philosophy – Page 3 – The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs

October 24, 2012October 25, 2012

Do Humans Have Ancient Instinctive Fear of Pterosaurs?

On occasion I encounter the idea that people see apparent pterosaurs because of some residual instinct that we have inherited from our distant ancestors who lived at the time of pterosaurs (many “millions” of years ago), an instinct that helped them survive by avoiding being caught by pterosaurs.

How feeble is this evolutionary reasoning! How easily debunked is this explanation for sightings of apparent living pterosaurs! Do we, as humans, have an ancient ingrained fear of ancient pterosaurs? Think of how that could have come about. Notice the flaws in reasoning. Any one of the following at least counts against that speculation, taking the assumption that all pterosaurs have been extinct for many millions of years. Most of the following points destroy that speculation.

Before proceeding, we need to consider what is entailed by this speculation: Ancient “ancestors” of humans were threatened by large pterosaurs, so those “pre-humans” developed, through “selective evolution” a fear of the form or shape of a pterosaur. A critical point in this speculation is that a fear-response was supposed to have given some of the “pre-humans” an advantage in survival.

If our ancestors developed an evolved fear of seeing the form of a pterosaur, why would that fear remain in our brains for millions of years when pterosaurs were extinct?
Why do some eyewitnesses of modern pterosaurs experience no fear during their sightings?
Why do some sightings involve multiple eyewitnesses who describe the same form and features of what they saw?
Where are the scientific tests that show that humans in general have a fear of the form of a pterosaur?

Evolution Speculation and Extinction of Pterosaurs

The first point alone destroys the speculation: that humans occasionally see something that they think is a pterosaur but isn’t really a pterosaur because those persons have an ancient fear-trigger that came from human ancestors who were sometimes preyed upon by pterosaurs. Even if our ancestors covered this planet anciently with billions of their kind, for millions of years, and developed (through evolution) a fear of anything that looked like a pterosaur, why would our ancestors have retained that fear for millions of years of evolution when all pterosaurs were extinct? It’s too ridiculous to consider.

Some Eyewitnesses Experience no Fear

I often receive an email from an eyewitness who had no fear when observing an apparent pterosaur. Descriptions of the flying creature are quite similar to descriptions from eyewitnesses who were afraid of the flying creature observed. This alone destroys the conjecture about ancient human instinct-response to an image of a pterosaur.

Multiple Eyewitnesses to a Pterosaur

Some deeply hidden institive fear of a form of a pterosaur, assuming that were possible, would not be nearly enough to cause two or more humans to simultaneously hallucinate (or misidentify a non-pterosaur bird or bat), thinking that they had observed the form of a pterosaur.

Scientific Test

When has any scientific test been done to show that humans have an instinctive fear of the form of a pterosaur? It would have to be done on persons who had NOT been raised in traditions in which dragons were supposed to be fearsome—that eliminates many persons in many cultures. I doubt such a test has ever been done.

Evolutionary Boundary

A mathematical simulation of population growths, showing the fallacy of the origin philosophy of Charles Darwin: Small simple organisms cannot evolve into complex organisms BECAUSE natural selection PREVENTS those potential changes from actually taking place.

Fiery Flying Serpent of the Bible

Consider some problems with the “snake” interpretation. In our modern technical world, we are struck by an ancient Hebrew phrase. “Fiery flying serpent,” . . .

March 9, 2012

Blind Spots

Have you noticed your two blind spots while driving? Unless you ride a motorcycle or drive a car with no windshield or constantly rock your head forward and back, those blind spots (side-supports for the windshield) follow you everywhere. I’m usually careful pulling forward from a stop sign at a particular intersection near my house, for a car is almost always parked on my right. The other day, I pulled forward, fortunately with usual care, and noticed a car, slowly coming from my right, almost obscured by my right blind spot. The other driver acknowledged my second stop and passed safely in front of me. We were never close to having a collision, but it brought those blind spots into my view.

The point? Professors who teach the universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs—those professors never ride motorcycles . . . something like that. But everybody has blind spots, of course, not just paleontologists; the danger is in living as if we had none.

Over the past eight years, I have encountered critics who assume that my associates and I have a serious bias: a religious blind spot caused by our need to support our beliefs through the idea that pterosaurs are modern rather than extinct. Those critics fail to realize that Garth Guessman, David Woetzel, Paul Nation, and I have differences in religious beliefs: Aside from being Bible-believing Christians, we probably have at least somewhat different interpretations of some parts of Genesis.

