Why Todd Wood Matters

[Patrick]

@swamidass

And we should respect this.

Why?

@swamidass

Cargo cult is a strong statement. He has not yet, as far as I know, put forward a baraminology model that has been validated by the evidence. This means he is being honest about the fact that he hasn’t been able to get his hypothesis to work with the data.

Pseudo science is a more accurate term for it.

@swamidass

That is true. Still it is a hypothesis worth testing. It does not appear possible to identify from evidence where separations in kinds exist. In fact, it appears that humans are the same “kind” of apes, if “kinds” actually are a real concept.

Why is it worth testing?

@swamidass

This can be legitimate in the short term.

There is data that “falsifies” a lot of physics theories, but we do not give up on them, because they still have explanatory value if we restrict them to a particular domain. For this reason, we usually scope studies to try and build a model of a certain part of the data, and in the future try to extend these models to more data. As long as we are honest about where things stands in relation to other theories that can explain much more, this is not illegitimate.

Wood’s position is that evolution explains a lot more than any YEC model, but that is because YECs have not been building models and trying to pull it all together. He wants to do that work, give it a real try, and he knows he has to start small and expand from there.

Of course, I do not think this is going to ultimately explain anything remotely approaching what evolutionary theory has done. However, there is no harm in letting him try, and acknowledging when he solves small parts of problem, even if ultimately it is not possible to solve many things.

It is a waste of time and effort by real practicing scientists to even look at this dribble.

[John_Harshman]

Have you ever read Wood’s book Understanding the Pattern of Life? If you haven’t, I suggest you look. It’s intended as a baraminology textbook. Anyway, ANOPA (which stands for Analysis of Patterns) is explained in it.

[John_Harshman]

Getting away from Todd Wood, here is another example of cargo cult science, from TSZ: Baraminology of the Flood. Though Wood did make a reply to it on his blog, and perhaps I can find that.

[evograd (Blogging Graduate Student)]

@Robert_Byers

he means he thinks evolutionism has 'evidence ’ going for it but it still fails on scientific evidence.
NOT that it hAS THE EVIDENCE but is wrong ONLY because of the bible.

Read the quote again and see if you can still take that meaning away from it (my emphasis):

Evolution is not a theory in crisis. It is not teetering on the verge of collapse. It has not failed as a scientific explanation. There is evidence for evolution, gobs and gobs of it. It is not just speculation or a faith choice or an assumption or a religion. It is a productive framework for lots of biological research, and it has amazing explanatory power. There is no conspiracy to hide the truth about the failure of evolution. There has really been no failure of evolution as a scientific theory. It works, and it works well.
I say these things not because I’m crazy or because I’ve “converted” to evolution. I say these things because they are true. I’m motivated this morning by reading yet another clueless, well-meaning person pompously declaring that evolution is a failure. People who say that are either unacquainted with the inner workings of science or unacquainted with the evidence for evolution. (Technically, they could also be deluded or lying, but that seems rather uncharitable to say. Oops.)
Creationist students, listen to me very carefully: There is evidence for evolution, and evolution is an extremely successful scientific theory. That doesn’t make it ultimately true, and it doesn’t mean that there could not possibly be viable alternatives. It is my own faith choice to reject evolution, because I believe the Bible reveals true information about the history of the earth that is fundamentally incompatible with evolution. I am motivated to understand God’s creation from what I believe to be a biblical, creationist perspective. Evolution itself is not flawed or without evidence. Please don’t be duped into thinking that somehow evolution itself is a failure. Please don’t idolize your own ability to reason. Faith is enough. If God said it, that should settle it. Maybe that’s not enough for your scoffing professor or your non-Christian friends, but it should be enough for you.

[gbrooks9 (GeorgeB)]

@John_Harshman

Have you ever read Wood’s book Understanding the Pattern of Life ? If you haven’t, I suggest you look. It’s intended as a baraminology textbook. Anyway, ANOPA (which stands for Analysis of Patterns) is explained in it.

@John_Harshman,

Baraminology should be a brief book.

Genesis 1:24-25 wraps it up perfectly!

There are multiple multiple kinds…and kinds are defined by reproductive success.

[T_aquaticus]

@deuteroKJ

Wood was Wise’s protege and replacement at CORE at Bryan College, before CORE was defunded in 2012. I’ve worked and written with both Wood and Wise. Wood and I remain friends to this day despite our differences on creation (we even were fellow church members for 3 years). You won’t find a more intellectually honest YEC or decent human being.

From what little I have read of Wise’s work that is the impression I got as well, and it is good to hear someone confirm those impressions.