Customer Reviews

Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design and the Easter Bunny

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want to see an excellent example of how to derail creationist idiocy, read this book. If you don't want to see one, read this book anyway - it will be good for you.

It has become obvious that debates relying on actual science do not work on people like Behe, Dembski, et al - they simply disagree with it, dismiss it, don't like it and prefer to make up their own (highly spurious) version of it. Instead, try the approach taken by the authors of this book:

"This will not be a polite book. Politeness is wasted on the dishonest, who will always take advantage of any well-intended concession, and the leaders of the so-called "Intelligent Design" movement, as we shall see, are so incredibly dishonest that they could cause a veteran heroin addict to blush..."

In six short, visciously funny and easy-to-read chapters, Brown and Alston do to Creationism and the ID movement what Stetson Kennedy did to the Ku Klux Klan (See "Freakonomics" by Levitt and Dubner for an overview of how Kennedy ruined the Klan's reputation by joining them and leaking all of their dumb secret codes and passwords to the writers of a radio show 'Adventures of Superman' - "converting precious knowledge into ammunition for mockery")

Mockery is the key word here, but not the dishonest mockery of the kind so often engaged in by Dembski - 'Flock of Dodo's' has no need to sink to lies since the creationists' own words and ideas are more than enough to beat them with.

The book starts with a quick introduction to the ID folks (the above quotation about politeness (lack of) comes from this chapter) and the man-on-the-street's idea of it as exemplified by William Buckingham, the now infamous ex Dover school board member.

Moving on through Chapter 2, 'A Brief History of Nonsense', we come to chapter 3 - 'Dinosaurs and Exclamation Marks' where the young earth creationists are exposed to the light - Henry Morris, "...disingenuous dumbass,"; Ken Ham, "...just falls back on miracles,"; and others along with a wonderful section on 'Flood Geology'.

Willaim Dembski does a fantastic job of beating himself up in chapter 4 - 'Logos and Lesbianism' (wonderful title...) with a little help from an extended analogy to the song 'Uptown Girl'. Right there alongside him is Michael Behe exposing his own ignorance.

Chapter 5 - 'Constantine vs the Enlightenment' may test how broad minded Christian readers can be - as the authors stated, this is not a polite book. It beats up Christianity by way of Constantine, the Wedge strategy (the full text, so you know that nothing is out of context), the Discovery Institute and more of Behe's fun and games.

With regard to Behe, it was interesting to find myself swearing out loud as I was reading about the mendacity of the man - would you BRAG that your book had been peer reviewed by no less than five reviewers (the usual number is two) if, in fact, there were only four reviewers - three of whom panned the book, forcing you to find a different publisher with lower standards?

Chapter 6 - 'So You've Decided to Take a Stand For Science!' The authors say, "..if you're truly keen on fulfilling your patriotic duty to protect the Nation of the Enlightenment from the Legions of Tomfoolery, then you'd better bone up on the movers and shakers of the anti-evolution movement. To this end, I've prepared the following guide to some of the nation's most misguided medievalists." As you would expect, an overview of the usual suspects then follows.

You should not, however, get the idea that the whole book is simply ridicule and insults. If that were the case, I admit that I would still find the book funny but I wouldn't be giving it four stars. The book earns its rating because the necessary details are there (even if there are not so many as I might like), the facts are there, the arguments and the counter arguments are there. Ridicule is simply the appropriate response!

The assault on science that the creationist/ID movement represents is serious - this book amply demonstrates, however, that their arguments are not.

Let me start by saying that if you believe in Intelligent Design, or Creationism, or if you are a fundamental Christian, skip this review and this book. You will be offended! If, on the other hand you enjoy a good laugh and can laugh at subjects that can hit close to home, keep reading.

With that said, this book takes apart the Intelligent Design movement piece by piece using their own thoughts and words. The authors wrote the book in a humorous style, and in many places it is laugh out loud funny, although it does push the envelope with the jokes. As a very liberal Christian, I was right on the edge of being offended on several occasions. That is the only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than five.

The book begins with a look at the Dover, PA School Board trial and some of the characters involved. And, in the process, poke fun at some of the players. It then moves on to the Scopes Monkey trial, with its staged cast of characters. They describe, briefly, how the Scope's trial came about and what the outcome was, and how that has an effect on the controversy today.

Much of the book, however, is written to debunk the current Intelligent Design and it takes on the likes of William Dembski, Michael Behe and the Discovery Institute. The authors use books printed by Dembski and Behe, as well as documents from the Institute's web site to show what the Intelligent Design movement is about and how they plan to try to integrate our public schools with this material.

