ID Theft & Tree Hugging

Normally I don't post again so quickly... but a couple of things have been stuck in my crotchedy ole' craw lately, and I felt like airing them out for some clarity of mind.

The first is about Intelligent Design (ID). More specifically, I am concerned that many people are not bothering to stop and spend the 4 seconds necessary to actually explore what ID is before saying they are for or against it or before deciding they want Evolution banned from our schools, etc.

ID is defined as follows, according to the Intelligent Design Network:
"The theory of intelligent design (ID) holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection. ID is thus a scientific disagreement with the core claim of evolutionary theory that the apparent design of living systems is an illusion."

The trouble is, people are siding for or against this without acurately knowing what it is. ID is founded on the tenet that some natural conditions - such as the complexity of the human brain, for example - are too complex to be explained as being the product of evolution and are better explained by the preconceived design of an intelligent creator.

ID states also that Evloution is a theory only. And in that ID is correct. Evolution is a theory, with overwhelming evidence supporting the opposite position of ID - that complex natural features do in fact occurr over millenia via evolution and natural selection.

ID states that it is scientific ("Of, relating to, or employing the methodology of science", according to Dictionary.com). This is incorrect - ID does not follow the scientific method ("generally involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis") in attempting to prove its hypothesis.

Saying you agree with ID is equivalent to saying that you think distant galaxies are made of green cheese. Currently it cannot be disproved, but there is overwhelming scientific theory against it.

The issue I have is that many people are backing ID based on their personal interpretation of religious faith alone - not even thinking about the fact that many major religions would disagree with ID, and have in fact reconciled their core beliefs with the facts of evolutionary theory (which in and of itself does not suggest or preclude the existence of an intelligent creator). This is to the point where people do not want evolution taught in schools or want a non-scientific theory (ID) taught in science classes.

So... I say, open your mind and decide for yourself. Letting someone else think and decide for you is easier but kills your spirit a bit each and every time that you let it happen.

Now, on to tree hugging: Don't be misguided and think that PCs you throw away are being disposed of properly. They are not - they are bing shipped to other countries (maybe yours!) and polluting the environment. Please take the extra 15 minutes when you replace your aging PC and recycle the thing. You will sleep better!

Ganesh is Everywhere

Hello. A moment to reflect and post so here I am (again)! There is much to tell you...

My wife has returned from India, bringing with her a solid foundation in the teachings of Osho, some sort of minor illness brought on from rain-contaiminated water (due to intense flooding near Mumbia), and about 400 Ganesh icons of various shapes and sizes.

Osho was a pretty deep character. He had a knack (he would prefer that word!) for bringing the odd truths of inner harmony home in easy-to-grasp terms.

A sample: "Great truths take time to sink in. And this is the greatest of all, that you all are potentially buddhas. It is impossible for your mind to accept it. You can accept somebody far away, a Siddhartha Gautam being a Buddha, a Jesus Christ, a Zarathustra, a Lao Tzu. They are so far away, millions of light years away; they have become mythological. They are no more thought to be real persons. They have lost all substance, they have become pure shadows ― pure poetry with no words, pure silence with no sound. You can imagine them, but you cannot feel them. Hence, although I go on repeating again and again that you can become a buddha...in fact you are a buddha, unaware of the fact. On the circumference maybe there is a great storm, just as on the surface the sea is stormy ― sometimes more, sometimes less, but there are always waves, bigger or smaller; there is always turbulence, disturbance. But at the depth there is not even a ripple: all is silence." -http://www.osho.com

So... I am getting into the Osho teaching on the Tao te Ching and visiting India in my mind's eye with the help of the exellent photos my wife took on her journey.

The next jams are coming up on the 26th at the Flying Pig with the Steve Liberace Band. Come for the awesome beer selection. Stay for the tunes, and more awesome beer. Remember, the smoker you drink, the player we get.

Steve is set with a new batch of tunes and we are officially a GO for recording the next Steve Liberace album at Milk Boy Studios. So... I'll be in the studio October / November working on that project, more info. to come.

Peace!