Talk:A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism/Archive1

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Modest

I did some modest revisions to this page and got told that the size of the thing might make it somewhat hard to load for certain browsers. Is this something I should worry about? Can anyone with any knowledge whatsoever assume responsibility for the situation?G.D. (talk) 01:29, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Well, the page takes a little bit longer to load the larger it is. It usually isn't a problem except for slower internet connections, dated browsers, and old computers. For me, it took only a split second longer than other pages on this wiki.

That said, I think it would be a good idea to move some of this article to its subspace. --User:Brxbrx/sig 23:10, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Mainspace pages can't have subpages. Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 06:37, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Appeal to authority

While this is obviously an attempt to confuse the issue by cherry picking a few scientists who disagree with evolution I think the following statement from the article is wrong:

• "The petition is considered an Appeal to authority, whereby the creationists at the Discovery Institute are attempting to prove that there is a dissent from "Darwinism" by finding a few creationist scientists to support the statement."

The logical fallacy appeal to authority occurs when somebody is talking outside their field, but the "authority" which they have in their actual field is presumed to also apply to the unrelated field. As some (though not all) of these scientists quoted have some sort of qualification in the biological sciences the "appeal to authority" complaint doesn't work in respect of the entire project. I'd go with "cherry picking" instead.--Weirdstuff (talk) 09:57, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Mae-Wan Ho

"Mae-Wan Ho, Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of Hong Kong. A known critic of genetic engineering (in fact, a batshit crazy doomsday prophet) through opinion pieces (not peer-reviewed research).[118] Has not contributed to real research for 40 years, if ever. The fact that her signature appears on this list is pretty illuminating. Indeed, she is also a signatory to Rethinking AIDS, a list of HIV “skeptics".

Mae-Wan Ho has written some very interesting books on chemistry, evolution and physics she is not a creationist crank like most others on the list. She does have peer review publications out and she released some books which have recieved many positive reviews in well known journals etc. This women is not a crank, she has some interesting views and publications out on evolution. Is there a link for the rethinking aids? DinoCrisis (talk) 23:36, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Ok - I'll look up her publications again (she was among the first ones I did and I hadn't really found the same tricks and resources for locating publications at that stage). But no matter what happens: although she may have contributed to biology, she is without a shred of doubt a serious crank. She is a HIV denialist, for crying out loud. At least she signed some petitions to that effect, which I guess means that either she's a major crank, or she just signs whatever list comes her way. Either option puts her signature to this Dissent list in perspective. However, evidence suggest major crank: her GMO rants, at least, contain some major crankery and denialism. G.D. (talk) 06:38, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Section is now updated and, I think, more accurate. G.D. (talk) 06:45, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Rethinking Aids is here (the website of the organization who also runs the petition). But be warned: this is some serious crazy. The list of signatories is here, and ... it has a total of 2887 scientific dissenters! That's more than the Darwin list. Admittedly their quality control seems somewhat sloppy, since most of these are alternative health care practitioners. But you know what? I notice that they've done an Inhofe here - the criteria has changed, and these are no longer signatories but a compilation of people that RethinkingAids thinks belong on such a list. Which means I would have to change Mae-Wan Ho's entry once more. G.D. (talk) 06:53, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

I have been through most of the list on this article and most appear to be creationists/intelligent designers, the only ones who are not creationists that I have found is Eugene K. Balon and Mae-Wan Ho. I need to do some more research into Mae-Wan Ho but I see that her association with rethinking aids has undermined some of her reputation. But the thing is a scientist may be a crank in one field but publish good work in another field. DinoCrisis (talk) 09:21, 23 October 2012 (UTC)