Throughout the book the authors are irreverent and funny. They leave no person untouched, (even Bill Clinton gets a jab thrown his way) but the humor regarding Christianity can get a little close to home.

Laughter really can be the best medicine. If your head throbs after wading through creationist-on-crack buffoonery, or you suffer waves of nausea after exposure to the latest 'Intelligent Design' PR campaign gambit, read "Flock of Dodos." Relief will be immediate and long lasting.

Anyone who wiles away the hours wandering Wal-Mart aisles waiting for the rapture should probably avoid this book - it will raise holy hackles - born again Christians are not the target audience. I was born right the first time, and would really appreciate it if faith-based fanatics would quite insulting my mother, so none of the content was objectionable to me.

Highlights include a ribald deconstruction of 'The Discovery Institute (for the Renewal of Science and Culture),' which never intends to actually discover anything - hardly news to the reality-based community. From the infamous "Wedge Document" to a rag-tag claque of dysfunctional disciples (William Dembski, Michael Behe, Phillip Johnson, Stephen Meyer, and Jonathan Wells - a veritable bestiary of shills, flacks, sycophants, lawyers, unindicted co-conspirators, and Moonies), the anti-enlightenment agenda of the Disco Institute is satirically shredded, with the assistance of an elite troupe of lesbian Bonabo Chimpanzees. On behalf of rationalists everywhere, I would like to personally thank the Bonabo's for their help (design that Billy).

The wholly hilarious hijinks behind Kitzmiller v. Dover, where Team Disco, aided and abetted by an Oxycontin-addled William Buckingham (in the best tradition of Rush Limbaugh), and the Thomas Moore Law Center connived to engineer a spectacular train wreck, are also mercilessly lampooned. After this court decision Intelligent Design's 15 minutes of fame have come and gone, and gone, and gone, and gone, and gone like some perversly inverted Energizer bunny.

Slapstick and shoddy 'scientific creationism,' from the Millerite movement non-events surrounding October 22, 1844, to George McCready Price (failed preacher, delusional author of "Flood Geology"), and latter-day luddites such as John D. Morris and Ken Ham are next on the agenda of absurdaties.

Morris invented the instant-onset Alzheimer's disease necessary to sustain a Young Earth Creationist (YEC) worldview, while Ham's feverish antics, military jargon-laced howls, and lycanthropine facial foliage really do resemble what happens when werewolfs encounter full moons - although in my opinion Ham more closely resembles the dogmatic Dr. Zaius from the original "Planet of the Apes" movie. Note to Ken: quit showing the chimpanzee 'who's your grandfather and grandmother' slides - the resemblance is simply too striking to deny.

"Flock of Dodos" is laugh out loud funny. Highly recommend on every account. Excellent companion books include Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul by Edward Humes or 40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, OxyContin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania by Matthew Chapman or Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris.

Flock of Dodos is a hilarious look at the history of the Intelligent Design movement. The Author wittily provides countless examples of contradictions, fallacies and downright lies within the writings and public commentary of the proponents of ID. I was expecting a simple political satire, but what I got was a well-researched and thoughtful presentation of the current and historical controversies over creationism. The comedic approach makes for a fun and very readable piece. Highly recommended for those willing to take an open-minded look at the ID movement.

Brown does a terrific job taking shots at the Intelligent Design crowd and their "scientific" theory. The satire was both humurous and intelligent. It is one thing to just ridiclule and poke fun at a group of people that need to be made examples of. It is another thing, however, to poke fun at that group while also making sound, substantive arguments that attack the very heart of the opponents' beliefs. This book does just that.
The book is true to the scietific method that it seeks to support. There is a clear and concise thesis that Brown support throughout the book. Namely, he delivers damning evidence that the Intelligent Design movement is no more than creationism cloaked in bad science.
I suggest this book to anyone that does not have Bible shutters over their eyes and ears. It is an easy, one-day read that will keep you thuroughly entertained from start to finish. Although some people may find the book to be offensive, I found the jokes about Christianity and religion in general to be in gest and secondary to the books overall agenda.

After enduring all the taunts and jokes from ignorance spewing from the mouths and pens of creationists, it is so much fun to read a no-holds-barred counterattack. The buffoons are all paraded before you.

Barrett Brown has written what many want to say but cannot.

Let's laugh these science-fearing fools out of town. Flock of Dodos is a great start.

