A biologist's view of science & religion

Friday laugh track… laughs guaranteed or your money back.

justintopp — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:33:01 +0000

I don’t care how bad or how good your week has been. This video should bring a smile to your face no matter what. It’s a relative oldie, but a goodie…

If that can’t do it, here’s a montage. Good luck resisting their charms!

The Evolution of Adam blog tour

justintopp — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:37:41 +0000

Friend Pete Enns’ book, The Evolution of Adam, is now out and being promoted with a blog tour. I’m honored to be a part of it, especially when I look at the other bloggers involved. All next week Brazos will be linking to posts on the book and will also be doing some giveaways which look tempting… so head over to the blog tour website for more information.

Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning

justintopp — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:47:20 +0000

I am currently reading Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning by Nancey Murphy, a book that I have been wanting to read for years. I am through the first quarter of the book and so far I am led to believe that this may be one of those books. You know, an absolutely foundational book that makes you ask yourself, “Why has it taken me so long to find this out?” or exclaim after reading it, “I can’t imagine life without it.”

So, it looks like a good book.

For a summary, one need look no further than the preface where Murphy describes her motivations for writing the book.

The philosopher of science must answer the question “In what does the rationality of science consist?” Few besides my teacher Feyerabend would question that science is rational. The philosophy of religion, on the other hand, must in these days provide an apologia for the very possibility of religious knowledge.

Philosophy of science has made great strides in this generation by careful study of science itself – as opposed to arm-chair investigation of the ‘logic’ of science. It seemed to me, therefore, that philosophers of religion needed an equally thorough knowledge of the cognitive aspects of religion…

… I saw that Scripture, history, and the church’s ongoing encounters with God in community life and worship could be the data for a scientific theology. Theology itself (doctrine) could be accounted theories in a theological “research program.” The analysis of the relations between data and theory, and criteria for acceptance of theories, would come from the philosophy of science of the late Imre Lakatos. (p xi-xii)

Let me make it clear from the beginning that I do not believe that for theology to be intellectually acceptable or a worthwhile endeavor that it need to be scientific. Too often, disciplines outside of traditional science want to label their fields as scientific or use scientific terminology or methodology to make their disciplines seem more relevant in today’s scientific climate. I don’t think this is necessary because I believe all disciplines have their own intrinsic value, but then again I teach at a Christian liberal arts college so that is to be expected. However, since I am a scientist and thus think and structure my ideas in the ways of science, Murphy’s approach is very inviting to me, personally.

Should her approach be inviting to more than just me? Should she have a broader audience? I think so, but you tell me. Do you agree with the following paragraph? Do you think what she’s stating is a valid and current problem for theology?

So, to sum up, the theologian’s options, as Stout sees them, are: (1) ignore Hume, with the consequence that theology becomes irrelevant to the segment of the culture that has been affected by Enlightenment thought; or (2) take Hume’s work for granted and either: (a) find some other vindication for theology (moral, aesthetic, existential), with the consequence that theology loses its cognitive content and becomes uninteresting; or (b) redefine terms so that theology has its own peculiar form of ‘rationality’, with the consequence that theology becomes unintelligible to those who operate with the same standard epistemology. (p 14)

Dan Dennett on our Consciousness (TED talk of the week)

justintopp — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:42 +0000

Last week, I linked to Antonio Damasio’s TED talk in which he spoke about his theory for how “self comes to mind” to generate consciousness. This week, we get a different picture of consciousness, from Dan Dennett. Dennett has two main points to make in his talk. First, even though you think you’re an expert on your own consciousness, you’re really not. Second, a good amount of the time your consciousness is not only inaccurate, but it is fooling… “you.”

Dennett’s evidence for his argument comes from visual tricks or illusions that show that what you think you’re looking at is not really there. Your brain fills in gaps and plays tricks on you to help make sense out of the limited view you have of reality (in this case, artistic images).

