Talk:Edward J. Larson

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Biography: Science and Academia

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Comments in 2008

A recent edit inserted a claim that Larson is a Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute. In fact, Larson was a Senior Fellow there from 1992 to 1998 (see his CV from University of Georgia). According to Larson (I've asked him about this), he left the Discovery Institute when they began getting heavily involved in intelligent design. While mentioning his tenure with the Discovery Institute may be appropriate at some time in the future, when the article has fuller coverage of the rest of his career and professional activities, as the article currently stands it should not be included. Otherwise, readers are likely to wrongly assume that Larson is a proponent of intelligent design.--ragesoss (talk) 00:01, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think your link to the CV at Georgia is a better source than the one I provided as it shows the dates for which Larson was in tenure at the DI, and I would conceed that the expression 'Pro-=Intelligent Design' is probably not required. However, I disagree that it adds undue weight in the biograpahy of someone who has written books critical of evolution. Rather the contrary, it adds appropriate context. Your points above about Larson's disengagement with the DI are interesting, but they are sadly hearsay. Moreover, as Wikipedia's own article on the DI makes clear, Intelligent Design and other anti-evolutionary policies were the keystone behind the creation (ha!) of the DI in the first place.

I would propose re-insertion as follows:

He was a Senior Fellow for the Discovery Institute ^[1] from 1992 to 1998^[2].

Would that be acceptable to you? —Preceding unsigned comment added by BaldySlaphead (talk • contribs) 10:52, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What books has he written that are critical of evolution? All his books are historical (and well-regarded by other professional historians of science), and in my view, implicitly supportive of evolution...certainly not critical in the sense of anti-evolutionism.--ragesoss (talk) 18:01, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I dropped Larson an email and quoted what you said above. He responded:

"Thanks for your note. The quote below is correct. I was a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute at a time when I was a resident of the Seattle area and interested in its Cascadia Project, which was before the establishment of the Center for the Renewal of Science (DI's ID arm). I was never a fellow of the Center for the Renewal of Science (which has since been renamed). It is simply a coincidence that the Discovery Institute later got involved in the Intellegent Design movement."

Under the "Activities" section of "The Wedge" strategy summary, the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture considers Ed Larson's Summer for the Gods a contribution to the "overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies." (http://www.scribd.com/doc/20872000/The-Discovery-Institute-s-Wedge-Document) Since this document considers Darwin a pillar of materialism it would seem that the book in question does, or is seen by the Discovery Institute, to undermine Darwinism. Given that the document was released after Larson's fellowship, it would be unfair to directly impute the public positions of DI at this time to Larson. However, it should be noted in his biography that the Discovery Institute cited Summer for the Gods as a successful contribution to its broader agenda. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skepticalstudent (talk • contribs) 02:41, 13 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Given that, I'm happy to not include it; you were quite correct. To answer your direct question, the reason for saying he was critical arose from Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory's citation from a creationist and extensive claims about how

"Quote after quote from Darwin and company showed not just presumptions of racial and sex superiority but within the biological system. Predictions were made about the demise of inferior races and continued female inferiority. The eugenics movement was based and started by fervent Darwinists. its scary to read what they believed in."

He has been asked to provide accurate quotes to back these accusations up, but has not done so to date, and it appears that I was hasty in trying to insert the quote. Perhaps the fact that Larson had once been a fellow at the DI makes his works show up on the radar of Intelligent Design fans, which can only be a double edged sword to a proper scientist...

A shame his email to me or his conversation with you can't be included in the page, but there you go!—Preceding unsigned comment added by BaldySlaphead (talk • contribs) 19:35, 14 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References

Discovery Institute

I added a non-controversial, sourced statement to the effect that he WAS a Fellow at DI, but left as it leaned towards the right. The DI has always been a conservative, anti-materialism organization. That Larson was a Fellow is notable, given that his own main notability relates to his views and analyses of science and religion. If he rejects the DI's current work and we have a source for that we should add that as well.Desoto10 (talk) 22:35, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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[1] ttp://www.discovery.org/a/520

[2] CV from University of Georgia)

[1]

[2]