I just watched this on HBO last night and I was so thrilled to find such a funny, entertaining, and educational documentary!
I think the best point that I walked away with rang so simple but true, even though humans are emotional by nature we have a "higher" mind that we can use and this seperates us from other animals. Intuition is the start of brilliant ideas, but in the end testable meathods prove whether that intuition is right or wrong. This is were "intelligent design" reaches its end. Science is and hopefully always will be about the testability!

If you ever needed an example of shooting fish in a barrel, just look to the book Flock of Dodos by Barrett Brown and Jon P. Alston, a brief but amusing look at the world of Creationism. When you're dealing with a group of intellectually limited people like the idea men of the Creationist/Intelligent Design movement, it's not exactly difficult to make fun at them.

If I had to guess, the primary writer of Flock of Dodos is Brown, whose background is with National Lampoon. Alston, on the other hand, probably provided more of the concepts. Whatever the case, this is a funny book that shows the vast contradictions and fallacies of the so-called Intelligent Design movement.

Unlike many books on the topic of debunking this pseudoscience, Flock of Dodos does not really rely on the scientific flaws, but dwells more on the political and religious rationale (or should it be irrationale?) of the movement. For example, while Intelligent Design proponents will often pretend that religion plays no part in their "theory", the record shows otherwise. The IDers (or as I've heard them referred to, IDiots) will resort to all sorts of lies and bullying to get their way and fulfill their ultimate agenda of bringing religion (which is to say their religion, a fanatical and disturbing form of Christianity) into the classroom and government. Quoting people out of context and indulging in scare tactics may be part of the game of politics, but in the world of science, it cannot win.

Flock of Dodos may preach to the choir, but it also provides that choir with some additional tools to appropriately mock Creationists. At just over 150 quick pages, it may be a bit small for the cover price, but if you can get it at a discount (such as through Amazon), it is worth getting.

"{T]he leaders of the Intelligent Design movement, as we shall see, are so incredibly dishonest that they could cause a veteran heroin addict to blush - not out of any moral objection on the part of the addict, but rather out of embarassment that anyone could be do damned bad at lying." (Kindle Edition, loc. 40)

Brown and Austin's book, "Flock of Dodos" is a crass and mocking work of rhetoric against creationism and intelligent design. Anyone wanting a scholarly and measured discourse should look elsewhere (there are scores of good anti-ID books at the scholarly level). Anyone wanting a smoking hot and comedic look at lunacy, this is the place for you!

The book starts off making fun of the most easy to make fun of: the "scientific" creationists like Ken Ham and Henry Morris (oddly, Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind is not mentioned. Maybe its because he is in jail.) Our authors make fun of their (as always) futile attempts to find, much less explain the possibility of, Noah's arc, their ignorance of any type of science, and their explanation of last resort - "then, a miracle happened."

Next, we go onto another crew, that of intelligent design. These guys are a bit harder to make fun of - they are creationists who wear ties and speak like scientists. That, of course, doesn't keep our authors from trying their dangdest. This chapter is a more funny and condensed version of Forrest and Gross's "Creationism's Trojan Horse," where the ID crowd is rightly accused of double speak. When talking to scientists (rather, yelling to get their attention), they speak of "irreducible complexity." When talking to Christians (as they do constantly!), they speak of Jesus.

The next several chapters are a humorous but forceful critique of the dangers that creationism in any form poses to science and culture. If a strange brand of Christians can force the courts to demand that a view be taught because it is more friendly to scripture (this has not happened yet), there is no telling what the next move would be. And if Christians can force the courts to decide what is and is not science, then science ceases to be indepenendent.

The authors conclude that "[r]ather than a new and exciting theory, the Intelligent Design movement is nothing less than an attempted coup by which a contingent of Constantne's hopes to overthrow the legitimacy of the Enlightenment." (loc. 1011)

If this sounds like an extreme judgment, bordering on caricaturization, that is because - at least to my eyes - it is. Other reviewers have complained that this book is just an empty work of biting and alarmist rhetoric. Okay. It is certainly no worse that Ann Coulter's "Godless," let alone Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," both of which were gobbled up by the ID crowd in droves.

Rhetoric and humor can be good. It is sometimes fun to laugh at people that deserve to be mocked. This book is proof. (Now, we just need to find that pesky proof of evolution...)

A new copy of Flock of Dodos costs ... what??? about $150. A used copy costs almost as much. A kindle version is under $10. So that did it for me. I bought a kindle. Now for the book. It was delightful and hit a lot of nails on the head. Everyone should read this ESPECIALLY believers in Intelligent Design and Creationism. Yeah. They might be offended, but they need to see what's wrong with their ideas. Thanks for this great book.