Intelligent Design

[Mojo]

Never used them. Anyhow, I do not speed anymore (last five years) because my reflexes are not what they used to be.

Why not pray for better reflexes?

 

[Pixel42]

You ignore the fact that in the USA fines in another State did not count towards the license suspension (in my day anyway).

You're claiming that your fellow drivers got 2 or 3 tickets every month for years. The number of States in which they could legally drive would have reduced to the point where they were unemployable pretty quickly.

No suspensions here in SA - not yet law. Or if it is, they have no resources to enforce it.

In the UK it's automatic once a certain number of points have accumulated.

In New Zealand I nearly lost my license while trying to obey the speed limits. After I ignored the speed limits I got no further tickets.

You had a little bit of bad luck and are trying to use it to justify breaking the law by deliberately driving dangerously. It won't wash.

Not the slightest exaggeration. But then you are biased to not believe me.

Given a choice between a perfectly adequate mundane explanation and a supernatural one I will assume the former. Only someone desperate to believe in the supernatural would call that a bias.

 

[MikeG]

.....Not the slightest exaggeration. But then you are biased to not believe me.

That's because you have previously been caught lying, and you have never produced anything other than personal anecdote in support of any of the ludicrous claims you make on a daily basis. Given that behaviour, anyone who just accepted what you claimed would be a fool.

Can I suggest that you have a look at the title of the thread at the top of the page, and let us all know what you illegal and dangerous driving practises have to do with Intelligent Design.

 

[Donn]

In New Zealand and South Africa government officials do NOT obey the speed limits. Explain that! Now they push people off the road with their arrogance.

You are alike to a corrupt government official. QED.

 

[Mojo]

In New Zealand and South Africa government officials do NOT obey the speed limits. Explain that! Now they push people off the road with their arrogance.

I expect it's to do with something along the lines of the divine right of kings. God has ordained that these people should be in positions of authority, so He obviously thinks they should have special privileges.

If God allows them to break the speed limit with impunity, who are you to question this?

 

[Porpoise of Life]

Yeah, this God business sounds suspiciously like an excuse to do whatever the hell he pleases because he's too special for rules and the entire world will just have to alter itself to fulfil his wishes.
Maybe that's why in all these threads, PS has never answered my question about why he thinks God is the only likely source of his 'luck'.
Who, except for the creator of the universe himself, could be more important than PS?

 

[Thor 2]

Another ASSumer that fast equals reckless. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.

What a pathetic attempt at trying to justify your shameful, reckless, driving.

You have been caught with your proverbial pants down here whilst trying to impress us with your divinely assisted driving prowess.

Driving at 85 mph on a 55 mph road is reckless, and talking about others using mobile phones while they drive, doesn't make it any less so. At 85 mph you have a kinetic energy almost 2.4 times that you would have at 55 mph. It's the kinetic energy that kills because it must be absorbed when you hit something else.

Time to pull your head in and admit your mistake. Writing "rubbish" three times is as good as your argument can be, to justify your actions. We are not impressed by your driving ability, or what you may see as heavenly assistance.

 

[JoeMorgue]

I gotta say "I routinely break the law but don't get caught because I'm a magical god-being, therefore Woo" is at least new.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Yeah, this God business sounds suspiciously like an excuse to do whatever the hell he pleases because he's too special for rules and the entire world will just have to alter itself to fulfil his wishes.

It's essentially a reworded version of:

"I believe in Karma. That way I can do whatever I want to people and assume they did something to deserve it." - Dogbert.

 

[Thor 2]

I gotta say "I routinely break the law but don't get caught because I'm a magical god-being, therefore Woo" is at least new.

It does have some originality I admit. If the activity was even more reckless, but not putting others in danger, it would be more impressive. Jumping from a plane without a parachute may be an idea.

 

[metacristi]

Just wondering if any others here have heard any good ones about the proof of Intelligent Design. The topic can be tackled from a number of different angles as I read, but have yet to see anything that holds much credibility.

Have just been looking at the Golden Ratio Phi, and how it is seen to be evident in nature by many, who seem to get off on this stuff. Different measurements of the faces and bodies of humans and all sorts of other animals, are looked at and presented by these guys as proof of Phi in nature. The religious get worked into a frenzy as they see it as an obvious sign of design.

I don't think there is currently any compelling evidence for Intelligent Design. The only real debate here is whether ID is a scientific hypothesis or not. Personally* I'd side with those who argue that ID is currently a mere metaphysical research program which could potentially be made scientific in the future. But there are plenty of people who take Feyerabend very seriously (despite agreeing that there is no compelling evidence for ID) who argue that it is scientific, see for example Bradley Monton.


* for philosophical reasons, postmodernism & Feyerabend have never been my weaknesses, too much relativism there, finally very bad ideas rarely die by themselves, we should not give them a wide path of free action (albeit a healthy fallibilism should always be there, History shows that even metaphysical conjectures can become scientific).

 

[Peregrinus]

I don't think there is currently any compelling evidence for Intelligent Design. The only real debate here is whether ID is a scientific hypothesis or not.

