Saturday, October 22, 2005

A Little Penguin for Penguins

Did you know "penguin" is geek speak for being particularly ideological or religious about something? It's an allusion to the seeming fanaticism some display for the Linux platform.

Well, as you'll recall some folks have recently waxed a little penguin about penguins.

Thankfully, the director of March of the Penguins has thrown a little cold water on the idea that the cuddly creatures in his documentary extol the virtues of monogomy and reflect the "theory" of intelligent design.

If they're monogamous, Luc Jacquet says, they're only serially so:
If you want an example of monogamy, penguins are not a good choice. The divorce rate in emperor penguins is 80 to 90 per cent each year. After they see the chick is OK, most of them divorce. They change every year.
Not exactly roles models for life-time commitment.

Where ID's concerned, Jacquet is quite clear, too:
For me there is no doubt about evolution. I am a scientist. The intelligent design theory is a step back to the thinking of 300 years ago. My film is not supposed to be interpreted in this way. Some scientists I know find the film interesting because it can be a good argument against intelligent design. People should not jump on these bandwagons.
Amen brother.

(Via Huffington Post)

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