By Chris Lane
By Jeff Balke
By Aaron Reiss
By Angelica Leicht
By Dianna Wray
By Aaron Reiss
By Camilo Smith
By Craig Malisow
Carry the torch: The American Scientific Nomenklatura at Baylor University has set the new methods of silencing opponent voices: an inquisition without flames. No different from the medieval methods of burning alive the ones who dared to voice a different worldview.
Dembski may well be counted as a modern Galileo. Baylor will have the same fate as the Roman Catholic Church -- not knowing the scientific issues, it decides to side with the so-called academia. History has vindicated Galileo, and so it will be for Dembski.
Enezio E. de Almeida Filho
By design: Your article was fairly well written and reasonably balanced. However, it did not do much to enlighten the general public (and by extension its mirror, the media) as to why the theory can be controversial on purely scientific grounds rather than dogmatic presupposition.
The crux of the matter is the difference between information as opposed to meaning. In science, the term information is often used to indicate the degree of order in a system, rather than the aspects of that system to which humans can ascribe meaning.
For example, the letters on this page are comprised of ink deposited on processed wood fibers. This represents a structure with more order than a pile of wood pulp and dyes -- therefore there is more information, in the entropic sense. However, it is the human mind that ascribes meaning to these letters. The degree of order is independent of what meaning is ascribed to the system.
I am sure William Dembski has addressed issues of information versus meaning in his own mind, if not to his peers. I wish the reporter had elaborated a bit more on the distinction.
Godel's Incompleteness Theorem demonstrates that in any sufficiently complex logical system that can make statements about itself, there will be truths that are not derivable from the stated axioms. There would seem to be plenty of room in these blind spots for anyone to ascribe meaning to their heart's delight.
Joy to the world: That was an excellent piece on Dembski in the Houston Press. I'm always overjoyed when a reporter demonstrates a clear understanding of the issues. Good work!
University of California