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Martin/ISEN,

What struck me very quickly in viewing the trailer (see Martin's link, below) was the uncredited use of the Drake Equation
and the low values given for many of the variables (were they just trying to save time by going with 1/10?)  And last time I checked, there were roughly 400 billion stars in this galaxy?
Ken Brandt
-----Original message-----
From: martin weiss [log in to unmask]
Date: Thu,  2 Jun 2005 11:11:06 -0400
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Smithsonian's Intelligent Design precedent

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> Ken;
> 
> The film interestingly is about the rarity of Earth and goes over a 
> lot of information (none of it new) that suggests that the conditions 
> for life on Earth are rare in the Universe . But the implication, 
> because of this rarity, is that the Universe was designed for complex 
> life. The idea that  the
> intelligent designers have been promoting is that more evolved forms 
> of life are just too complex to have arisen by Darwinian evolution on 
> Earth and therefore must have been designed. Well, it seems from 
> viewing the promotional video (very bottom of page 
> http://www.illustramedia.com/pp_prop/ ) for the film and reading some 
> reviews (http://www.illustramedia.com/pp_prop/) they are extending 
> this argument to the Universe. Earth is too rare for it to have 
> occurred randomly so the Universe must be designed as well.
> 
> I think the issue of the precedence the Smithsonian is setting is a 
> complicated one that each institution needs to explore. It is part of 
> a larger issue of the need for earned income and how far each of us 
> is willing to go. There are continued discussions of the increasing 
> commercialization of museums and this maybe one of them.
> 
> Martin
> >
> >ISEN,
> >
> >Speaking from a small science center perspective, I am frankly 
> >shocked and most anxious about the precedent that the Smithsonian 
> >has set here.  What happens when I have to explain this set of 
> >notions (ID and the non-sequitors being touted as 'evidence'?) to my 
> >audiences?  And what happens when I have to stand firm based on what 
> >is 'the best information we have', versus what has been implicitly 
> >inferred  endorsement by one of the most respected science 
> >institutions on the planet?  What chance have I got?
> >
> >Ken Brandt
> >
> >Director of the Robeson Planetarium and Science Center
> >JPL/NASA Solar System Ambassador
> >
> >"If you are resting on your laurels, you are probably wearing them 
> >upside down"
> >
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> -- 
> Martin Weiss, Ph.D
> Vice President, Science
> New York Hall of Science
> 47-01 111 th Street
> Corona, New York 11368
> 718 699 0005 x 356
> 
> ***********************************************************************
> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
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Director of the Robeson Planetarium and Science Center
JPL/NASA Solar System Ambassador

"If you are resting on your laurels, you are probably wearing them on the wrong end!"-K. Brandt

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More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]