1) Behe’s ideas about intelligent design are complete crackpottery – yes, scientifically he is a nutjob.

2) Yes, the physicists I met mostly actually did say they were very embarrassed by him.

3) He may be religiousd and that’s his right, but there’s no place for his nonscientific ideas in science, which is my problem with him, particularly since they have been demonstrated to be nonsense.

4) He functions because he got tenure when he was doing correct biology. Anyone “studying” intelligent design would not get tenure in any reasonable university’s biology department -because it is not science.

6) Please leave comments on the correct threads please – don’t just drop your thought on any old thread, or the most current.

5) Finally, I have left up your comment but deleted the insult. Next time you write in that way, I’ll delete the entire comment – we don’t tolerate this kind of behavior in our space.

The last couple of weeks have been busy beyond belief, with administrative duties, research, teaching, some travel, and a relative visiting. One of my trips was to Lehigh University, to give a colloquium. Lehigh is the home of Intelligent Design nut job Michael Behe but, since I was visiting the Physics Department, I was able to avoid his nonsense altogether (although the physicists there – wonderful rational people that they are – seem rightly embarrassed to be at the same institution as him).”

Michael Behe is a nut job? If that’s true, how is he able to function at a university and carry out his duties? Clearly, he’s not a nut job.

What is his “nonsense”? What do you mean by “avoid his nonsense altogether”?

“although the physicists there – wonderful rational people that they are – seem rightly embarrassed to be at the same institution as him”

So Behe is irrational? How come? And what makes you think that the profs are embarrassed? Did they say, “I’m so embarrassed.”? If they are embarrassed to be at the same institution as someone who is clearly not a nut job, someone who thinks rationally, but proposes ideas which lie far outside the mainstream, then that’s their problem. I think Behe is a religious person, so perhaps you think all religious people are “nut jobs” and not rational.

For bashing on someone you don’t even know, I say [deleted: MT]

Cynthia, there are a number of objections to MoND, but no complete showstopper as far as I know. The people who I know who are working on it couldn’t be described as “dark-matter-deniers”/”dark-matter-naysayers.” Rather, they are very good and serious scientists who want to investigate all alternatives. As far as I know, MoND doesn’t have people attached to it so much that they wouldn’t feel like they could throw it away if a real showstopper came along.