Genetics and Health Blog of the Week: Unintelligent Design
This week’s featured blog is Unintelligent Design written by Dr. Clark Bartram (not sure if this is a pseudonym or not), a self-described skeptical scientist who’s waiting for proof of the supernatural. Could he be a bright?
This Sunday, Dr. Bartram is also hosting Pediatric Grand Rounds Vol. 1, Edition 2, a bi-weekly collection of medical and health posts about children. Both the Pediatric Grand Rounds and Unintelligent Design are worth visiting especially for this mother who’s always interested in the welfare of children.
Technorati Tags: pediatric grand rounds, children, pediatrics, genetics, health, genes, disease, dna
Thanks for the plug. I hope that everyone who reads this post checks out the Pediatric Grand Rounds and learns something new.
The term Bright as far as its being used by certain skeptics is quite controversial and in my opinion silly. I think skeptic is a fine word to describe my approach to life. I do have to point out that very few, if any, skeptics think that science has or will have the answer to everything although it is frequently a straw man for believers to attack. There will always be new frontiers to explore. But I refuse to insert religion into any gap in our understanding.
Furthermore, I don’t accept that there is any real difference between humans and any other animal on this planet or any other. Evolution has merely taken us down a different path. I find it arrogant to think that humans are somehow special and that the world was somehow created with us in mind. We are all connected through time with a common ancestor. We all share the same fate. I find that much more beautiful than any alternative take on our existence.
Once again thanks for perusing my blog. I look forward to going through more of yours.
Clark: Thanks for your thoughts and for conceiving Pediatric Grand Rounds. It’s always fascinating to me how the unknown can be (mis)translated into the mysterious and the supernatural. I guess we humans have a hard time believing there are things that we don’t understand. Such hubris, isn’t it?
Not knowing what is behind something, be it that big flaming circle up in the sky or where we came from, is scary. I completely understand the motivation of many people to come up with ways of making sense of it all such as the supernatural. I think the underlying mechanism is fear rather than hubris. I think the hubris comes in when we think that humankind is the ultimate manifestation of life. This is a feeling found in both religion and in the naturalistic view. By that I mean either god made to be the top dog or that evolution has been leading to us and we are the most evolved species.
Clark: You’ve obviously spent a lot more time thinking about these issues than I have! I must admit that I find it hard to wrap my mind around how amazing life is so I know why people grasp at any explanation that seems to make sense to them. On the other hand, I’m not sure we need to explain everything. Some days, I just like to enjoy life for what it is.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m glad that there are people out there at least trying to figure out life’s mysteries. I don’t spend much time on this kind of stuff though. I’d much rather be playing with my daughter but I’m stuck at work going through old xray files instead.
To all,
I enjoyed the comments. As a youngster, I wondered why humans considered themselves the “crown of creation”. The answers came up to fear, arrogance, and humans giving themselves permission to dominate the other species without consideration for their place on the planet.