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The Evolution Interpreter: Generic Transition Form Fossil Discovery Article
Vanity ^ | 04/22/2009 | Liberty1970

Posted on 04/22/2009 1:11:09 PM PDT by Liberty1970

Over the years I’ve read copiously on the subject of origins. I’ve noticed the media pronouncements on the subject of new fossils and evolutionary theory form a startlingly repetitive pattern. To save the over-worked and increasingly bankrupt news media I’ve undertaken to serve them with a generic news story that can be copy-and-pasted with few modifications and reused as frequently as desired.

New Fossil Discovery Is Transition Form, Provides Proof of Evolution!

University of ________

Scientists say they’ve found a “missing link” in the early evolution of ______ - the skeleton of a ______ that was evolving away from ______ to _______. [Translation: They found something new, therefore it must have evolved by time + chance from something else.]

These _______ features were a new adaptation as the species evolved into ______. [Translation: If we imagine hard enough, anything is possible.]

Experts called it "a fantastic discovery" that fills a crucial gap in the fossil record. [Translation: Give us more $$$ for our Very Important Work.]

The ___ million-year-old creature was not a direct ancestor of today's ______. It's from a different branch. But it does show what an early direct ancestor looked like, said researcher [Translation: The headline is a big fat lie and once again we can’t actually find an actual ancestor of modern life that shows innovative evolutionary change, but please don’t notice that. We think this critter is _close enough_ for propaganda purposes.]

Dr. _______, a biology professor at ______ State University who wasn't involved in the work, welcomed the find. [Translation: Can I use this to get more grant $$$ too?]

"This is a fantastic discovery that fills a critical evolutionary gap (from) when ______ traded _____ for ______ and moved from ______ to ______," she wrote in an e-mail. [Translation: This Really Important Discovery demands more research funding. Hint, hint.]

Not all experts agreed. Professor _____ noted that an older fossil of the same type had been discovered in ______. [Translation: We pick and choose what evidence we like to focus on, and hope for the best.]

But _____, who didn't participate in the paper, called the discovery exciting because it provides direct evidence for what early ________ in the _____-to-______ transition looked like. [Translation: I won’t rock the boat. By the way, give us more $$$.]

Overall, 100% of officially-sanctioned scientists said, the discovery was a tremendous, awesome, spectacular find that overwhelmingly proves that only idiotic, anti-scientific dolts would dare disbelieve in evolutionism, and the public needs to spend lots more tax dollars supporting them and their Very Important Work. [Never mind the complete lack of patents or other real technological application for their work and personal agendas.]


TOPICS: Education; Reference; Religion; Science
KEYWORDS: creation; evolution; followthemoney; fossil; godsgravesglyphs; ibelieve; missinglink; researchpaper; theory; transition
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To: Ha Ha Thats Very Logical

So you are saying that the research institution doesn’t even check with the scientist to make sure they understand the research they are engaged in before telling the world about it! Do you know that many and perhaps most scientists admit that they learn about the latest research from press releases and articles in the popular press? LOL!!!


41 posted on 04/22/2009 5:12:28 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: GodGunsGuts
*Facepalm*

You just don't get it, do you? If you've read scientific as you say you have, you'd understand that the actual journal article is much, much more chock full of information than any news article. Again, press releases are simplified and information and evidence is omitted. Ergo, criticism of a press release or news article instead of the actual published journal article is criticism of a strawman, as such simplifications and omissions weaken the argument.

Certainly, errors in the scientific process may be unknowingly revealed in a news article. However, how can one be certain that the errors are not the result of some overzealous technical writer who didn't fully understand the material without first reviewing the actual journal article?
42 posted on 04/22/2009 5:16:55 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: GodGunsGuts

Whenever I can, actually. Most of the time, though, the articles you post are either unscientific in nature (example: The ICR court case. Incidentally, I spent a good part of last night reading the court papers posted by ICR’s counsel) or based on reinterpreting third-party article without providing original research or evidence (example: Everything by Brian Thomas M.S.*).


43 posted on 04/22/2009 5:25:47 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: Boxen
Nothing you have said changes the fact that the battle is fought on MANY levels. If a popular science rag got the import of the original research wrong, that is their problem. If someone writes an article about Marxian economics based on some stupid socialist book that nobody has ever heard of, that should not prevent economists from AEI, Heritage, Hoover, Discovery, or the Mises institute from pointing out the fallacies contained therein. If the original article contains errors, said responses will serve to highlight them, and if need be, the original socialist author can come out of the woodwork and correct the mistakes of the lesser socialist. Same thing applies in the popular science press IMHO.
44 posted on 04/22/2009 5:30:46 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: Boxen

Ok, so not always, is that correct?


