Recent content by Zaphod Beeblebrox

I'll add Toshiko Akiyoshi to the list. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutvim58cIQ

I stumbled upon this blog entry a few days back, and I'm not sure what to make of it. I don't think anyone seriously denies the fact that deep focus emerged long before Citizen Kane, but the blogger focuses on specific scenes from a handful of films, without giving much detail about how they fit...

The thing is, in order to propose a "caucasoid" label (which would be below subspecies level, as the full taxonomic name for humans is H. sapiens sapiens), one would have to define "caucasoid," and what it entails - you may not like the current cladistic system of taxonomy, but scientists...

The difficulty is that when we go lower than the subspecies level in taxonomy, we enter the realm of the infraspecific name (in the case of botany) and informal ranks - one can notice the various ranks (such as subfamily or tribe) included as taxa, which are considered minor ranks. Bill Nye...

I apologize for the distraction as well, but the dictionary definition doesn't quite apply here - notice that the definition you chose has "(loosely)" attached to it. That's not the scientific definition of an ape, as it excludes humans; if we went by it, that may make humans paraphyletic to...

To bolster your point, here's the taxonomic classification of human beings, from Wikipedia: I highlighted the family, as Hominidae refers to the great apes.

This conversation took an uncomfortable turn. "Mating within one's own caste" goes into pseudoscientific territory in regards to human genetic diversity - that caste system does not constitute sympatric speciation by any stretch of the term, as it is a social construct based on a particular...

Sympatric speciation, for starters, along with allopatric speciation and parapatric speciation. Out of curiosity, how do you define "race"? Are you using the term as analogous to species?

Wait, I just described how social factors determine "race" categories throughout human history. One's diet is not a genetic factor (not completely, at least), and such concepts as height and body shape don't directly address a "spectral" approach to genetics. As for your comments on color, the...

Well, the fact that we can't seem to agree on what constitutes a distinct "race" (as a human social construct, it underwent numerous definitional revisions over the centuries, if not millennia) makes the whole discussion rather curious. We've seen: - Early Egyptian categories, such as "the evil...

It's never another religion's deity/deities, is it? Well, that's likely an exaggeration, but still. :P

Yet his claims concerning evolution are frequently found in creationist rhetoric, such as those concerning the eye, the Cambrian explosion and transitional fossils. Even if he did not openly endorse ID, he uses the same arguments.

Well, if the theory of evolution didn't exist, the process being explained doesn't go away - we could still observe evolution happen throughout Earth's history. Besides, the ToE is as far from "speculative excursion" as one can get; with complex models of explanation and a means of falsifying...

I ask, because I saw a video on Facebook where he talks about gun control, comparing it to removing the antlers from a gazelle (thereby making predators such as cheetahs more likely to eat it). When I looked up more information on him, apparently, he sees the "global warming agenda" is wrong...

Going by his wording, rhutchin thinks several exist - that he doesn't elaborate on them suggests that he assumes everyone knows what he refers to. - - - Updated - - - Actually, wouldn't it be more precise to say that we don't exactly know how the first lifeforms developed? Besides, evolution...