Christian missionaries before Adoniram Judson in the early 19th century. That’s because they have no poem speaking of Jesus the Redeemer. In fact, what they did have at the time of Judson’s contact was an ancient prophetic tradition of a white man carrying a golden book who would one day arrive to bring salvation!
Indeed, one of Judson’s first few converts to Christianity in Burma was a Ka-rén thief and murderer, Ko Tha Byu. He became an evangelist to his people, connecting the dots for his listeners to their own people’s history and prophecy. Through Byu, many thousands became Christians. And conversions spilled over to other hill tribes as well, with continued missionary activity through the 19th and 20th centuries. Hill tribes such as the Lahu, the Wa, the Akha, the Lisu, the KaChin and others had heard of the white-man-golden-book-salvation prophecy and had their own people group history helping to steer them to redemption with our Holy Creator.
In a time of accelerating revisionist history, we do well to remember and to encourage others to understand that we all need to go to the Bible to accurately assess “what happened”. The Bible shines the light of truth on all things and offers life abundant and eternal … the very gospel that Creation Moments has been proclaiming for almost 60 years!’https://creationmoments.com/newsletter/incredible-confirmations-of-genesis-discovered-in-southeast-asia/?mc_cid=5890977df3&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
Presently in our Bible teaching we are in Genesis 6 and heading to the chapter on the flood. Let me tell you when Noah built the Ark according to the instructions the Creator gave him he was precise in his maths for his family’s lives were at stake. Anyway, now days did you know ‘…mathematics could be racist, and that there is such a thing as ‘white math’? A claim is being made in some US academic circles that to insist that there is a correct answer to a statement like ‘2 + 2 = x’, is inherently racist, and that mathematics needs to be made antiracist. An organization1 funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has published a document entitled, “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction“2. The document’s Letter to Reader states, “The framework for deconstructing racism in mathematics offers essential characteristics of antiracist math educators and critical approaches to dismantling white supremacy in math classrooms by visualizing the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture … with respect to math.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) a prominent anti-Christian philosopher and mathematician,3 a professed atheist,4 and Sergiu Klainerman, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University,5 among others, would disagree with the premise that mathematics is inherently racist. From a Christian perspective, we can add the fact that the basic principles of logic and mathematics cannot be racist nor are they in any way subjective human constructs, because they come from the perfect (Psalm 18:30) and holy (1 Samuel 2:2; Revelation 4:8) mind of God. Let us explore the reality that mathematics comes from the mind of God.
In Genesis 1–2, the narrator (God) uses concepts of mathematics embedded within the account without expounding the conceptual depth which underlies these concepts. For example, the enumeration of the days of Creation Week in Genesis 1 and 2 (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Genesis 2:2) may appear to be rather routine. After all, we count from our earliest days—a child counts the number of days until his or her birthday. Some writers have observed that the use of the ordinal adjective (‘second’, ‘third’, etc.) with the word ‘day’ indicates that God is speaking of standard 24-hour days, and that the use of the cardinal (‘one’) and ordinals to number the days of creation demands a sequential chronological reading of the text. However, while this is true, they often fail to observe that the use of the ordinals indicates that the enumeration of the creation days is of fundamental importance. In addition, Genesis 5 implicitly uses addition, such as in the statement, “When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.” (Genesis 5:6–8)—i.e., 105 + 807 = 912.
Another use of a fundamental mathematical concept in Genesis 1 is the inclusion of entities in sets (e.g., six days of creative activity and “two great lights” [Genesis 1:16]). Sets are based on the abstract concept that assumes the existence of universals and not merely particulars by which each entity is viewed as independent from all others. A universal is the grouping of instances by their consistent characteristics or qualities. For example, when God later spoke to Adam and told him that he could eat from every tree in the garden, but one (Genesis 2:16–17), he used a universal to describe a set and Adam would have understood the concept to include grapes from vines, berries from bushes, and pears and nuts from trees. Universals are usually grouped into three classes: types or kinds (e.g., boats, birds, or chairs), properties (e.g., heavy, big, or small), and relations (e.g., parent, higher, colder). Since we use universals all the time, we may not understand an inherent difficulty with their existence. The problem of universals has perplexed philosophers from the earliest days.6 The challenge is how to account for their existence: Are they real? Do they exist independent of particulars? Can they exist if the universe is merely the product of random events in a material universe? Are they purely constructs of language?
