John J. May was due to publish a book titled, “The Origin of Specious Nonsense.” I know not of him nor his book but the fracas surrounding him and his book may be of interest.
John Horgan wrote:
Early in his career, the philosopher Karl Popper…called evolution via natural selection “almost a tautology” and “not a testable scientific theory but a metaphysical research program.” Attacked for these criticisms, Popper took them back. But when I interviewed him in 1992, he blurted out that he still found Darwin’s theory dissatisfying. “One ought to look for alternatives!”
Popper exclaimed, banging his kitchen table.
Is it possible that some future genius will discover an alternative that supplants Darwinism as our framework for understanding life? Will we ever look back on Darwin as brilliant but wrong?1
If they do so, they will do so at the risk of their career and charges of blasphemy from the Orthodox-Darwinistas.
Here is the John J. May related news:
Ireland’s science minister has pulled out of the launch of a book branding evolution a hoax after the event became mired in controversy…
Pressure on the minister was ratcheted up even further by the revelation that Mr May was the former owner of a raunchy sex magazine [which published an entire two issues before it went under].
The Origin of Specious Nonsense will be launched at Buswells hotel in Dublin later tonight. Promotional material promises actors playing Charles Darwin and King Kong, a talk on ‘How evolution made monkeys out of man’ and a book signing [at the “Gorillas and Girls” party].
The author, who has offered 10,000 euros to anyone who can scientifically prove evolution exists…
Mr May, a self-proclaimed marriage counsellor, writer, poet and philosopher, has presented on various radio stations and once owned a public relations company…ex-Christian evangelist teacher…‘…My book merely presents a different opinion. However, the abuse he [Conor Lenihan, who was to publicize the book] is receiving by text and email is outrageous. I have received similar abuse but I can take it.’
Mr May’s book, entitled The Origin of Specious Nonsense, calls the Darwinian Theory of Evolution a ‘hoax’ and describes anyone who teaches it as ‘either ignorant or deliberately suppressing the known scientific facts.’
The father-of-six professes to be ‘spiritual’ but ‘free from the infection of organised religion.’…
Writing in his blog, biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota Morris PZ Myers described Mr May as a ‘barmy, ignorant crank’ and hit out at Mr Lenihan’s ‘foolishness’.
‘Lenihan doesn’t seem to have any actual qualifications in science,’ he wrote.’ I think he needs a change of title.’…
Mr May rejected claims that he was anti-science. ‘Just because you are anti-evolution doesn’t mean you are anti-science,’ he said. ‘I deeply respect science and not one of the people who emailed or texted yesterday presented any scientific facts.’2
Since when does PZ Myers have a concern about qualifications? If he held himself to that standard he would have to delete 99.9% of his blog.
Apparently, we will be told to not believe anything in his book—especially if it is never published and no one ever reads it. After all, when Stephen Meyer published “Signature in the Cell” the majority of critiques who criticized it had not read it—including PZ Myers.