Re: [asa] How paleontology works

Michael,

What would be of some use is if you can give me specific examples from Andy
McIntosh's book (I take it you're referring to "Genesis for Today", of
which I've a copy), explaining clearly exactly why what he has said is
completely wrong. It is entirely up to my friend (and me) whether we decide
McIntosh is a lying toad, or whether he is just self-deluded. I personally
favour the "self-delusion" angle - I think that with the best of motives,
one can easily fall into the trap of "seeing what you want to see", and in
the end it becomes so deeply ingrained that you don't even realise you're
being intellectually dishonest. I think the "seeing what you want to see"
is a hazard for all scientists, especially if you think you're on the brink
of a shattering new discovery - for example Fleishmann and Pons in the "cold
fusion" fiasco that ended up wasting a lot of research time at Harwell
(where I used to work), attempting in vain to reproduce the results. If F&P
hadn't been so hasty in proclaiming their discovery, it would have saved a
lot of money.

> > So I have said nothing of use and your friend will have to decide
> > whether you or YECs are the lying toad.
> >
>

I was going to put it differently than that - ask him what he makes of the
fact that Schweitzer is a Christian, and one who's up front enough about her
faith to have Jeremiah 29:11 displayed prominently on her desk; that she is
upset that Creationists have distorted her research etc. He will have to
decide whether AiG or Schweitzer are the ones being intellectually
dishonest.

Satan has done a good job!!
> >
>
Well, I think I can agree on that one.

... btw my daughter struck up an MSN friendship with a boy from Nigeria who
was a devout Christian. He kept saying "You'll have to watch out for old
STAN the Devil". We couldn't work out what he meant by "STAN", till we
realised that in Instant Messaging ppl often abbreviate words, and he meant
Satan.

Stan has indeed done a good job!

Iain

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