Educate Truth forgoes transparency and anonymously outs LSU faculty and staff since the 1960s

So Educate Truth has decided that transparency isn't really all that important anyway, unless it relates to the LSU biology department, and through an anonymous poster outs LSU faculty and staff through a diatribe that covers the last 40 to 50 years.

Sean Pitman and Shane Hilde have decided it's really really important to hide the identity of the person who wrote this cheap invective:

The author wishes to remain anonymous, because of the political climate surrounding the issues being discussed.

These guys are a real peace of work. They blather on and on about how bad it is that LSU actually teaches science in their science classes, and how there's no transparency from the biology department or board of directors, and then they shamefully and anonymously denigrate the names of numerous faculty members who are dedicated to both Adventism and LSU.

Shame on you Educate Truth. It would be a real improvement if Sean Pitman and Shane Hilde abandoned these slanderous meanderings, but I hold no such hope. As it says in Proverbs 26:

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

As it stands, I don't know which of them will return to their vomit and which is the fool. Maybe time will tell.

A test of String Theory via Quantum Entanglement?

A new study in Physical Review Letters, as described in an Imperial College London News Release claims that Researchers discover how to conduct first test of ‘untestable’ string theory. The press release states that

String theory was originally developed to describe the fundamental particles and forces that make up our universe. The new research, led by a team from Imperial College London, describes the unexpected discovery that string theory also seems to predict the behaviour of entangled quantum particles. As this prediction can be tested in the laboratory, researchers can now test string theory.

What the authors noticed was a relationship between the mathematical formulation of entangled quantum particles and black holes. Since the mathematical formulas for black holes are derived from string theory, they decided to take a closer look:

Professor Duff recalled sitting in a conference in Tasmania where a colleague was presenting the mathematical formulae that describe quantum entanglement: “I suddenly recognised his formulae as similar to some I had developed a few years earlier while using string theory to describe black holes. When I returned to the UK I checked my notebooks and confirmed that the maths from these very different areas was indeed identical.”

But what does this really mean?

Lisa Grossman has a good writeup in Wired: String Theory Finally Does Something Useful. The bottom line:

A chorus of supporters and critics, including Nobel laureate and string theory skeptic Sheldon Glashow and string theorists John Schwarz of Caltech, James Gates of the University of Maryland, and Juan Maldacena and Edward Witten of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton agree that Duff’s argument is “not a way to test string theory” and has nothing to do with a theory of everything.

Mathematician Peter Woit of Columbia University, author of the blog Not Even Wrong, thinks even claiming that the new paper is a test of quantum entanglement is going too far.

“Honestly, I think this is completely outrageous,” he said. Even if the math is the same, he says, testing the quantum entangled system would only tell you how well you understand the math.

“The fact that the same mathematical structure appears in a quantum mechanical problem and some model of black holes isn’t even slightly surprising,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that one is a test of the other.”

At Peter Woit's blog Not Even Wrong, he expounds on this:

I have no idea how this paper is supposed to contain a “test” of string theory. The simple quantum mechanics problem at issue comes down to classifying orbits of a group action on a four-fold tensor product, exactly what Wallach worked out in detail in his notes, as an example of Kostant-Rallis. If you do an experiment based on this and it doesn’t work, you’re not going to falsify string theory (or Kostant-Rallis for that matter).

It appears, at least preliminarily, that this isn't a test of string theory after all.


You can find a pre-print arXiv version of the research here.

Educate Truth’s purpose and goals

Hmm ... so Shane Hilde has decided that he needs to clarify his mission. Let's see what marvelous insights he has for us today:

we would like to see evidence for the biblical creation presented and promoted in the relevant science classes.

Ah yes, evidence for the biblical creation. Let's see what the experts at the Geoscience Research Institute say:

The primary reason why the Pisco Fm. is believed to require million dog years is radiometric dating. The sediments and fossils have features that are difficult to reconcile with this long time period. On the other hand, they also contain features that don’t seem to fit a time frame of days or weeks. Perhaps a few hundred years would be a more realistic time period for Pisco Fm.

I see, so the evidence doesn't support the biblical account. I wonder what else the GRI says:

The lack of antediluvian fossil humans remains a problem to this day, the lowest confirmed strata with remains of Homo sapiens being the Pleistocene above the top of the Cenozoic.

