Scot Bastian Ph.D.
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I am Not a Darwinist.

11/25/2013

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I get a little exasperated when I so-often see religious dogmatists refer to evolutionary biologists as "Darwinists." I think it is just a canard to somehow conflate evolutionary theory into some kind of religious belief or ideology. Silly "scientific" creationists, your arguments aren't any more scientific than your "intelligent" design arguments are intelligent. This was a fairly obvious motif in the dog-awful film of yesteryear "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," (I can't argue with the veracity of the title.) which I only recommend watching if you want to see a sterling example of misguided religious propaganda. I haven't seen the film in years but I think their syllogism was something like:

1) Evolutionary biologists are Darwinists
2) Darwinists believe in social darwinism.
3) Nazis are social darwinists
4) Therefore evolutionary biologists are Nazis.

Yeah, pretty insulting. John Rennie, in his Scientific American article, "Ben Stein's Expelled: No Integrity Displayed," pretty well summed it up: "
Ben Stein wants you to stop thinking of evolution as an actual science supported by verifiable facts and logical arguments and to start thinking of it as a dogmatic, atheistic ideology akin to Marxism."
    I really don't get it. They don't call physicists Newtonists or Einsteinists, do they? Oh, and please, save me from semantic junk that evolution is "just" a theory. As has been often pointed out gravity is "just" a theory and we don't fall off the planet, and then there is germ theory; we still catch colds, right?
    Part of the reason I'm thinking about this is that I'm about 60 pages into what is shaping up to be a pretty good book: Brilliant Blunders, by Mario Livio. The thesis of the book is that many great scientists, including Darwin, Einstein, Pauling, and others "stumbled badly," and some of these errors were instrumental in advancing their respective fields. For example, in Darwin's case, according to Livio, he made the fundamental error of believing in "blended" inheritance. Darwin believed that if a population of white mice generated a mutant (a "sport" in the terminology of the day) black mouse, subsequent generations would gradually dilute the black pigment to the point where the population would revert to an all white population. The dilution of genetic blending would logically counter the idea of natural selection, which would allow expansion of a fixed attribute if the mutation results in a reproductive advantage. If only Darwin recognized, or was aware of, the discoveries of his contemporary Gregor Mendel he would have realized an elegant mechanism of inheritance (via what were later called genes) that would have neatly explained natural selection. All of this highlights the fact that scientific knowledge is provisional knowledge, that is, subject to change in light of a better understanding of the facts.
    Let's end this post with some fun videos related to Charles Darwin, the greatest biologist who ever lived.


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The Moving Target of Childhood Punishment. Beware of Omniscient BeingsĀ 

11/15/2013

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Okay, this particular topic has little to do with Art or Science--but how about a little personal history for a change? When I was a medium- to small-sized young'un my folks were still stuck in the meme that a misbehaving child should receive corporal punishment. Although my folks weren't really religious, I think this was probably a societal extension of the biblical "Spare the rod, spoil the child" B.S. If I recall correctly, somewhere around my tenth birthday, they stopped the spankings. I think they probably figured out that it really doesn't work. AFAIK, my little sister was never hit by my parents, and all three of us kids seemed to come out okay. I remember that they switched to a "timeout" system; in other words--go to your room, or no after school fun activities for some set period of time. I remember once I badly misbehaved (I think I basically destroyed my Grandmother's house) when I was about eleven or twelve. I was deprived of desserts for a whole month. Oh, the horror! In a retrospectively hilarious act of rebellion I shop-lifted no less than four ice cream sandwiches from the local drugstore during that month. Thank goodness I wasn't caught, or there would have been Hell-to-pay, and, really, I was basically an honest kid. I think the name of the drugstore was "Kiefer's." It was in Mt. Prospect IL. Let me just say that if Kiefer's (or their heirs) want to send me a bill (go ahead and add compound interest) I'll happily pay. I'm sorry.
     But, that isn't what I'm writing about. Several years ago I visited my cousin, who had a young son. I learned later that, they had a new punishment, when their son misbehaved, he was NOT forced to go to his room. Of course not. In his bedroom he could watch TV and videos and play video games. What kind of punishment is that? His punishment? He was "unplugged." No video games. No TV. No cell phone. Major suckiness. But now, in this age of twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, in addition to video games TV and Email, being "unplugged" is an even more severe punishment. Kids today seem to be even more dependent on the social connectedness that is facilitated by technology. America's youth is more electronic (and fatter) than ever. I even heard a description of this new punishment of being disconnected. It is called "The Full Amish."  My guess is that most kids would rather be whacked upside the head than subjected to this brutal treatment. So, my advice to teens and pre-teens.  Behave yourself, or you too might be subjected to the FULL AMISH. Besides, Christmas is coming, and, although I have doubts about the existence of an omniscient god, I have little doubt about an omniscient Santa Claus.

