November 8, 2011 Introducing The Human Exceptionalist A Monthly Newsletter of Discovery InstituteLast week—according to the experts—the 7 billionth human was born on Planet Earth. To those who view human life as a scourge on the planet (and there are many), this simply represents another mouth to feed on a sphere of finite and diminishing resources. Others, like Discovery Institute Read More ›
One of the most renowned biologists of the nineteenth century, Alfred Russel Wallace shares credit with Charles Darwin for developing the theory of evolution by natural selection. Yet one part of Wallace’s remarkable life and career has been completely ignored: His embrace of intelligent design. Darwin’s Heretic is a 21-minute documentary that explores Wallace’s fascinating intellectual journey and how it Read More ›
Slade Gorton’s half century in politics began in 1956. Together with Dan Evans and Joel Pritchard, he was a key player in generating a new wave of progressive Republican politics in Washington State. He helped elect the youngest governor in state history; argued 14 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court as attorney general; upset a legend to win a seat Read More ›
I spoke at a town-hall event about end-of-life care recently that, unfortunately, devolved mostly into an intense debate on assisted suicide. When the time came for audience questions, a self-described “mentally ill” woman took the microphone and strongly declared that she too should have the right to doctor-prescribed death. More than half the audience applauded, validating the woman’s potential suicide. Ten years ago, Read More ›
This article, published by The Seattle Times, mentions Discovery Institute Fellow Bruce Agnew: The “love affair” in Portland is a good political boost for locally-sponsored streetcar projects, and a model for what can happen here, said Bruce Agnew, policy director of the pro-rail Cascadia Center at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. The rest of the article can be found here.
About the Book Throughout history, butterflies have fascinated artists, philosophers, scientists and schoolchildren with their profound mystery and beauty. Illustra Media’s new film Metamorphosis explores the remarkable world of butterflies as few documentaries have before, tracing their amazing transformation from caterpillars into winged masterpieces through MRI imaging, computer animation, and stunning nature footage. How did these extraordinary creatures come into being? Are Read More ›
I have observed two recent events that seem to be unrelated. Yet, as I think about them, one has much to do with the other. On one hand, the news lately has been filled with stories about a large number of people congregating on Wall Street in New York City. Some refer to themselves as if they were a coherent group Read More ›
Is there such a thing as a “duty to die?” Some notable voices in bioethics say, yes. They believe that as a matter of distributive justice, when people reach a certain advanced age, severe disability, or very poor health, they owe it to society, their families—and even themselves—to allow life to (or make it) end. Thus, in 1997, University of Read More ›
This article, published by The Jewish Press, quotes Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith: Wesley J. Smith, author of Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder, found a copy of the Hemlock Society’s publication, the Hemlock Quarterly, in the files of a friend of his who had committed suicide. The copy had been heavily highlighted and “dog-eared from Read More ›