EVOLUTIONNEWS.ORG -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah, 1956: "The young Waezin should each try and find new arguments based on the discoveries in all branches of science for keeping the human soul like [sic] the ocean with the Divine wisdom and power."] ARTICLE: During my undergraduate years, I read The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins. That book incited a quest to determine whether I was an accident of nature or created by God? Many religious leaders attempt to harmonize evolutionary theory with their faith, but they fail to realize that evolution, as taught in most academic settings, denies any possibility of guidance or intentionality. Then, in 2016, I attended the Summer Seminars and a turning point in my career. Even more striking was evidence from multiple disciplines demonstrating that scientific materialism is hopelessly inadequate. I can never forget participants' shock at the disparity between what the public is told about the state of evolutionary science and what leading researchers now know to be true about the actual data from ...

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EVOLUTIONNEWS.ORG -- The deadline for U.S. applications to the "Summer Seminars on Intelligent Design" is March 4. The Seminars is a FREE, week-long program (July 10 to 18, 2020), held in Seattle, for current undergraduates and graduate students. It includes course materials, lodging, and most meals for accepted students. Travel scholarships are also available. A previous graduate, Beth, wrote how her life was changed. "I was 19 and a junior at my university when I was accepted to The Seminars, a gathering of philosophers, paleontologists, biologists, and astronomers all in the same room. If you want to discuss the great questions of biology, I strongly encourage you to apply for this all-expense-paid event. I haven't met one alum who wasn't grateful to come. Set aside a couple hours for the application. You won't regret it." Learn with the star scientists and scholars of the ...

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NEWYORKER.COM -- The lesson from, New York Times bestselling author, Philip Tetlock's book, "Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?", is that experts on television or quoted in newspapers are no better at making predictions than the rest of us. Specialists are not significantly more reliable than non-specialists in guessing what is going to happen in the region they study. In fact, those who spend their lives studying the world are poorer forecasters than dart-throwing monkeys. And the better known and more frequently quoted they are, the less reliable their guesses about the future are likely to be. Tetlock teaches at Berkeley and his conclusions are based on a long-term study that he began 20 years ago. He got a statistical handle on his task and measured his experts on two ...

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LARVATUS.COM -- My topic for today is speculation in media. Why is it so ubiquitous? Is it because people want it? I don't think so. Consider the advantages of speculation from a media standpoint. Speculation shows are the cheapest thing you can put on television. Almost as cheap as running a test pattern. Speculation requires no research, no big staff. Just get the talking host, book the talking guests and you're done! Instant show. No reporters around the world, no film crews on location. No deadlines, no footage to edit, no editors...nothing! Just talk. You can't lose. You are never accountable. The audience does not remember yesterday, let alone last week, or last month. And it's not confined to the media. In academia, speculation is usually dignified as ...

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