Uncommon Descent

Uncommon Descent began in the summer of 2005 as my personal blog. Before that, I had a personal website, designinference.com. The latter site began in 2002 and was a place for my longer writin...

https://uncommondescent.com/news/a-farewell-and-remembrance/

Let’s just watch: Notice, just the flapping, using gears and links : Amazing. END

https://uncommondescent.com/biomimicry/bird-flight-automaton/

As fans of Dune will readily see, an ornithopter is a flapping wing flying machine, as a helicopter is a rotary wing flying machine. Where of course we have seen how Dragonflies are elliptical wi...

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/dragonfly-ornithopters/

The Dragonfly is amazing: As Fabian et al summarise: Animal wings deform during flight in ways that can enhance lift, facilitate flight control, and mitigate damage. Monitoring the structural a...

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/id-foundations/dragon-fly-wings-also-have-air-flow-and-wing-deformation-sensors/

We have been using a 3-D printer-constructor formalism, and now we can use it to see how hill climbing leads to local trapping. Again, the core formalism: Now, let us modify by allowing some sort...

https://uncommondescent.com/fine-tuning/lfp-71-the-island-of-function-fitness-peak-trap/

Last time, we looked at how Kolmogorov Complexity can be used to quantify the information in functionally specific complex organisation, by using the formal idea of a 3-D universal printer and co...

https://uncommondescent.com/fine-tuning/lfp-70-exploring-cosmological-fine-tuning-using-the-idea-of-a-3-d-universal-printer-and-constructor-also-islands-of-function/

It seems that it is exceedingly hard for some to understand what FSCO/I is about. In responding to an objector, I wrote as follows just now, and think it is worth headlining for reference: Where,...

https://uncommondescent.com/fine-tuning/lfp-69-a-way-to-understand-functionally-specific-complex-organisation-and-or-associated-information-fsco-i-i-l-o-kolmogorov-chaitin-complexity/

It is a sub-study of logic, to address fallacies. Accordingly, as it has come up, it seems helpful to highlight cognitive dissonance and certain associated fallacies. First, here is a recent fra...

https://uncommondescent.com/logic-and-reason/lfp-68-cognitive-dissonance-and-fallacies-of-projection-etc/

IEP summarises: “Critical Rationalism” is the name Karl Popper (1902-1994) gave to a modest and self-critical rationalism. He contrasted this view with “uncritical or comprehensive rational...

https://uncommondescent.com/academic-freedom/lfp-67-so-called-critical-rationalism-and-he-blunder-of-denying-defeat-able-warrant-for-knowledge/

Luther College prof Robert F. Shedinger takes a critical look at Evolution News.

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/darwin-a-slavery-abolitionist-aw-come-on/

He will at least get to experience the world when one is not part of the In crowd.

https://uncommondescent.com/biology/give-dawkins-credit-for-guts-he-is-taking-on-the-gender-claims/

The Dragonfly is a marvel of nature, rated to be one of the all time most effective predators. Similarly, the Spitfire was a breakthrough, fighter-interceptor in the skies over Britain, just unde...

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/of-dragonflies-spitfires-and-elliptical-wings/

But doesn’t self-organization of the universe, as is now suggested, entail some sort of panpsychism?

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/stephen-hawkings-co-author-hawking-thought-that-his-brief-history-of-time-was-wrong/

We asked this question among friends and received a variety of answers.

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/if-two-snowflakes-are-identical-does-that-increase-information/

As Miller tells it, when tested again in March, ChatGPT could no longer recognize a logically valid argument. Wow. Progress.

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/joseph-miller-chatgpt-still-cant-process-basic-logic-if-god-is-mentioned/