Suburban Adventure

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed was both better and worse than I anticipated and I took copious notes and jottings during the film filling 6 index cards, compared to my normal 1 for a given film.

• Great music.  Few docudramas, infotainment pieces, etc have such a well done score.  I was thrown off by the Orchestral version of All Along the Watchtower, but I think it was well done.
• Opening scene proved German time travel as people’s names appeared onBerlin wall.
• Film equates act of questioning with scientific advancement.
• Fails to produce instance where evolution’s explanations fail.
• Repeatedly calling evolutionary biology “Darwinism” is a thinly veiled attempt at bringing out specter of idolotry and creating a straw man.  Pin evolution on Darwin, knock down Darwin and thus knock down evolution. Foolish.
• Articles were claimed not to be allowed for peer review.  This is a misinterpretation of peer review where publishers act as referees and/or gatekeepers.  That’s the entire point.
• Reference to academia as “scientism gulag”was cute
• Makes reference to Einstein throwing out Newton where Einstein merely added exactness and clarity in some cases eg transit of Mercury.
• Film cites that repression is systemic which implies a central authority, none given
• Christopher Hitchens cited as scientist
• Argument from authority, frequently calls those fired “obviously smart” but only in case of Guillermo Gonzalez (I think that was the name) was an example of previous work given.
• PhDs mentioned but were not always in pertinent fields
• The Tim Burtonesque DNA scene was delightful
• Evolution attacked for not having rigor when compared to physics when compared to math.  Math isn’t a science and plays by different rules of proof.  Math has a possible level of proof much higher than in science which only has falsifiability and partial proof by partial exhaustion.
• Saturn 5 as cell, Saturn 5 wasn’t terribly complicated.
• Quote from cartoon Richard Dawkins “You stupid machine, I hate you”.
• Misdefinition of information: Claims natural selection reduces information when in fact it reduces (in some cases) variance.  Information is useful knowledge from data.  Natural selection essentially acts as a pattern sift.  Information theory poorly explained.
• Panspermia equated with aliens (which is intelligent design, derf) instead of thinking of comets simply providing some of the amino acids or crystalline structures needed
• Statement made that appriciation of cell only began with our recent work in nano technology despite nanotech working on levels significantly smaller than the cell
• Notion of how theory becomes accepted through media-courts-peers absolutely ludicrous
• Intelligent Design as political correctness
• Comparison to Poland poor as Poland has no real ID forces
• Newton listed as “early modern scientist”
• Argument from consequences listed as religious implications of evolution
• Evolution as negating free will not explained
• “Deconversion to science” sets up notion of progress towards religion
• Ignores Laplace and stability of solar system as example which no God is required
• Notion that science lacks transendental values is odd.  Science requires belief that universe is both predictable and discoverable and an implicit spirit of cooperation and truth
• Evolution stated effectively as happening at individual level despite fact that it occurs on the species level
• Quote mining of Darwin on the disabled
• Missed science of Nazis ignored hybrid vigor and problems of “pure breeds”
• Planned parenthood connection to eugenics is an argument from origin and doesn’t apply to current incarnation
• Science as method of rationalization, misses that this mostly occurs with the social sciences
• Failure of ID to make a priori predictions
• “truth crushed earth will rise again” not sure what that was from
• No examples of where debate betwain ID and evo could occur