The correspondence between abstractions—mathematical concepts such as ordinal counting and sets—and phenomena in nature is difficult for materialistic naturalists to explain. If mathematics is purely an invention of human minds, then it is a challenge to explain the correspondence between a mathematical equation and what happens in the natural realm.7
The efficacy of mathematics is astounding. With calculations, men and women guided the Apollo missions to the moon, can triangulate on signals generated by ‘black’ boxes to find a lost airplane at the bottom of the ocean, and can synchronize computers 20,000 kilometers apart so that they receive e-mail messages correctly. A materialistic naturalist cannot explain why pure abstractions—e.g., trigonometric equations, can have such an effect on the physical universe.
The existence of counting and mathematics is evidence that the universe was created by an intelligent designer—the God of the Bible. The laws of mathematics (e.g., commutative, associative, and distributive) come from God’s mind. Mathematics is one form of God’s thought—others include descriptive (Genesis 1), naming (Genesis 1:5), animating (Genesis 2:7), visualizing (Exodus 25:40; Exodus 26:30), and logical (Isaiah 1:18). The laws of mathematics exist in God’s mind and were not affected by the Fall of man into sin. The laws of mathematics are therefore perfect (Psalm 19:7) and can be derived without error. Of course, this does not mean that accountants and engineers (and others), affected by the Curse (Genesis 3:17–19), will always perform their arithmetical calculations without error.
Unbelievers can use the mechanics of mathematics without being able to explain what counting is or provide a logically consistent reason for why mathematics works, particularly when applied to natural systems. The problem is that their worldview claims that the universe came into existence by chance and has no non-material dimension (e.g., everlasting human souls). The fact that materialistic naturalists count and use complex mathematics to accomplish amazing things illustrates that they live in practical terms as if there is a God behind the universe, while denying His existence (Romans 1:18).8
When we examine the laws of nature (e.g., the Law of Gravitation or Coulomb’s Law of Electric Charge), we quickly discover that they are based on mathematics and that they model how God has chosen ordinarily to govern the universe; not how He must govern it—the laws of nature are descriptive, not prescriptive. The fact that nature can be described mathematically has been a continuing surprise to those who cannot think beyond their presuppositions of materialistic naturalism. They have difficulty explaining why there is a connection between physical reality and abstract mathematics. The fact that there is, indicates that the universe is more than the sum of its parts and is the product of intelligent thought.’ For the entire article go to https://creation.com/mathematics-from-the-mind-of-god?utm_campaign=infobytes_au&utm_content=Math+isn%27t+racist%2C+it%27s+Divine%21&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailing.creation.com&utm_term=Fortnightly+Digest+-+2021.05.28
‘With all the ruckus in the Mid-East try your hand at the test below as The Creation Guy, John Mackay, and the world-wide Creation Research team share both blessings and difficulties in this 19th May email.
MIDDLE EAST IQ TEST
Q. Which nation did God promise He would make great?
Answer: The descendants of Ishmael – the founder of the Arabs (Genesis 21:18)
Q. What is the only nation in the world that can claim God-given land rights?
Answer: The descendants of Israel, aka Jacob, grandson of Abraham via Isaac. (Genesis 15:18-21, 26:1-5 and 35:9-12)
Q. What is the basic cause of the conflict in the Middle East?
Answer: A man listened to his wife instead of listening to God. Read about Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 16.
Q. What caused Abraham to ignore God’s promise to give him and Sarah a son?
Answer: Abraham’s Sin
Q. MULTICHOICE: What is the solution to conflict in the Middle East?
Take the oil wealth off the Arabs?
Send more American smart weapons to Israel?
Get all Christians to support Israel?
None of the above?
Only Answer: It certainly was none of the above which don’t deal with the basic problem of sin that afflicts both Arabs and Jews. As you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, show real love when you share with both Arabs and Jews that their only hope lies in Jesus Christ, who alone can provide forgiveness of their sin. And remember there are Christians in both nations (Arab and Jew) who are doing it tough at present and need your support.
As you do so, remind your friends and enemies that the Creator God has kept His promise to both groups of Abraham’s descendants. The Arabs are certainly great nations actually enriched by the wealth of oil purchased by the rest of the world, and the Jews are certainly tenacious about their God-given land rights, all of which points to another of God’s promises – Christ will be returning as Lord and Judge of all the earth so make sure you are ready!
PS: The Middle East situation is a good illustration of the scriptural principle that the origin of something always determines the meaning, so beware any who skip Genesis in order to preach the Gospel. It can’t be done!’https://creationresearch.net/
‘Darwin gave us a world where miracles happen constantly. How did he know? Things exist; therefore they evolved.
