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On February 5, 2009, theistic evolution proponent Karl Giberson and intelligent design proponent John West debated whether a Christian can be a Darwinist before a packed auditorium at Biola University in Los Angeles. The session was sponsored by the Master of Arts in Science and Religion program at Biola. Below you can listen to the audio of this debate, courtesy of Biola University.

Abstract: Conservation of information theorems indicate that any search algorithm performs, on average, as well as random search without replacement unless it takes advantage of problem-specific information about the search target or the search-space structure. Combinatorics shows that even a moderately sized search requires problem-specific information to be successful. Computers, despite their speed in performing queries, are completely inadequate for resolving even moderately sized search problems without accurate information to guide them. We propose three measures to characterize the information required for successful search: 1) endogenous information, which measures the difficulty of finding a target using random search; 2) exogenous information, which measures the difficulty that remains in finding a target once a search takes advantage of problem-specific information; and 3) active information, which, as the difference between endogenous and exogenous information, measures the contribution of problem-specific information for successfully finding a target. This paper develops a methodology based on these information measures to gauge the effectiveness with which problem-specific information facilitates successful search. It then applies this methodology to various search tools widely used in evolutionary search.

Make no mistake about it. George Gilder’s latest book The Israel Test is powerful. Persuasive and demands the attention of anyone seriously concerned with the future of our civilization as we know it. Gilder lays out in his opening paragraph exactly what he is going to be concerned with: “The central issue in international politics, dividing the world into two fractious armies, Read More ›

This article, published in National Review, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley Smith: … Baleful trends among bioethicists should heighten those concerns. The view that medical care should be withheld from people based not merely on the likelihood of success or the cost but on judgments about the quality of their lives is no longer held only by a fringe. Read More ›

Americans are engaged in a healthy democratic donnybrook over “Obamacare,” the generic term for health care reform legislation that would remake the current American medical system. What a spectacle — citizens yelling at their elective representatives; the Speaker of the House of Representatives testily calling democratic organizing and agitation “un American,” the President of the United States forced by political Read More ›

The Wall Street Journal suggests bluntly what people in the pharmaceutical industry should have been asking for weeks: In the process of selling out on Health Care, has Big Pharma been sold out? Or has Big Pharma just sold out the public that counts on its ever-burgeoning cornucopia of new wonder drugs? That the industry has tried to cut a deal with the White Read More ›

This article, published by Ethics and Religion, quotes Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley J. Smith: Scare tactics? Not according to Dr. Wesley Smith, who leads bioethics and human rights for the Discovery Institute. The House-passed bill does set up “proper care protocols” for cost savings. “The fear is that they would be rationing boards, rather than entities which stick to saying, Read More ›