The evidence is quite clear. My favorite example is shown below in two images, the first a view of a painting from afar and the second a closer up view of the same painting. Your brain makes you think that there are people on the bridge from afar, but when you look more closely, it’s just blobs of paint. You “create” people that aren’t really there. We don’t just do this with visual inputs, but also with audio inputs, as anyone who has camped out can attest to! We think there is someone out there when it’s just the wind (or if you’re in Texas, an armadillo).

However, I don’t agree that the inaccuracies presented in the talk can then be extrapolated to say that all of our consciousness is mistaken. It’s one thing to show that processing of relatively complex inputs can be faulty from time to time, it’s another entirely to say that our understanding of consciousness is mistaken or that consciousness is an illusion (which he does not say within this particular talk, but is a logical conclusion). Nevertheless, a very interesting talk and one that should generate a healthy discussion!

Yes-so-weekly links roundup… Jan. 23

justintopp — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:46:59 +0000

Links for the week. Audio from Evanescence, Pink Floyd, and … John Denver?

The news I see fit to print (er, link) to:

Everything you wanted to know about coffee in 3 minutes. Wow, didn’t know it was responsible for the Enlightenment!
This is how Apple changes education forever. Or maybe not. At least, not yet. Anything that drops textbook price down, makes them weigh less, and makes them more interactive is a big hit for me.
Speaking of Apple, iPad and iPhone apps of note. Medical. Frugal foodies. And this. Heh.When Siri attacks. But seriously, assimilation has begun.
This made me laugh. So, did this, although it probably shouldn’t have. This didn’t, which is unusual for xkcd, but humor wasn’t it’s purpose. Seems like Wikipedia et al. were taken seriously.
Mountains beyond mountains. Gorgeous book art.
I’ve had a massive earache/sinus infection this weekend and brought old Mr. Reliable… the hydrogen peroxide. Tilt, pout, bubble, pour out. Good stuff. Turns out there is a lot more uses for it too. That reminds me of this chemistry cartoon. Not for faint of heart…

Religion:

Mountaintop. Beautiful.
On that ugly word, biblical. Rachel Held Evans talks about Christian Smith’s very well-received book, The Bible Made Impossible.
Thinking Christian began a series called Ten Crucial Turning Points. The 1st and 2nd posts on Creation were great.
Scot McKnight says, “David Neff nails it!” And I agree.

Science:

Infectious bacteria in your gut create black market for weapons by Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science. “Blecher’s study shows that the harmless bacteria in our bodies are intimately connected with the disease-causing ones that invade us from the outside. A bout of disease can influence the evolution of both groups. Infectious bacteria aren’t just making us ill – they’re also weaponizing our allies.” Scary stuff.
Ten books for 2012. Impressive list.
An example of science overstepping its bounds, science policing itself, or just public relations? This killer flu story was covered in both Wired and The NY Times.
Test tube yeast evolve multicellularity.
“Intelligence” pills. Awesome! Wait, they do what? Nevermind…
As we think of new sources of fuel, perhaps we should move off-land? Here’s one example of using synthetic biology to create an genetically engineered bacterium that turns seaweed into ethanol.
Not sure how many undergrads read this, but if they do or you teach them, this looks like a great opportunity for research experience in addition to the traditional routes.

The space-between:

