David Berlinski (Introduction)

by dhw, Monday, September 12, 2011, 10:40 (4822 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Please listen to this interview with Berlinski discuss the thoughts in his book, "The Devil's Delusion" in which he takes apart Darwin, pretentious scientists and atheists. I've read the book. It is full of challenging thoughts and ideas. You will be challenged! He is basically a mathematician philosopher:-http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/09/uncommon-knowledge-with-david-berlinski.php-This is indeed a stimulating interview, and I love his Number 7 analogy. I do wish the interviewer had pressed him a little further on evolution. I got the impression from the interview that he was a Creationist, but I've googled him, and apparently he is ... heaven be praised! ... an agnostic. We ourselves have already discussed at length the gaps in the theory, but although these allow for divine experimentation or a pre-programmed mechanism, they do not invalidate the basic theory that all forms of life descended from one or a few forms. Presumably Berlinski does not believe in the separate creation of each species by a divine power. If he accepts that humans are a late arrival on the scene, then he has to remain open to the idea that they evolved from earlier forms of life ... and those earlier forms evolved from still earlier forms, and so on. Evolution, as Darwin himself repeatedly pointed out, does not clash with theism. -Since you have read the book, perhaps you could tell us whether he also takes the Creationists apart?