Author Archives: Fallacy Man

Debunking creationism: a visual comparison of “micro” and “macroevolution”

Creationists often like to claim that there are two fundamentally different types of evolution: microevolution and macroevolution. They argue that microevolution does actually occur, but only produces small changes within a species or “kind” of animal. For example, most creationists … Continue reading

Posted in Science of Evolution | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Who reviews scientific papers and how do reviews work?

I spent my afternoon reviewing a paper for a scientific journal and making a recommendation about whether or not the paper should be published. As a scientist, this is not an uncommon task for me, but it is a process … Continue reading

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged | 10 Comments

Measles is not better than autism: Debunking anti-vaccine arguments

Over the weekend, I was unfortunate enough to come across an article by Jaclyn Harwell at “Modern Alternative Health” called “5 Reasons That Measles is Better Than Autism.” Unsurprisingly, it was full of misinformation and shoddy arguments. Indeed, it was … Continue reading

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , | 106 Comments

4 meaningless words: toxin, natural, organic, and GMO

News articles and blog posts are often full of buzzwords that are heavy on emotional impact but light on substance, and for scientific topics such as nutrition, health, medicine, and agriculture, four of the most common buzzwords are “toxins,” “natural,” … Continue reading

Posted in GMO, Rules of Logic | Tagged , | 73 Comments

Evolutionary mechanisms part 6: Genetic drift

Many people are under the false impression that evolution is always beneficial, but it can actually be quite harmful. This is especially true for evolution via genetic drift. Like natural selection, genetic drift removes variation from a population, but unlike … Continue reading

Posted in Science of Evolution | Tagged , | 6 Comments