What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation? A few examples and the real deal. One I particularly like: “Where did we come from? I find the explanation that we were made in stars [that we are all stardust] to be deep, elegant, and beautiful. This explanation says that every atom in each of our bodies was built up out of smaller particles produced in the furnaces of long-gone stars. We are the byproducts of nuclear fusion. The intense pressures and temperatures of these giant stoves thickened collapsing clouds of tiny elemental bits into heavier bits, which once fused, were blown out into space as the furnace died. The heaviest atoms in our bones may have required more than one cycle in the star furnaces to fatten up. Uncountable numbers of built-up atoms congealed into a planet, and a strange disequilibrium called life swept up a subset of those atoms into our mortal shells. We are all collected stardust. And by a most elegant and remarkable transformation, our starstuff is capable of looking into the night sky to perceive other stars shining. They seem remote and distant, but we are really very close to them no matter how many lightyears away. All that we see of each other was born in a star. How beautiful is that?”
On the other side of the spectrum… the ways the world could end. Yikes. But it will end. We do know that.
Is Jerry Coyne unsophisticated about free will? Not as he defines it. Or so he says.
James McGrath with a primer on Pete Enns’ new book, The Evolution of Adam. The blog tour starts next week and he, I, and several others will be writing about the book. I plan to do so in several short installments. RJS has already started going through the book on the Jesus Creed blog.
Speaking of Pete, here’s a great adapted excerpt from this book: Evangelicalism and Evolution ARE in Serious Conflict (and that’s not the end of the world).
“Preaching against evolution in evangelical churches doesn’t create atheists — it creates not-evangelicals.”
Are We the Reason for the Universe’s Existence? The Anthropic Principle Reconsidered. Not an endorsement, but food for though nevertheless. While you’re reading, try to catch the one really interesting, but “out there” link.
Oh fine, here it is.
Did you all see this sledding crow video? Much food for thought here.
On Epiphenomenon, people say they’re good if they think God is watching.
Wonderful, wonderful article by Andy Crouch on What I Wish My Pastor Knew About… The Life of a Scientist. ”In many scientists, delight is matched by wonder — a sense of astonishment at the beautiful, ingenious complexity to be found in the world. This is not the “wonder” that comes from ignorance — “I wonder how a light bulb really works?” — but a wonder that comes from understanding. Indeed, as we progress further into humanity’s scientific era we have been able to disabuse ourselves of a mistaken early-modern notion: that the more the world became comprehensible, the less it would be wonderful. That turns out not to be true at all — ask a scientist. Wonder grows as understanding grows. Indeed, wonder only grows if understanding grows. If we replace our childhood awe of lightning with an explanation like, “It’s nothing but a transfer of voltage across a highly resistive material” (an example of what G. K. Chesterton wittily called “nothing-buttery”) perhaps the world will seem like a less wonderful place. But those who actually pursue knowledge of lightning — of electromagnetism or cloud formation or weather systems or climate — end up being more in awe of the world than they were as children. This is surely one of the remarkable features of our cosmos: the more we understand about it, the more we are in awe of its beautiful elegance and simplicity, and at the same time its humbling complexity.”

Friday laugh track… Baby Godfather

justintopp — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:00:39 +0000

Did you guys see the Baby Godfather meme? Some of these are hilarious. Can’t and won’t share all, but below are my favorites…

Antonio Damasio: The quest to understand consciousness (TED talk of the week)

justintopp — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:22:30 +0000

This week’s TED talk is by Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist who is most well known for his book, Descartes Error, and his research on the importance of emotions to cognition. In the talk, Damasio describes consciousness as the combination of your mind, which is a flow of mental images, and the self, i.e. your “you.” Consciousness occurs when “self comes to mind” (see screenshot from the talk below), which just happens to be the name of his most recent book, Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain.

Although it’s a bit dry, I really, really enjoyed this talk and am looking forward to reading the book when my mind catches up to my self! One issue I struggle with when considering monism vs dualism and my current position of non-reductive physicalism (or emergence) is how the self can be maintained when the material within our bodies is constantly turned over and made new. Damasio poses in this talk that it’s the connections between the body, brainstem, and cerebral cortex that constitues self and that his model explains why some self-like behavior is observed in animals.

Great and informative talk. Enjoy!

Animals love this quote and I do too.

justintopp — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:58:06 +0000

“Of course, nobody would deny the importance of human beings for theological thinking, but the time span of history that theologians think about is a few thousand years of human culture rather than the fifteen billion years of the history of the universe.”

~John Polkinghorne

Weekly Links Roundup Jan 16…

justintopp — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:22:29 +0000

On the blog, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried. And we’ve been blown away by the greatest science vs wonder exposition in the history of science vs. wonder expositions. And I’ve grappled with the fact that classes start this week and I didn’t get enough done yet again, on the blog or in course preparations.

