Scientism Moves into Speculative Fantasyland
Abandoning rigor, the Big Science Cartel
and its promoters in the media turn goofy
Gone are the days when the founders of science emphasized rigorous observation and explanation based on hard evidence. Now, anything goes. Journals and universities publish things that could never be proved, justifying that it “might” be true, “may” have happened long ago, or “could” conceivably come true in the distant future. If it supports Darwinism, or stimulates frantic action against climate change, all the better.
Mixed in with the fantasy are solid, legitimate, empirical studies based on reason, evidence, authority and logic (R.E.A.L.). The result is a morass of science, mythology and misinformation that degrades public trust, making it difficult for anyone to separate the wheat from the chaff. The coveted imprimatur of “science” loses its honor when there is no boundary between Frontierland and Fantasyland.
Ask how anyone could know or prove the following claims made by sources of “science” media:
Fish brains may provide insight into the molecular basis of decision-making (University of Illinois, 29 Nov 2023). Look for the escape clause: fish brains “may provide insight” into whatever. Notice the materialism? “The molecular basis” of decision-making. You don’t make decisions rationally, because a mistake in a fish ancestor’s neuron way back when created a molecule that made it act a certain way. With this presumption, abandon all hope of rational discussion in science.
Research suggests that dinosaurs may have influenced how human beings age (Phys.org, 29 Nov 2023). Try this experiment: Make up a silly story about how something in your evolutionary past made you what you are today. See if BioEssays will publish it. It worked for João Pedro de Magalhães. Hint: Be sure not to mention “intelligent design” or “creation” anywhere to avoid the Fantasyland Police Department. Let evolution take credit.
Psychological science can help counter spread of misinformation, says APA report (American Psychological Association, 29 Nov 2023). This is known as putting the inmates in charge of the asylum. Trust psychologists to define misinformation? That’s crazy. They’ve been pushing misinformation since Freud the Fraud.
The world needs more empathy—here is how science can harness it (McGill University, 29 Nov 2023). Like The Blob, scientism roams about devouring everything in its path. It takes over moral philosophy about human needs and the means to attain them. “McGill researchers explore the power of imagination, showing how a shift in thinking can make humans more caring.” People used to trust ministers to teach moral character from the Scriptures, but now “science” has taken over.
How shifting climates may have shaped early elephants’ trunks (eLife, 28 Nov 2023). There’s that “may” word again: early climates “may” have shaped elephant trunks. Sure, all 40,000 muscles were shaped by the weather. How goofy is that? And how would the scientism-ists ever prove it? With a time machine and lifetimes of multiple scientists watching for mistakes in their genes to be selected?
Why some medical conditions are due to evolutionary design flaws (New Scientist, 28 Nov 2023). Try this one on your doctor: blame Darwin for your ailment. See if it makes any difference in your therapy. Watch the reporter claim that Darwin can bring “understanding” as if he is a guru.
Huntington’s disease seems to be an example of a trend seen in many different areas of medicine, where we consider evolutionary explanations for illnesses and symptoms, an approach also called Darwinian medicine.
Instead of assuming that medical conditions happen because something in the body has “gone wrong”, we may gain a deeper understanding by viewing symptoms as a trade-off from genes that also improve our reproductive success.
Glimpse of the earliest supernovae could reveal our cosmic origins (New Scientist, 28 Nov 2023). A glimpse at a supernova “could” reveal where we came from. Has reporter Alex Wilkins no shame? He’s doing divination on an exploding star. No evidence. No logic. No proof. Sentence him to reading 50 hours of Sir Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle.
Molecular cooperation at the threshold of life (ETH Zurich, 29 Nov 2023). Possibilities are not certainties. “It is possible that these two types of molecules stabilised each other during the development of life – and that this might even have paved the way for the genetic code,” this press release begins. Penalty: listen to all the abiogenesis videos by Dr James Tour.
Ancient AMY1 gene duplications primed the amylase locus for adaptive evolution upon the onset of agriculture (Yilmaz et al., bioRxiv, 28 Nov 2023). Human ancestors were hunting and gathering for millions of years, this Fantasyland story goes, but one day, 700,000 Darwin Years ago, a mistake happened in a gene: it duplicated. There was a long pause before a surprising result: agriculture!
Analyses with these 31mers suggest that the first duplication of the amylase locus occurred more than 700,000 years ago before the split between modern humans and Neanderthals. After the original duplication events, amplification of the AMY1 genes likely occurred via nonallelic homologous recombination in a manner that consistently results in an odd number of copies per chromosome. These findings suggest that amylase haplotypes may have been primed for bursts of natural-selection associated duplications that coincided with the incorporation of starch into human diets.
The rest was history: obese humans.
Examples could be multiplied. Why do scientists and their managers in the Big Science Cartel and Big Media put up with this nonsense? It’s simple: they have abandoned God and censored creation out of the arena. This freed them up to take over theology and philosophy with no accountability. Theists were kicked out and atheists took over the hallowed halls of science. Now, evolutionists pontificate about the evolution of religion, failing to consider the religion of evolution.
Godless philosophy (with apologies to Irving Berlin)
Godless philosophy,
Pointless for me;
None to cause us, but Cosmos,
All that is, was, or ever shall be.
From the big bang,
To the slime soup,
To the heat death, dark and old:
Godless philosophy, it leaves me cold;
Godless philosophy, it leaves me cold.