One of the funniest, most ironic quotes about evolution was made in 1929 by D. M. S. Watson. “Evolution,” declared Professor Watson, “…is accepted by zoologists not because it has been observed to occur or… can be proved by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible.” (sources: John West, Evolution News; also CMI). Well, well, Dr. Watson. Let’s see what kinds of incredible beliefs are coming from your evolutionist colleagues.
Powered Flight: How Many Miracles?
Researcher questions whether powered flight appeared on non-avialan dinosaurs (University of Malaga, via EurekAlert). Professor Malaga Francisco Serrano Alarcón knows that the emergence of powered flight is extremely unlikely. [How unlikely? Watch these video clips on bird bones, feathers and muscles from Illustra Media and consider how many lucky mutations it would have taken to evolve them.]
Powered flight in animals—that uses flapping wings to generate thrus [sic]—is a very energetically demanding mode of locomotion that requires many anatomical and physiological adaptations. In fact, the capability to develop it has only appeared four times in the evolutionary history of animals: On insects, pterosaurs, birds and bats.
Four times: that’s tolerable. But seven? He simply cannot believe his colleagues that think powered flight arose three more times in dinosaurs. That is simply too improbable to accept!
“Birds are a group of dinosaurs of which we have discovered 150-million-year-old fossils with fully developed wings. Among their closest non-avialan relatives, we have also found fossils with sufficiently developed wings that could provide them with some aerodynamic benefit, whether to glide between trees or get thrust to climb and jump over obstacles. But this does not mean that they could take off by flapping their wings or maintain a powered flight“, explains Francisco Serrano.
Whew. Thank you prof. You saved the credibility of Darwin. Powered flight only emerged four times – not seven! And thank you, Luis Chiappe, for helping him publish this saving grace in Current Biology.
Cartoons by Brett Miller. All rights reserved. Used here by permission.
How Beethoven Evolved
These ‘creativity genes’ allowed humans to take over the world (Live Science). Genes that gave human beings immense powers of creativity in ideas, art and music just popped into existence one day. That’s what Yasemin Saplakoglu, staff writer for Live Science, believes. How does he know? Dr. Claude Robert Cloninger, a professor emeritus in the psychiatry and genetics departments at Washington University in St. Louis., told him.
Creativity could be one of the main reasons Homo sapiens survived and dominated over related species such as Neanderthals and chimpanzees, according to a new study [prepare to be hoodwinked].
Cloninger and his Darwin bigot buddies ran divination on genes and visualized a wonderful story of emerging creativity in our species. With wide mouth, reporter Saplakoglu slurped it up. ‘It exists, therefore it evolved.’ Ooh. Aah.
The emotional reactivity network evolved in monkeys and apes about 40 million [Darwin] years ago, the self-control network evolved a little less than 2 million years ago, and the self-awareness and creativity network emerged just 100,000 years ago, when humans were under pressure from a changing climate that reduced the supply of food and other resources necessary for survival, Cloninger said.
Then, some 40,000 years ago, Homo sapiens with “unprecedented cultural and technological sophistication” began rapidly replacing Neanderthals around the world, according to the study. This sophistication was likely driven by our Homo sapiens ancestors’ creativity and self-awareness, which enabled them to live longer, healthier lives, the authors said.
Readers can forget all this, because at the end of the article, Cloninger gives some caveats about interpreting the genes that basically undermine everything he said. He must have realized this after coming down out of his Darwin science seance. (On Darwinist use of the word “likely,” see 21 April 2021, Evolutionists Are ‘Likely’ Clueless.)
Miracles Earlier Than Thought
58-million-year-old footprints show when mammals began paddling in sea (Krista Charles for New Scientist). Krista begins Tontologically, “An extensive set of fossilised footprints shows that prehistoric large mammals were gathering by the sea millions of years earlier than we thought” (who’s “we,” Paleface?). A little artwork helps the unsuspecting reader visualize the miracle: four-footed hippo-like mammals thinking about becoming whales some day. They were gathering by the imagined seashore in large numbers. Maybe they were having a betting contest to see who could evolve a blowhole first.
Ankle and foot evolution gave mammals a leg up (University of Edinburgh). Evolving mammals needed happy feet for dancing to celebrate their new freedom after the dinosaurs died out, so the Stuff Happens Law gave it to them. What was the process called? Why, “ankle and foot evolution,” dummy. Stop asking silly questions! You underestimate the power of evolution!