But what’s new.

That didn’t stand in the way of others though as there are lots of good links this week that I enjoyed. I hope you do too. Musical accompaniment in 1 2 3.

All the “news” I see fit to print (er, link to), i.e. items that don’t go in other categories:

The world in 6,237 photos. Amazing. The world is a diverse, remarkable, and beautiful place.
Yowsa. Makes you think about all those gadgets you/we love.
Resistance is futile, it would seem. But still, cool, no?
No wonder Lincoln moved from Kentucky.
This is, like, the best part of being a teacher.
Okay, this isn’t news, but it doesn’t go in one of the other categories… sociopath or cat?
This too… Could Got get tenure? I have a more in-depth one of these on my office wall…

Science:

Science can neither explain nor deny the awesomeness of this sledding crow (RT @BoraZ).
Beautiful phytoplankton bloom from outer space.
How mosquitoes fly in the rain.
Babies & intermingled senses- Some experimental evidence for the infant-synesthesia hypothesis: (HT @NoahWG).
Synthetic biology explainer. The “update from a knowledgeable reader” is spot on. The spider protein in goat’s milk is NOT synthetic biology, unless you redefine it. Some older scientists feel the same way about “nanotechnology”, by the way…
Fluoride sensitivity and resistance in bacteria via riboswitches.

The space between:

RJS and Scot McKnight had some great posts on the Jesus Creed this week. See Polkinghorne on “Testing” Scripture, a short review on Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism (here’s Plantinga’s summary of his book, which I should probably read), and Pastors Unconvinced … Now What?. Speaking of Adam and Eve…
David Opderbeck (Through a Glass Darkly) posted a review/reflection of Pete Enns’ new book the Evolution of Adam. I’ll be posting my review the week of the 30th, as part of the book’s blog tour.
Awesome, just awesome. The full humanity that Christ brought.
“Modern science has made the something-from-nothing debate irrelevant.” Um, with all due respect, no. No it hasn’t. On nothing and something and really… nothing. We’re out of the realm of evidence here, gentlemen.
Your granny is a process theologian. Another primer on process theology by Bo Sanders and Tripp Fuller, this time on Kurt Willems’ Pangea blog.
Really liked this post from BioLogos on the theological implications of genomics.
Who is responsible for Christian anti-evolutionism?
Great story about how the John Polkinghorne biography came to be written (HT @gibersok).
Religion for Atheists. “I don’t believe myself, but it is politically prudent that you should.” I’m not sure how I would respond to this.
Neuroculture: On the Implications of Brain Science. Looks like a very interesting and timely book.

“Vice Verses”

justintopp — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:00:55 +0000

Walking along the high tide line. Watching the pacific from the sidelines.
Wonder what it means to live together? Looking for more than just guidelines.

Looking for signs in the night sky. Wishing that I wasn’t such a nice guy.
Wonder what it means to live forever? Wonder what it means to die?

I know that there’s a meaning to it all. A little resurrection every time I fall.
You got your babies, I got my hearses. Every blessing comes with a set of curses.
I got my vices, I got my vice verses. I got my vice verses.

The wind could be my new obsession. The wind could be my new depression.
The wind goes anywhere it wants to. Wishing that I learned my lesson.

The ocean sounds like a garage band. Coming at me like a drunk man.
The ocean tells me a thousand stories. None of them are lies.

Let the pacific laugh. Be on my epitaph.
With it’s rising and falling. And after all, it’s just water.
And I am just soul. With a body of water and bones. Water and bones.

Where is God in the night sky? Where is God in the city light?
Where is God in the earthquake? Where is God in the genocide?

Where are you in my broken heart? Everything seems to fall apart. Everything feels rusted over. Tell me that you’re there.

I know that there’s a meaning to it all.
A little resurrection every time I fall.
You got your babies, I got my hearses.
Every blessing comes with a set of curses.
I got my vices, I got my vice verses.
These are my vice verses.
These are my vice verses. Yeah. These are my vice verses.

GREAT album.