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Interview with Phineas P. Phrogg, Megastar in the hit film "Gravity." #frogs #Gravity #racism

11/4/2013

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DYT Blogger: So, Mr. Phrogg--

PPP: Oh, please, call me Phineas.

DYT Blogger: As you wish. Phineas, what is it like to share the big screen with stars like, George Cluney and Sandra Bullock?

PPP: Well, I have to say, that they are consummate professionals. It was a real honor. Both of them were so very easy to work with. They're like Michael Jordans of the film world.  Not only are they fantastic, but they make everyone around them better too. I wish them the best of luck in their respective careers, and you can bet that they're on my short-list should an appropriate role be available for them in one of my future projects.

DYT Blogger: That's very gracious of you, Mr. Phro--er, I mean Phineas. Did it bother you at all that they seemed to get more screen-time than you?

PPP: Oh, not at all. I feel like they were a great lead-in to my scene, which was, of course, the climax.

DYT Blogger: ...and a captivating climax it was, I'll say.

PPP: Thank you.

DYT Blogger: Although, it did seem a rather small role for an artist of your stature...

PPP: There are no small roles, only small minds, sir.

DYT Blogger: Righto! So why, exactly, weren't you featured earlier in the film?

PPP:  Simple: Logistics.

DYT Blogger: What do you mean?

PPP:  They simply couldn't find a space suit of suitable proportions to fit me--although your point is well-taken--next time I think I'll instruct my agent to negotiate for a custom-made space suit.

DYT Blogger: Perhaps for a sequel?

PPP:  If there is a sequel.  My time is valuable, and--how shall I express it--my dance card is filling up. Perhaps though i might be able to squeeze in another cameo.

DYT Blogger: So tell me, or, let's say, tell the world, who have been some of your inspirations and mentors helping you to launch your illustrious career?  Kermit the frog, perhaps?

PPP: Ahem, you're walking on thin ice there.

DYT Blogger:  Thin ice?

PPP: That's a bit offensive, if you don't mind.

DYT Blogger:  Oh, so sorry Mr. Phrogg, no offense intended.

PPP:  Well, I'll just chalk it up to your ignorance. let me just say this, Kermit is, to frogs, what blackface is to African Americans--not funny. In fact, an insulting caricature. 

DYT Blogger: Oh, I apologize again.

PPP: ...and let me add, that like most of Hollywood, I'm quite tolerant of, how shall I say this, "unusual" relationships. But I can't wrap myself around Kermit's obsession with--I can hardly say it--a pig. That "Miss Piggy" is not only not a frog, she isn't even an amphibian. Beastly!  (PPP was breathless at this point.) Sorry.  I need a moment to recover from the thought.

DYT Blogger:  Perhaps we should change the subject.

PPP: Yes, let's do so.  Let's get back to the original subject: Me, that is.

DYT Blogger: Perhaps you could share who some of your inspirations are?

PPP: Well, this is exactly about me, but I'll roll with it.  Not exactly a model, but someone I admire is Peter Dinklage.

DYT Blogger: The dwarf actor in "Game of Thrones?"

PPP: Yes. Now there's and actor who goes against the grain. Before Peter it seemed that most dwarfs were portrayed as ridiculous. Remember "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?" Similar to him I seek to make the world treat both frogs and toads with the distinction and seriousness that is long overdue.

DYT Blogger: Of course.

PPP: Inexcusable stereotyping. But Dinklage broke that stereotype. On "Game of Thrones" he's clever, conniving, with extraordinary diplomatic intellectual guile, and quite the ladies man too.

DYT Blogger: That he is.

PPP: Of course he's not nearly as fecund as even the average frog, he is, after-all, a mammal. But anyway, I'm trying to separate from ridiculous frog-stereotyping in the same way. What Sidney Poitier is to racist black-face, Dinklage is to anti-dwafism, and I intend to be against anti-frogism. This, I hope, will be my cultural legacy.  Now, I'm very sorry, but I have to wrap this up. My agent has arranged a meeting with Stephen Spielberg and I'm already ten minutes late.

DYT Blogger: Thank you sir.

PPP: My pleasure.

That, DYT Blog readers, is the transcript of the interview with Phineas P. Phrogg, who I am sure will be showing us great things, no matter what pond he winds up in.


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    Scot Bastian Ph.D. is a scientist and artist who lives in Seattle WA.

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