It turns out that Shane Hilde doesn't want the science classes at La Sierra University to teach science. He wants science teachers to teach the biblical account of creation, and to back it up with evidence. Good luck.

Shane, teaching biblical creationism is fine. Teaching it as science is not. There's a reason why the LSU biology professors teach evolution in their classes: it's called evidence.

The Spiritual Brain: Selective Cortical Lesions Modulate Human Self-Transcendence

An interesting study in Neuron says that the "predisposition of human beings toward spiritual feelings, thinking, and behaviors is measured by a supposedly stable personality trait called self-transcendence." From the summary:

Combining pre- and post-neurosurgery personality assessment with advanced brain-lesion mapping techniques, we found that selective damage to left and right inferior posterior parietal regions induced a specific increase of self-transcendence. [...] These results hint at the active, crucial role of left and right parietal systems in determining self-transcendence and cast new light on the neurobiological bases of altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviors in neurological and mental disorders.

Within the report they indicated an interesting result that relates to glioma patients:

Considering separately the four groups of patients with different types of brain tumors (Table 2), we found an increased probability of religiosity self-judgments among posterior HgG and recurrent glioma patients, who presented also higher ST scores before surgery as compared to anterior patients. Furthermore, the posterior recurrent glioma patients, who underwent surgery several months before, also reported mystic experiences more frequently than the anterior patients. These consisted mostly in experiencing the presence of God or visions during prayer, while one patient reported a single-event feeling of a presence.

The Spiritual Brain: Selective Cortical Lesions Modulate Human Self-Transcendence
Neuron, Volume 65, Issue 3, 11 February 2010, Pages 309-319
Cosimo Urgesi, Salvatore M. Aglioti, Miran Skrap, Franco Fabbro

Ellen G. White, Prophetess, II

It is becoming quite clear that neuroscience has a lot to say about religion and spiritual experiences. For instance, as reported in the Psychology Today blog,

Using sophisticated imaging machines, the number of type 5HT-1A serotonin receptors in the brain was discovered to be inversely correlated with self-ratings of religiosity and spirituality. People who respond negatively (e.g., with excessive anxiety or depression) to the challenges of everyday life have fewer 5HT-1A receptors (just like the mice I discussed above) and are more likely to find comfort in religious faith and practice. Moreover, a series of studies have demonstrated that people with certain serotonin receptor profiles suffer more often with social anxiety disorder, which is characterized by an extreme fear that other people are thinking bad things about them.

This implies many things for religious believers, and may help explain the religiosity correlation between parents and children.

Taken together, these findings suggest that people who yearn for more spiritual leadership in their lives may have inherited fewer type 1A serotonin receptors than those who never express such yearnings.

But there's more to it than just the number of type 1A serotonin receptors a person may have inherited. This next part especially may relate to Ellen White, and her status as a prophetess.

A recent investigation discovered that the tendency to display extravagant religious behaviors correlated significantly with atrophy (i.e., shrinkage) of the right hippocampus in patients with untreatable epilepsy. In fact, the medical literature is replete with reports of epilepsy patients with religious delusions. Furthermore, and quite intriguing for its implications for the typical spiritual experience, are reports that decreased brain activity in the hippocampus has also been correlated with the feeling of a "sensed presence" or the feeling of an unseen person nearby. Recent studies using sophisticated brain imaging techniques also suggest that the prefrontal cortex is more likely involved in controlling our religious, moral, and paranormal beliefs.

What evidence is there that this is or isn't the case with Ellen White?

Bicycle Truthers!

There are Truther's all around us. Go bicycle truther!

The Bicycle Truth blog shows us how blatantly our esteemed leaders disrespect our sacred rules.

We must HOLD BICYCLING ADVENTISTS ACCOUNTABLE. If you have the name and photo of an Adventist caught in the sinful act of bicycling* you may submit their name and photo to this website, and we will expose their abomination to the world. It could be your pastor, your professor (extra credit for biologists and theologians), your conference president, or even yourself!

The Power - full circle from Rhonda Byrns to James Arthur Ray

The Stupid just never ends. It really doesn't. The maker of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, has a new book out called The Power, which is filled with spectacularly meaningless and asinine insights from cover to cover. For instance:

when water is exposed to positive words and feelings such as love and gratitude, the energy level of the water not only increases, but the structure of the water changes, making it perfectly harmonious ... When water is exposed to negative emotions, such as hate, the energy level of the water decreases and chaotic changes occur.

