__edited | Page 4 | Discovery Institute

^{Jay W. Richards
March 15, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Economics}

Universal Basic Income? Fear of AI Fuels a New Argument for Socialism

_{Jay W. Richards
March 15, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Economics}

With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic candidates for president floating wilder trial balloons than a psychedelic circus, I’m surprised they have not (yet) picked up on the universal basic income (UBI). The UBI (guaranteed income for employable people who choose not to work) is far and away the favorite “solution” among those strong AI enthusiasts who expect machines to replace human work. They expect vast swaths of the country to be out of work for good. So far, the only candidate plugging UBI is entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Yang is more idea-oriented than his Democratic opponents and he has made UBI central to his presidential campaign in the key state of Iowa. His plan would offer $1,000 a month per person. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before other Democratic candidates pick up on this platform plank, on the assumption that their likely voters will imagine it as free money. Read More ›

^{Christopher Rufo
March 11, 2019
Economics}

When “Compassion” is Contempt

_{Christopher Rufo
March 11, 2019
Economics}

The Washington legislature is one step closer to legalizing homeless encampments statewide. Last week, Democratic lawmakers passed through committee legislation, introduced by Representative Mia Gregerson, that would usurp the authority of city governments and legalize camping in all “plazas, courtyards, parking lots, sidewalks, public transportation facilities, public buildings, shopping centers, parks, [and] natural and wildlife areas” throughout the state. Read More ›

^{Wesley J. Smith
March 11, 2019
Human Exceptionalism}

Transhumanism, the Lazy Way to Human ‘Improvement’

_{Wesley J. Smith
March 11, 2019
Human Exceptionalism}

Sometimes you have to laugh. In “Transhumanism and the Death of Human Exceptionalism,”published in Aero, Peter Clarke quotes criticism I leveled against transhumanism from a piece I wrote entitled, “The Transhumanist Bill of Wrongs” From my piece: Transhumanism would shatter human exceptionalism. The moral philosophy of the West holds that each human being is possessed of natural rights that adhere solely and merely because we Read More ›

^{Scott S. Powell
March 10, 2019
Economics}

Edging Closer to a Trade Deal

_{Scott S. Powell
March 10, 2019
Economics}

The United States and China are edging closer to finalizing a trade deal that should end the tariff penalties that are at the heart of a year-old trade war. It’s also hoped that the deal will include enforcement and penalties for China’s national security-related intellectual property (IP) theft and espionage, and provide structural changes that would end forced technology transfer and protect trade Read More ›

^{Jay W. Richards
March 5, 2019}

Let’s Make Lent Great Again, Together

_{Jay W. Richards
March 5, 2019}

On Sunday, the Twitter user “⫷ † SavedGrace† ⫸” complained that since she couldn’t find Lent mentioned in the Bible, she doesn’t observe it. To which the Catholic website Rorate Caeli replied, “Cannot find ‘bible’ in the Bible either.” I piled on by noting that “Trinity” and “Incarnation” aren’t in the Bible either. It’s a silly argument. Just because something Read More ›

Silhouettes of satellite dishes or radio antennas against night sky. Space observatory.

^{Michael Egnor
March 1, 2019
Intelligent Design}

What Is Intelligent Design? A Thomistic Perspective

_{Michael Egnor
March 1, 2019
Intelligent Design}

All of nature manifests design. Design is everywhere — in the laws of physics, in quantum mechanics, in biology, in relativistic cosmology, in every crevice of nature. There is little in the universe that is not designed. Accidents do happen, but even accidents are the conjunction of designed events. Two cars colliding at an intersection are designed vehicles driven by intelligent drivers on planned roadways. Chance itself presupposes a framework of design in which chance occurs. Read More ›

This artist’s impression shows a gas giant planet circling the two red dwarf stars in the system OGLE-2007-BLG-349, located 8 000 light-years away. The planet — with a mass similar to Saturn — orbits the two stars at a distance of roughly 480 million kilometres. The two red dwarf stars are a mere 11 million kilometres apart. The artist's impression is based on observations made with Hubble that helped astronomers confirm the existence of a planet orbiting The two stars in the system. The system is too far away for Hubble to take an image of the planet. Instead, its presence was inferred from gravitational microlensing. This phenomenon occurs when the gravity of a foreground star bends and amplifies the light of a background star that momentarily aligns with it. The particular character of the light magnification can reveal clues to the nature of the foreground star and any associated planets. The Hubble observations represent the first time such a three-body system has been confirmed using the gravitational microlensing technique.

^{Guillermo Gonzalez
February 22, 2019
Intelligent Design}

Exoplanets and the Fermi Paradox

_{Guillermo Gonzalez
February 22, 2019
Intelligent Design}

We are living during a golden age of discovery in astronomy. Arguably, it began with the dawning of the space age in 1957. By 1989 our probes had visited every planet in the Solar System (in 2015 New Horizons visited the former planet Pluto). Then, in 1995 we discovered the first planet around another star (an exoplanet). Read More ›

Mount Rushmore National Monument near Keystone, South Dakota on July 26, 2013.

^{Scott S. Powell
February 18, 2019
Citizen Leadership}

Presidents Day: Washington and Lincoln as Relevant Today as Ever

_{Scott S. Powell
February 18, 2019
Citizen Leadership}

Presidents Day is unique among American holidays in providing the opportunity to remember and appreciate why George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — whose birthdays fall in February — were the two greatest U.S. presidents. While Washington was the founding father of the United States, Lincoln would later save the nation from division and collapse — bringing an end to the Civil War and the scourge of slavery. In short, Lincoln saved the republic that Washington made possible. Read More ›

John West participating in post-screening discussion at First Baptist Church, Athens, TX.

^{John G. West
February 18, 2019
Intelligent Design}

Seeking Racial Reconciliation in the Heart of Texas at a Screening of Human Zoos

_{John G. West
February 18, 2019
Intelligent Design}

On a cold but sunny Sunday afternoon on Martin Luther King Day weekend, I found myself deep in the heart of Texas. I was visiting the town of Athens, 73 miles southeast of Dallas, for a screening of my documentary Human Zoos at First Baptist Church. The film has just been posted to YouTube after previously being shown on cable television and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Amazon Prime. Human Zoos communicates Read More ›

^{The Center for Science and Culture
February 15, 2019
Intelligent Design, Research & Analysis}

Responses to Criticism of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves

_{The Center for Science and Culture
February 15, 2019
Intelligent Design, Research & Analysis}

With the release of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves, the scientific dialogue between its detractors and defenders continues. Here we collect some of the most noteworthy criticisms and responses by Michael Behe and others. Find the most comprehensive coverage and most recent responses of Darwin Devolves at Evolution News. Re: Lents at Skeptic Magazine Regarding “Behe’s Last Stand: The Lion of Intelligent Design Roars Read More ›