But those critics are seriously mistaken about our need for living pterosaurs. We would have been quite happy in our faith in Jesus Christ even were all species of pterosaurs to be extinct. Humans are known to be the major cause of extinctions in recent centuries and humans were probably the cause for many extinctions in the more distant past. Turning over the coin, a serious bias is not restricted to those holding a less-popular opinion. What about those critics?

Over the past eight years, I have interviewed eyewitnesses from various countries, of various religious beliefs, with various educational backgrounds, under various cultural influences. As far as I know, I have communicated with more apparent-pterosaur eyewitnesses than any other cryptozoologist in the world. What do the eyewitnesses have in common? Each one has seen a winged creature whose description suggests a living pterosaur more than it suggests any bird or bat. Human experience deserves our attention, even if that common experience from around the world contradicts an assumption popular with one or more of the world’s cultures. Critics appear to have failed to read far enough to notice that critical detail.

Western culture has a blind spot (at least one) that blocks communication with eyewitnesses of pterosaurs. We need to listen to eyewitnesses, and we need to move our head forward a few inches to see past the blind spot . . . something like that.

In the introduction to the third edition of my book Live Pterosaurs in America, I wrote:

. . . please consider the feelings of those who have revealed to us their encounters with what seem to be live pterosaurs, for some of them have suffered more than discomfort. I intend to comfort those innocent victims who have been ridiculed or ostracized because of a cultural weakness, for each has seen something unaccepted by their society.

On page 95 I wrote:

Now compare those reactions to those of natives in Papua New Guinea. My experience interviewing natives and reviewing interviews done by other explorers—that suggests it’s easier to catch a giant ropen in a fishing net than to find a native eyewitness who disbelieves personal experience because of what American professors assume. Eyewitnesses in a culture that dogmatically teaches pterosaur extinction—they sometimes have problems dealing with an experience that they feel should not have been experienced; native eyewitnesses in New Guinea have no problem.

On page 96 I wrote:

What has a beak and a long tail, and flies with no feathers? . . . Some would reply, “Living or extinct?” But why not just answer that question? Of course it is a Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaur, called by many non-scientists “pterodactyl,” a layman’s term for any reptilian-like “prehistoric” featherless flying creature. The point? What’s wrong with simply accepting an eyewitness report of a long-tailed featherless flying creature? Why believe that all pterosaur species must be extinct? Without the idea of universal Rhamphorhynchoid extinction, we conclude that the eyewitness saw a pterosaur. Non-extinction, as an alternative, now appears.

Pterodactyl Expert

I’m responding to a forum thread that attacks not any particular sighting report or analysis of any sighting: It attacks me. I will not attack the critics in retaliation but feel it better to answer a few of their comments.

January 5, 2012

Don’t Forget to Think

A driver from a child care home picked up his appointed kindergartener from school one morning. As they stopped at a fast food drive-in to pick up hamburgers for the child care, little Sofia began to test the driver’s math skill. “How much is a hundred plus a hundred plus a million . . .” she asked. The driver used one hand to tally the hundreds; the other hand, the millions. Sofia was surprised that he had an answer. “How did you do that?” After learning the secret, she said, “This time don’t use your hands.”

“How much is a million plus a million . . .” she asked; it was another a long sum. This time, the driver admitted that he wasn’t sure but gave an estimate of what the total might be. When asked, “How did you do that,” he replied, “I used my head.” Little Sofia then said, “This time, don’t use your head.”

How dearly we in the Western countries need to remember to use our heads! That doesn’t mean we’re always sure of everything: We can make estimates. But from infancy, almost, we are bombarded with declarations that cannot be questioned, including high-definition television that is deaf, devoid of ears. When a preschooler turns to a parent, the response is often just a reflection, a culturally-correct answer. Why don’t we use our heads more often? Do we really have no time?

How can we question the universal extinctions of all dinosaurs and pterosaurs? No opposition allowed—that slammed the door, long ago, on common objective reasoning between opposing opinions. How dearly Westerners now need to just be aware that there is another possibility, an alternative to mindless assumptions, ideas that include lightning striking a mud puddle that creates future human civilizations!

