Paul Nelson

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Adventures in Ankara

_{Paul Nelson
May 14, 2015}

Last week, I hit the road for Ankara, Turkey, to participate in the 3rd International Congress on Evolution Under Scrutiny.

The Deeper Issues of the Worm Video Debate: Ursula Goodenough’s Hypothesis

_{Paul Nelson
May 12, 2015}

The distinguished evolutionary biologist's solution fails, but its failure is instructive, because it reinforces our main point.

The Deeper Issues of the Worm Video Debate: P.Z. Myers’s Misdirection

_{Paul Nelson
May 7, 2015}

Recently, both Jerry Coyne and P.Z. Myers posted criticisms of the new video from Discovery Institute, "How to Build a Worm." Quelle surprise, they didn't like it.

A Critic Asks: Doesn’t Our C. elegans Video Commit the Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc Fallacy?

_{Paul Nelson
April 20, 2015}

A few points relevant to the new release, "How to Build a Worm," from Discovery Institute.

To Build a Worm: Where Undirected Evolution Runs into Severe Difficulties

_{Paul Nelson
April 8, 2015}

Neo-Darwinian theory has never explained the origin of animal development.

Why St. Denis Should Be the Patron Saint of Evolutionary Theory

_{Paul Nelson
April 7, 2015}

If PZ Myers hadn't designated April 7 "Paul Nelson Day" a few years ago, I'd never have learned just how intractable the problem of animal macroevolution would turn out to be.

"A Few Years Ago, We Couldn’t Have Filled a Kombi": The Brazilian Intelligent Design Adventure

_{Paul Nelson
November 21, 2014}

A couple of days ago, I returned from the inaugural congress of the Sociedade Brasileira do Design Inteligente.

Talking Back to Goliath: Some Advice for Students in the Evolutionary Biology Classroom

_{Paul Nelson
September 30, 2014}

A student in David Barash's class might feel a bit like David facing Goliath -- even though Goliath, in this case, happens to be named David.

Do You Like SETI? Fine, Then Let’s Dump Methodological Naturalism

_{Paul Nelson
September 24, 2014}

After reading my article about MN, a correspondent wrote and asked a good question.

Methodological Naturalism: A Rule That No One Needs or Obeys

_{Paul Nelson
September 22, 2014}

The only real motivation for holding to MN is to keep the bad guys at bay, as an all-purpose "Press Button in Case of Emergency" defeater for ideas like intelligent design.

Still Awaiting Engagement: A Reply to Robert Bishop on Darwin’s Doubt

_{Paul Nelson
September 8, 2014}

What matters is whether any of these theories can explain what needs to be explained: the origin of novel animal body plans and the biological information necessary to produce them.

Still Awaiting Full Engagement: Ralph Stearley’s "Well, Maybe, Who Knows?" Review of Darwin’s Doubt

_{Paul Nelson
August 29, 2014}

If real, design is a datum of nature, like it or not. Bad philosophies of science, like materialism, need to get out of the way.

Evolution Used the Same Molecular Toolkit? Common Sense from Jonathan Marks

_{Paul Nelson
August 28, 2014}

Marks is an evolutionary biologist/anthropologist at the University of North Carolina, and an uncommonly plain speaker and writer.

On Paul Nelson Day 2014: The Target Problem

_{Paul Nelson
April 7, 2014}

Thanks to P.Z. Myers's annual lampoon of me, I've thought more deeply about the relationship between development and evolution than I ever expected to do.

The Michael Medved Show Weekly Science & Culture Update: Featuring Dr. Paul Nelson on Artificial Life

_{Paul Nelson
November 1, 2013}

On this episode of ID the Future, Dr. Paul Nelson joins Michael Medved to discuss genomics guru Dr. Craig Venter’s claim to have created synthetic life in the lab. Can life be reduced to mere physics and chemistry, as Dr. Venter asserts? Or is there more to life that requires a creative …

On Neo-Darwinism, Denis Noble Puts It Bluntly (and Accurately)

_{Paul Nelson
August 27, 2013}

At Why Evolution Is True, Jerry Coyne sputters with indignation that Oxford physiologist Noble had the effrontery to criticize textbook evolutionary theory.

The Michael Medved Show Weekly Science & Culture Update: Featuring Dr. Paul Nelson

_{Paul Nelson
June 17, 2013}

On this episode of ID the Future, Dr. Paul Nelson joins Michael Medved to talk about some of the most fantastic creatures of spring — butterflies and birds — and the argument they present for intelligent design. To further explore the evidence for design from butterflies and birds, see the documentaries Metamorphosis: the Beauty and Design of Butterflies, and Flight: The Genius of …