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