I won’t mention the name of the cryptozoologist who criticized me a few years ago, for I’m examining a culturally-inherited fault in his own reasoning and I have no time now to praise, in worthy balance, his many contributions to cryptozoology. He appeared to question my ability to think clearly because I had done a mathematical simulation, years earlier, called “An Evolutionary Boundary.” He gave no indication that he had read anything that I had written on this subject, including my original report on my findings; he simply questioned my ability to reason well in cryptozoological matters because I had questioned standard models of evolutionary biology. But must everything be wrong that appears to contradict the most popular ideas of a particular culture? Must popular Western cultural assumptions about the origin of life be correct?

We must remember to think for ourselves and encourage others along the upward path. In most cases of human contention, neither side need be completely wrong or completely right, and when all aspects of an issue have been considered, without fear and without judgement of a participant, truth has room to break out into the open, blossoming into understanding. It’s not free; eternal vigilance is the price: Don’t forget to think.

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Long Beach Child Care

In this Long Beach daycare home, the principles of friendship and cooperation are encouraged. Children learn to see themselves as part of the total group, with individuality encouraged as well.

December 15, 2011

Must Eyewitnesses be Liars? No!

How sad that some critics have misunderstood not only the nature of faith in God but the nature of science! Consider now the importance of human experience. How can science exist without human experience? By definition, operational science involves what is repeatable and observable. Galileo succeeded, in the long run, because he provided a way for people to see not just specks of light circling Jupiter: a way for people to open their eyes to a new idea. Others could repeat the same observations—that is an example of operational science.

To call a number of persons “liars or deluded” because they make similar observations—that criticism now needs to be addressed. It came about in June of 2007, on a forum discussion on cryptozoology.com. “Rainbow Medicine Man” (RMM), after a number of comments by several writers of various opinions said (among other things):

– No 6K year Earth, friend. That is not so. And not being so is a FACT, not a theory.

– The Geological record is very accurate, and consistent. Also a FACT.

– There’s no fossil record of any ptero since 65M years. If some managed to survive, they would’ve changed beyond recognition, but they haven’t; they went extinct. No Ramphorynchus!. Again, a fact.

That is why I claim that these who say to have seen pteros are liars. Or deluded. It is surprising the percentage, of lately, of Creationists between the witness. Ask myself why?.

But RMM was replying to my statements, and I was not commenting on the age of the earth or the accuracy of the “Geologic record” or fossils. I made two long postings. The first one mostly referred to the Destination Truth expedition (which was NOT a Creationist expedition at all) in which a flying light was videotaped; later analysis could not find any explanation for the cause of the light. My second posting mostly referred to sightings of apparent pterosaurs and to those sightings in which an apparent pterosaur was seen to glow.

Why did RMM bring up the subject of religion? Why did he assume that all the investigators have the same religious belief? In the same comment, he later said, “Some Christian factions are really dangerous.” He seems to be oblivious to the possibility that the investigators I mentioned or alluded to may have a wide variety of religious beliefs, for some of them were members of the Destination Truth expedition, which was not at all a religious excursion, despite the name. Did RMM look only at the outward appearance of the name “Destination Truth” and assume that all those explorers had the same “dangerous” religious beliefs as me and Garth Guessman and David Woetzel?

Listing ones beliefs and appending each one with the word “FACT”—that does not prove ones beliefs. And it does not prove that those eyewitnesses who have seen something outside the philosophy of RMM are all “liars” or “deluded.”

November 29, 2011January 25, 2015

Let us be Fair to the Young Earth Creationist

For years I have worked with Young Earth Creationists in bringing to light evidence for modern living pterosaurs. For years critics have dismissed the possibility of live pterosaurs because the idea is promoted by YEC’s who believe in the Bible. This unfair approach, commonly accompanied by bulverism, now deserves attention.

Cryptozoology Book

Although the third edition (like the previous two) of Live Pterosaurs in America is not a YEC book but a cryptozoology book, it extols the accomplishments of Bible-believing Christian explorers who searched jungles in Papua New Guinea and interviewed many native eyewitnesses of flying creatures whose descriptions make them obvious candidates for living pterosaurs.

Page 111:

That multi-critic reasoning seems to have created circularity with the reputation my associates and I have in some online forums. A vicious web site includes these key words: “Creationist Claims, Fabrications, Falsehoods, Idiocy . . . Stupid Lies, hoax. . . .” The body of the web page refers to our “delusional eyes.” I find that combination of insults interesting, for one definition of “delusion” is “a false belief or opinion,” and telling a lie means communicating something contrary to what the deceiver believes: an unlikely combination.

