I'm back on my favourite forums, CreationTalk and the JREF. And it's been fun. DarwinTalk is still down (apparently some problem a while ago which brought down both CreationTalk and DarwinTalk, and only the former is back up). The Three Word Story thread in JREF is still going strong, and in fact someone's done a TWS Compilation Thread which makes the whole thing easier to read.

Someone on JREF has come up with an idea that he can send his thoughts to people, and make them see naked men. He's convinced that he can do it, and we're convinced that he can't. He says he's going to contact the JREF and get this tested for the million dollar prize, as soon as Randi is back up and able to assess the request (Randi had a heart attack recently, but he's recovering well).

There hasn't been much to speak of on CreationTalk (nothing like good old Novagaea on DarwinTalk), but it's been fun watching the one or two evolution deniers try to refute the recent finds of transitional fossils. It seems that the true creationists try one or two posts on the forum then scarper once they find out that some of us actually know what we're talking about. I may have to cast my net further.

I've just been made a Moderator at DarwinTalk.

Oh, the power!

At least I was able to remove that insulting thread about Stephen Hawking. And Admin has booted NERDS SUCK from the board.

Now if I can only keep moses's_bulldog on topic...

I've just had a minor epiphany where creationists are concerned. As you know, I like arguing with creationists. It's a hobby of mine. I've just recently realised that some of the biggest misunderstandings arise when creationists conflate evolution with materialistic philosophy.

They say things like "evolution has to explain where life came from" and "evolution doesn't explain the big bang" (before you ask, yes I've seen that, and this is the reason why).

What they're doing is they're actually referring to materialistic philosophy (the idea that the physical world is all there is - only matter and energy, and no "non-physical" or "spiritual" realms at all), and using the term "evolution" to refer to it. That's why we never get anywhere by saying things like "no, evolution only describes how life changes, not how it originated".

Evolution is one branch of the tree of materialism. Abiogenesis is another. The big bang is another. They are all essential to materialism. But calling materialism "evolution" is incorrect. It's like using the word "leaf" to refer to the whole tree.

OK, so there's this poster on DarwinTalk who recently turned up, who goes by the handle of moses's_bulldog, obviously a reference to Thomas Huxley, who was known as "Darwin's Bulldog". He starts up this thread titled "Mosaic Dietary Code Shows Divine Intelligence".

Now I don't have much of a quarrel with this, except for the fact that he is severely underestimating human intelligence and ingenuity by saying that people can't eat well without divine help.

I have to admit, I derailed the thread a little.

( moderately lengthy )

Prediction: I predict that MB will avoid answering this question. Probably by direct dismissal ("I don't have to justify myself to you"), but maybe by a request to get the thread back on track (in which case I'll just start up another thread).

I'll post here the results of my prediction.

I just had the opportunity to spout existentialist glurge at one of the fundie christians on DarwinTalk.

( I don't think I've been so saccharine in my life )

It makes me sad to see that Christianity has, in this case, produced an individual who is so detached and paranoid about the real world that they cannot see the beauty of it all. Existentialism and materialism do not depress me, they excite me. They make me want to get up in the morning. The Bible spoils everything, by professing to have all the answers. If you already have all the answers, what's the point in living?