An excellent introduction for those not comfortable with technical biology terms is the transcript of Kitzmiller vs. Dover, especially the judge's decision. While the expert testimony was specifically directed at Michael Behe's "irreducible complexity," a bastard cousin of ID, the basics for destroying any notion of ID's being scientific in any sense is right there in everyday English. The transcripts of that case are readily available on line.

 

[JoeMorgue]

"Intelligent Design" is a market term. It's the "Chilean Sea Bass" to Creationism's "Patagonian Tooth Fish."

It's a pair of Groucho Marx glasses on Creationism in a hope to sneak it into public schools.

 

[PartSkeptic]

What a pathetic attempt at trying to justify your shameful, reckless, driving.

You have been caught with your proverbial pants down here whilst trying to impress us with your divinely assisted driving prowess.

Driving at 85 mph on a 55 mph road is reckless, and talking about others using mobile phones while they drive, doesn't make it any less so. At 85 mph you have a kinetic energy almost 2.4 times that you would have at 55 mph. It's the kinetic energy that kills because it must be absorbed when you hit something else.

Time to pull your head in and admit your mistake. Writing "rubbish" three times is as good as your argument can be, to justify your actions. We are not impressed by your driving ability, or what you may see as heavenly assistance.

What is the justification for a 55 mph limit when a road will safely handle 85 mph?

Why is the speed limit for all roads not 0 mph? The safest speed of all? And save the most fuel?

Dumbing down to the lowest denominator are we? Everyone must drive at the speed that a bad driver is capable of?

Rubbish x 4....

 

[PartSkeptic]

You're claiming that your fellow drivers got 2 or 3 tickets every month for years. The number of States in which they could legally drive would have reduced to the point where they were unemployable pretty quickly.

You really miss the point, do you not?

If you lived in New York, only New York accumulated points. One hundred tickets in New Jersey got no points in any State.

Some would accuse me of lying and being caught out. They are just ignorant of the real facts. Oh, sorry, they are believers in what they want to believe as fact. FAKE NEWS.

 

[Mojo]

What is the justification for a 55 mph limit when a road will safely handle 85 mph?

Why is the speed limit for all roads not 0 mph? The safest speed of all? And save the most fuel?

Dumbing down to the lowest denominator are we? Everyone must drive at the speed that a bad driver is capable of?

Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect?

 

[PartSkeptic]

I don't think there is currently any compelling evidence for Intelligent Design. The only real debate here is whether ID is a scientific hypothesis or not. Personally* I'd side with those who argue that ID is currently a mere metaphysical research program which could potentially be made scientific in the future. But there are plenty of people who take Feyerabend very seriously (despite agreeing that there is no compelling evidence for ID) who argue that it is scientific, see for example Bradley Monton.


* for philosophical reasons, postmodernism & Feyerabend have never been my weaknesses, too much relativism there, finally very bad ideas rarely die by themselves, we should not give them a wide path of free action (albeit a healthy fallibilism should always be there, History shows that even metaphysical conjectures can become scientific).

Some people think that humans are very badly designed. But they do not have a better one.

For example, I was assembling an electric motor and I need the dexterity of two hands, four fingers and two thumbs to hold parts together, manipulate the screws and nuts together.

So let me see. Three hands would be better for this job, but the extra hand would get in the way when running from prey. Extra thumbs. Well we all know the saying "I was all thumbs".

The sensitivity, the self-repairing ability, the finger-nails that are just right. The same applies to any other body functions.

Mammals have used bacteria to work inside their stomach to produce energy. We have amazing immune systems to fight off the bad pathogens and parasites.

Our voices are capable of songs and language that outstrip any other creature. And beautiful to boot. We are, in all respects, "just right" for an incredible range of tasks, sports and arts.

My father lived to 95 and his body held up very well, until the last few years, and this despite a hard life and being exposed to many toxins and carcinogens.

If there had been any inherent problems early in our evolution we would not have turned out the way we did. It has been a miraculous journey of evolution and survival. Even the planet and solar system had to be just right.

 

[PartSkeptic]

Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect?

You mean the people who assessed me, all the tests I have passed, my amazing luck and my achievements are all illusions?

Is that not what I have been saying all the time - that we are just living in the dream of a Cosmic Intelligence - and it is all illusion?

 

[MikeG]

You mean..... all the tests I have passed, my amazing luck and my achievements are all illusions?.......

Not so much illusions as misinterpretations and misrepresentations. Delusions rather than illusions.

 

[Pixel42]

In the USA I did sales and service driving long distance mostly at 85mph in 55 mph roads..

In my line of work, speeding tickets were assumed to be part of the job by others. Long distances on road that can handle the safe high speeds. THEY did get two or three tickets a month, and I did more mileage than they did (SA and USA).

You really miss the point, do you not?

If you lived in New York, only New York accumulated points. One hundred tickets in New Jersey got no points in any State.

You weren't comparing yourself with drivers who only drove in New York, you were comparing yourself with drivers who did the same long distances you did and got two or three tickets every month whilst you got none. There's no meaningful comparison otherwise, is there? And such drivers would have rendered themselves unemployable very quickly.