Wow, just wow. Remember for a moment that Te Sekret claims that by the "Law" of attraction anyone can get anything they want just by wishing for it. This is just about the stupidest thing imaginable, and considering that 19 million copies of the book were sold, I can hardly conceive of how much this book decreased the welfare of the human race.

Okay, enough with the pleasantries. As you may or may not know, one of the "teachers" in Te Sekret was none other than James Arthur Ray (JAR). JAR is all about the law of attraction. He is a true blue practitioner of the philosophy espoused in Te Sekret. Now, here's the thing. Last year, October 8, 2009, JAR murdered 3 people and severely injured many others.

The people he murdered and injured payed him nearly $10,000 to transform their lives in a five-day "Spiritual Warrior" event that included a sweat lodge ceremony meant to be the highlight of the event. However, things didn't turn out so well in the sweat lodge:

People were vomiting in the stifling heat, gasping for air, and lying lifeless on the sand and gravel floor beneath them

And when all this was happening, do you suppose JAR was doing everything possible to save the lives of trusting people who put their faith in him? Nope.

When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave, she said. "I can't get her to move. I can't get her to wake up," Bunn recalls hearing from two sides of the 415-square-foot sweat lodge. Ray's response: "Leave her alone, she'll be dealt with in the next round."

What a guy. JAR is a despicable human being. But that is somewhat beside the point. The real issue is that the reason all these lives were destroyed is that they bought into the law of attraction philosophy. JAR and all those people believed it to such an extent that they gave up their lives for it.

So now Rhonda Burn is selling millions of more books, peddling the same drivel, and making millions of dollars in the process. Her philosophy is trash, nothing but wishful thinking, and as shown above it can have dreadful consequences. So no, you cant stop the stupid.

Ellen G. White, Prophetess

Was Ellen G. White a prophetess of God? What evidence is there that she was a true prophet of God? What evidence is there that she wasn't a true prophet of God?


And is it really true that "[e]xcessive indulgence in eating, drinking, sleeping, or seeing is sin." I might be able to justify the first three as sins without engaging in too strenuous of contortions, but I'm not so sure about excessive indulgence in seeing. Remember, it is "impossible for those who indulge the appetite to attain to christian perfection."


If you were Sean Pitman, what evidence would you give against or in favor of these various views?

Sean Pitman: Ye of little faith!

Sean Pitman, destroyer of faith extraordinaire, states:

For this reason, it is a mistake to argue that all those who believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God, who take the intended literal meaning of the Genesis authors at face value, or who actually believe that the biblical stories of fantastic miracles really did happen as described, believe such things based on blind faith in the supreme authority of the Bible alone – without any outside empirical evidence or basis for a truly rational faith in such fantastic things.

Sean, read the Bible. Everyone who Christ heals has faith prior to being healed, prior to any outside empirical evidence. By your own admission this is blind faith, and yet this is what Christ gives them credit for.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. - Romans 10:17

Read the Bible Sean Pitman!

Educate Truth(er)

The attack website EducateTruth was formed in 2009 by Shane Hilde to demonstrate that evolution is being taught at La Sierra University, as apposed to a recent 6 day creation as espoused by SDA fundamental belief 6. EducateTruth intends to purge the infidels from LSU who dare to accept testable physical evidence as truth, and to incorporate this into their faith. High School English teacher Shane Hilde and medical pathologist Sean Pitman are the main men at the site, and retired SDA pastor Bob "ALL CAPS" Ryan is the Pit Bull in the comments section.

The site claims that "La Sierra University biology department endorses the theory of evolution and gives it preferential treatment over the Seventh-day Adventist Church's position on a recent, six-day creation," and they inform readers that "God has appointed you to be watchmen, and who knows but that you have come to your leadership position for such a time as this."

Ervin Taylor, professor of anthropology at UCR , disagrees with EducateTruth about their mission and purpose, suggesting it is Perhaps [an] Elaborate Spoof Turned Ugly. Wow, good stuff. Stay tuned!

Educate Truther Beggins!

This blog will be focused on discussing issues related to EducateTruth.com and the evolution / creation debate.