Investigate the world you live in.


Education:
B.S. Bachelor of Science
Biology/Environmental Studies
1998
M.S. Master of Science
Chemistry - Inorganic synthesis
2001
D.D.S. Doctor of Dental Surgery
2005

"...if you are a creationist who regularly complains about "Darwinists" and promotes intelligent design creationism, yet declaims at length that you are so abysmally ignorant that you can't even make up your mind whether to trust elementary geology, then nothing you can say about any science is trustworthy. ...when you set up a soapbox and pontificate...from your platform of self-admitted lack of knowledge, you've upgraded yourself from silly schlemiel to arrogant putz."

--P.Z. Myers


"Reality exists in the way it does independently of what any particular person believes about it - no amount of belief is going to change the laws of nature, or the age, scale, development and physical properties of the universe. Therefore the only way to ascertain what is true about nature is to derive our knowledge and understanding from observations of nature itself and adjust our beliefs accordingly.

Considering the demographics of beliefs, both religious and scientific, that exist in the world today, it is a mathematical certainty that most of the people on the planet are entertaining a belief system that is erroneous.

Therefore we must all make the provisional assumption that one or other of our beliefs is incorrect and in need of amendment. To do this we must free ourselves from the pride that convinces us that our beliefs are the right ones, we must not consider being wrong to be shameful, we must not "fall in love" with our beliefs and we must consider it a source of pride when we are willing to change our beliefs when they are no longer in accord with the facts."

UppruniTegundanna

"Some of the great technological advances of the next few decades are going to be in the biological sciences, and you can't do biology unless you understand evolution. There is going to be a race between us and the super bugs, the viruses that are going to attack us. Their big weapon is that they can evolve fast. If we don't have a generation of science students and scientists who understand evolution, we're not going be able to understand our worst enemies. Also, great advances in diseases like cancer, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are often going to come from other animals...We have to understand the relationship is between a mouse and a human in order to interpret that science. Scientists have a credo, that 'nothing in biology makes sense in biology except in light of evolution'. If you are going to sew confusion about evolution, you are going to sew confusion about biology. That's the last thing that we need in the economic and technological advances that we face. But also, what could be more fundamental than knowing where we came from? The theory of evolution is one of the most magnificent intellectual accomplishments of our civilization. It's a tragedy to deny children of the evidence, the line of argumentation that led to this magnificent achievement, and it is essential to the knowledge of who we are and where we came from."
--Steven Pinker, Harvard University