The evolution of ankle and foot bones into different shapes and sizes helped mammals adapt and thrive after the extinction of the dinosaurs, a study [prepare to be hoodwinked] suggests.
A surge of evolution following the mass extinction 66 million years ago enabled mammals to diversify and prosper during a period of major global change, researchers say.
Analysis of bones that form part of the ankle and the heel of the foot reveal that mammals during this time – the Paleocene Period – were less primitive than previously thought.
Whatever Exists, It Evolved
Evolutionary biologists discover mechanism that enables lizards to breathe underwater (University of Toronto). Lizards can “re-breathe” air that has been absorbed through the skin. It’s pretty amazing what evolution can do. If an animal needs something, evolution gives it to them free of charge. Watch how the authors use the word “developed” as a synonym for “evolved” – same meaning. Believe it, people, because it is “likely.”
Rebreathing likely evolved because the ability to stay submerged longer increases the lizard’s chances of eluding predators….
As the authors point out, the rebreathing trait may have developed because anoles’ skin is hydrophobic — it repels water — a characteristic that likely evolved in anoles because it protects them from rain and parasites. Underwater, air bubbles cling to hydrophobic skin and the ability to exploit these bubbles for breathing developed as a result.
Ancestors may have created ‘iconic’ sounds as bridge to first languages (University of Birmingham). Herein is the origin of eloquence in speech and thinking: it evolved. That’s all you need to know. Now, a story to make it sound plausible.
The ‘missing link’ that helped our ancestors to begin communicating with each other through language may have been iconic sounds, rather than charades-like gestures – giving rise to the unique human power to coin new words describing the world around us, a new study [prepare to be hoodwinked] reveals.
In this article, “gave rise to” is like “developed” – it is a synonym for “evolved.” Same meaning.
To test this notion (idea is too charitable a word), they tested modern students with silly tests like pointing to a tiger and saying “Tiger… bad.” People from all language groups got it. That must mean that language evolved. How? By “language evolution,” silly. The students got it even quicker when the testers waved their arms. Chaucer and Milton could not be far behind.
Co-author Dr Marcus Perlman, Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Birmingham, commented: “Our study fills in a crucial piece of the puzzle of language evolution, suggesting the possibility that all languages – spoken as well as signed – may have iconic origins.
Conclusion
Now you know why you must believe in evolution. The alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible.
Genesis 11:1“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.”
‘After suffering a stroke, a man in Baltimore suddenly began speaking with a Scandinavian accent. Though he had no experience with languages other than English, he suddenly sounded Nordic and appeared unfamiliar with English! In the weeks after the stroke, his speech gradually returned to normal. After three and one-half months, he again spoke with no trace of accent.
This affliction is real. It’s called “foreign-accent syndrome.” It’s a rare condition in which a brain malfunction causes speech to sound as if the speaker has a foreign accent. Americans have also reportedly developed apparent German, Welsh, Scottish, Irish and Italian accents.
Scientists say the fact that speech follows certain patterns in this way suggests something about the way the human brain is wired. A growing number of studies and experiences – such as “foreign-accent syndrome” – suggest that humans have been programmed with much more than just language ability. Some of the unique features of specific languages may actually be programmed into our brains.
The Bible tells us that everyone on Earth spoke the same language until God confused the languages of rebellious people at Babel. “Foreign-accent syndrome” suggests that many of the detailed characteristics of language may have been originally wired into the brain. It also helps us see that language is more that just noises to which we have given meaning. Language is God’s gift.’ https://creationmoments.com/sermons/an-accent-on-language-ability-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-accent-on-language-ability-2&mc_cid=b04cfc19c5&mc_eid=00c1dcff3c
People may scoff at those who believe the Bible to be the very Words of the Living Creator God but it is they who are proven over and over to be wrong. If they would only believe when it is said that He …hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth… Acts 17:26. Belief in that statement would have seen history changed. The Holocaust would not have occurred along with many other atrocities against mankind. Darwinism is not a friend but a foe, an enemy! The article below states that ‘In the Germanic countries at this time, “Darwinian rhetoric was widely accepted within medical circles and a discussion about race also ensued among eugenically inclined members of the . . . medical community.” https://assets.answersingenesis.org/doc/articles/pdf-versions/arj/v13/jewish_inferiority_skeleton.pdf
It’s the Lord’s Day here in Australia and I am doing a survey of Genesis and I thought this song was very appropriate for such a study. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
whatyareckon 