today
7 a.m. Annual Twice Nice Rummage Sale Oddfellows Hall
read >8 a.m. Tire Amnesty Day Humboldt Coastal Nature Center
read >9 a.m. North Group Sierra Club Hike See Event Description
read >9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Spiff Up The Zoo Sequoia Park Zoo
read >10 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens Humboldt Botanical Garden
read >10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Annual Juggling Festival Humboldt State University
read >10 a.m. Exploring the I-Ching Humboldt Wellness Center
read >11 a.m. Soups and Salads for Shoes Fortuna Monday Club
read >noon Landscape Design from the Top Down Living Earth Landscapes
read >1 p.m. March and Rally for Peace Humboldt County Courthouse
read >1 p.m. 35th Annual Daffodil Show Fortuna River Lodge
read >1:30 p.m. Afternoon Tea Humboldt Area Foundation
read >1:30 p.m. Eureka Photoshop Users Group Adorni Recreation Center
read >1:30 p.m. For the Next 7 Generations Morris Graves Museum of Art
read >1:30 p.m. Spring Equinox Celebration Manila Community Center
read >2 p.m. Friends of the Marsh Tour Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Interpretive Center
read >2 p.m. Betty Peugh Sweaney Collection Presentation Trinidad Museum
read >5 p.m. Humboldt Roller Derby Redwood Acres Fairground
read >5 p.m. Elephants and Tigers: A Bollywood Extravaganza Wharfinger Building
read >5 p.m. Downey for Sheriff Spaghetti Dinner Fortuna Veterans Hall/Memorial Building
read >5:30 p.m. Arcata Rotary Spring Wine Festival Kate Buchanan Room at HSU
read >5:30 p.m. Arcata Rotary Spring Wine Festival Kate Buchanan Room at HSU
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds (cowboy songs) Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Blue Lotus Jazz Libation
read >6 p.m. McKinleyville Land Trust Dinner Azalea Hall
read >7 p.m. Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-Legged Beasties Mantova's Two Street Music
read >7 p.m. Juggling Festival Show Van Duzer Theatre
read >7:30 p.m. Joe & Me (Greek/Turkish) Cafe Mokka
read >7:30 p.m. A Midsummer Night's Dream Arcata High School
read >7:30 p.m. Tenor Recital Christ Episcopal Church
read >7:30 p.m. We Are All Related Accident Gallery
read >7:30 p.m. For the Love of the Dance Redwood Raks World Dance Studio
read >8 p.m. Karaoke w/ Chris Clay Boiler Room
read >8 p.m. On the Wings of a Dove Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)
read >8 p.m. Antigone College of the Redwoods
read >8 p.m. So Hum Tales Mateel Community Center
read >8 p.m. The Phoebes Mosgo's
read >9 p.m. Vintage Soul (R&B) Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >9 p.m. Cadillac Ranch Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Roadmasters (country) Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. Trevor 101, Children of the Sun (rock/blues) Lil' Red Lion
read >9 p.m. Band Behind Your Hedge (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >9:30 p.m. For the Love of Dance After Party Arcata Theater Lounge
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >10 p.m. Polyhood Productions Pearl Lounge
read >10:30 p.m. Splinter Cell, Watch it Sparkle (rock) Alibi Lounge and Restaurant
read >previous columns
July 30, 2009
Wabash Willie in Go Crabs, Go
Cartoon by Joel Mielke
read >July 23, 2009
Bullets to Spare
Editor: Heidi Walters wrote a wonderful article on reintroducing condors ...
read >July 16, 2009
Wabash Willie in Involuntary Philanthropist
Cartoon by joel Mielke
read >
Un-Godly Beauty
By North Coast Journal Readers
Editor:
R. Thomas Palmer states that "creationism and evolution both begin with the Big Bang." This is a huge, but very common, misunderstanding of the theory of evolution (Field Notes, July 16). Evolution is a biological theory that addresses genetic change in biological populations, and there was nothing for biology to study for the first 11 to 14 billion years of history. Everything before that is the realm of physics and chemistry, and to the extent that creationists disagree with that science they are disagreeing with physical and chemical theories, not the theory of evolution.
The problem that creationists have with the theories of physics, biology and pretty much any advancing science is that science, by its very nature, looks for simple explanations that do not need any gods. One can add in as many gods as one wants to the science, but gods are akin to the "gingerbread" of a Victorian mansion -- some people may like the decorations, but they have nothing to do with the structural soundness or utility of the dwelling. They are not required.
Deciding not to add gods onto one's science does not mean that one has no appreciation for the awesome beauty of nature any more than a preference for arts-and-crafts dwellings over Victorian means that one has no appreciation of architecture. Seeing no need for gods of the gaps means that one appreciates the universe as it is, and is quite sufficiently overwhelmed by the universe as it is, without needing to speculate that there is something else even better or more magnificent. Even the most utilitarian of scientific and mathematical theories can be profoundly moving, all by themselves, if one only takes the time to adequately understand and think about them.
L.K. Lowe, Samoa
Sweet Spot: L.K. Lowe really makes one wonder about those gods of the gaps. She wins a Bon Boniere sundae for sending our favorite letter of the week.
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