45 posted on 04/22/2009 5:31:34 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: GodGunsGuts

No, it isn’t. If I plan on posting, I attempt to read the underlying sources first.


46 posted on 04/22/2009 5:34:19 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: Boxen

You said you only do that so most of the time...is that correct?


47 posted on 04/22/2009 5:35:35 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: Boxen

Or do you read every science paper (from start to finish) that a popular science article is based on without exception?


48 posted on 04/22/2009 5:37:58 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: GodGunsGuts
No, I said most of the time the articles you post do not rely on creation-ID journal-style publications. Again, as an example, any article by Brian Thomas M.S.*, who usually cites an article from a more scientific publication (For example, Nature) and reinterprets the article without providing original evidence or research. Even then, I read the underlying citation. If I don't have time to read it, I usually don't post.
49 posted on 04/22/2009 5:42:54 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: GodGunsGuts

Rhetorical nonsense. The only one fighting a battle here is you. It’s still a strawman criticism, and as such, a fallacy.


50 posted on 04/22/2009 5:45:41 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: GodGunsGuts
Every science paper in what? Remember, day job.
51 posted on 04/22/2009 5:46:51 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: Boxen; GodGunsGuts

Ack. I must be getting tired. I misread your sentence. And the answer is yes, I try to read every article associated with a popular science article. Often I will read the larger ones piecemeal. If an article refers to an article as a secondary or otherwise briefly cites, I will only read the parts I need to.


52 posted on 04/22/2009 5:53:38 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: Boxen

That’s very thorough of you. For my part, I post Creation/ID papers and articles from a variety of sites on a regular basis. I post from these sites because they have shown me time and again that they are worthy of my trust. And speaking of Brian Thomas, he has an M.S. in Biotechnology, and taught science at the college level for a number of years. I have yet to run into a single Evo who can point to where he mischaracterized the claims of Evo scientsts. Where the Evos disagree with him (and every creation scientist for that matter) is when he reinterprets the data to show why creation/ID is the better inference.


53 posted on 04/22/2009 5:54:03 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: GodGunsGuts

“That’s very thorough of you.”

Thanks.

“Brian Thomas, he has an M.S. in Biotechnology”

Source? I’ve been looking for his credentials for a while.


54 posted on 04/22/2009 5:56:24 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: Boxen

Brian Thomas earned his Master of Science in Biotechnology from Stephen F. Austin State University, TX, in December of 1999. He taught Principles of Biology I and II, and General Chemistry I at Navarro College in Waxahachie, TX from 2003-2005. He also taught Undergraduate Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology and Anatomy Lab at Dallas Baptist University from 2005-2008. Here is his thesis paper:

http://devo.sfasu.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=U2Y6729B43491.129567&profile=sfa&source=~!marquis&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!846125~!0&ri=1&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=preparation+of+ligands&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ri=1#focus


55 posted on 04/22/2009 6:06:58 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: GodGunsGuts

I was hoping more for some kind of online corroboration. Frankly, you’d think the ICR would post his credentials. Unfortunately, your link isn’t loading.


56 posted on 04/22/2009 6:11:32 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: Boxen
Here's a brief picture, synopsis and link:

Brian Thomas, Science Writer for the Institute for Creation Research, will address these issues and more. Brian (M.S. Biotechnology) has taught science at the university level and is a co-founder of the Center for Christian Apologetics.

http://www.answers101.org/conference.html

57 posted on 04/22/2009 6:19:11 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
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To: GodGunsGuts

That one works well enough. Thanks.


58 posted on 04/22/2009 6:21:22 PM PDT by Boxen (There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.)
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To: GodGunsGuts
So you are saying that the research institution doesn’t even check with the scientist to make sure they understand the research they are engaged in before telling the world about it!

No, I'm not saying that. Besides, you're changing the subject. You asserted that the press release being wrong meant the actual scientists got it wrong. I'm saying that's an unwarranted assertion.

59 posted on 04/22/2009 6:38:51 PM PDT by Ha Ha Thats Very Logical
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To: freedumb2003

Your posts are a mixture of bald assertion, projection, attributing motives to people then passing judgment on those (strawmen), appealing to authority, all layered in with condescension, sarcasm and various tricks to derail/change the topic. Maybe in your perception that passes for a solid science understanding.

What you are doing is apologetics for evolutionsm.


60 posted on 04/22/2009 7:24:34 PM PDT by valkyry1
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