Thursday, June 14, 2007
BSG Conference -- Day 1
I managed to get Jean Lightner to give me blog updates for the BSG (Baraminology Study Group) conference! Here's a quick recap of day 1:
They look like they have a lot of interesting things going on. I'm sadly not able to attend this year -- getting to meet a lot of Creation researchers (including Paul Nelson this year!) is always a ton of fun and enlightening as well.
Your live action BSG reporter here. After breakfast I spent the morning getting A Whirlwind Tour of Creation Biology from Todd Wood. He covered the historical development of ideas in this area. He showed how the authority of Scripture gradually eroded among Christian scientists. Where Scripture seemed at odds with the science of the day, some Christians said that God was just explaining things in simple terms so the ignorant masses could understand things. Those with special scientific knowledge knew that God didn't really mean what he said. This problem of accommodating 'science' appeared well before Darwin. Todd also pointed out a number of concepts, and even debates, within the modern creation movement that were around long before the rise of modern creationism.
I spent the afternoon in the Statistical Baraminology Workshop. Todd covered some basic concepts about baraminology and some statistical methods aimed at finding discontinuities. He showed how datasets could be copied from an Excel spreadsheet and pasted in the correct spot on the BSG website so the computer there would do all the calculations for us. Hopefully a lot more people will learn to use this incredibly valuable resource.
I have a plenary session to attend tonight. I hope to check in with you tomorrow.
Jean
They look like they have a lot of interesting things going on. I'm sadly not able to attend this year -- getting to meet a lot of Creation researchers (including Paul Nelson this year!) is always a ton of fun and enlightening as well.
Permanent Link posted by crevo @ 3:03 PM 