Page 113:

We creationist living-pterosaur investigators, although mostly belonging to different churches, agree that the hand of an intelligent Creator can be recognized in the life of this world and in the life of God’s word in scripture.

Page 114:

Expeditions to find living pterosaurs have been creationist expeditions, with few exceptions. A creationist believes that God created the universe, including this world of life. (I believe earth-age is secondary, at most, notwithstanding what is written under “Ropen” on Wikipedia) Most of us who have explored tropical rain forests in Papua New Guinea, searching for pterosaur-like animals, have done so with hope that humans will find God, even if we fail to find overwhelming proof of living pterosaurs.

Page 115:

Our greatest opposition has come from outspoken critics who have been offended by our creationism. But why should those with different religious beliefs deride our efforts? Without cryptid-hunting creationists, little progress would have been made: no investigations in the southwest Pacific or in North America. Nothing would have happened; nobody else cared.

Not all Christian creationists have identical beliefs. I am one of a minority who believes in both a young life on earth (regardless of earth age) and an old universe. A common ground for Christian creationists, however, is the Biblical account of Noah: a world-wide flood. This I too believe.

Special Thanks

I now give credit to several YEC Christians who have helped me over the past nine years, helping make possible my successes in the investigation of eyewitness accounts of modern living pterosaurs. Special thanks I give to Carl Baugh, Paul Nation, Garth Guessman, David Woetzel, Peter Beach, Phillip O’Donnell. These brave men have given their names to the world, in spite of ridicule, and have searched for living pterosaurs.

I have also received special encouragement and consultation from Scott Norman, James Greene, and others who have made a positive difference in bringing the truth to light.

Young Earth Creationism Writings

I now direct attention to some writings of YEC Christians (while ignoring “Yukon Energy Corporation,” “Youth Employment Commission,” “Young Entrepreneur Club,” and “Yoga Event Calendar”). I do not necessarily agree with everything said in the following, but I feel that at least much of it deserves consideration and appreciation.

Utah’s Testimony to Catastrophe

In July 2006 I had the privilege of visiting Utah and wandering through some of the amazing geological formations there. The dry conditions and immense heat (regularly high temperatures of 100°F—about 38°C) make it harsh by European standards. . . .

. . . The apparent evidence of vast deposition followed by vast erosion speaks of catastrophic floodwaters. The ground rises dramatically on the west of the state toward south-central Utah to “younger” (in evolutionary explanations) Cenozoic formations in the regions of Cedar City and Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce and Zion National Parks. . . .

All over Utah there is evidence of Indian culture in the past: petroglyphs (drawings) inscribed on the rocks. Such rock art found all over Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and other western states is not fully understood. . . .

. . . We hiked down to the bottom of the valley to see it close up, and sure enough, there were a number of fading-but-still-visible petroglyphs including one of a sauropod dinosaur. The dinosaur image was in the same style as all the other petroglyphs on the rock near Kachina bridge.

Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome

I think the media is more about sensationalized entertainment than informative reporting, but you would expect them to at least accurately report the facts somewhere in their reporting. I shouldn’t be surprise at the exaggerated claims from the popular press, except over time we have become desensitized to this misreporting and we are being collectively brainwashed to believe the popular press rather than reality.

This is why I laugh at anti-dam idiots!

Read more here: Can salmon evolve to survive among fish-killing dams? | OregonLive.com

No, I do not believe in evolution! I do believe that God gave animals the ability to adapt to survive in many environments!

Louisiana Education Legislation

In 2008 Louisiana passed the “Louisiana Science Education Act,” marking the only legislative success that creationists have had in recent times. . . . to “help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories pertinent to the course being taught.”

Building the Right Foundation in Asia

“We really need to reeducate ourselves because we have always been indoctrinated with Darwin’s evolution and millions of years theories and it’s not going to be easy; we have always assumed that Discovery Channel and National Geographic is right!” Hope you can assist to fill this vacuum.

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From the Introduction in the nonfiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America (third edition; author: Jonathan David Whitcomb), we read:

During those years of expeditions in the southwest Pacific, reports in our own country became impossible to ignore; I received many emails from eyewitnesses across the United States, and the reports kept coming in. Pterosaur-like creatures are not all confined to the tropics. As we began to listen to those Americans, we noticed report-similarities: long tails (often) and apparent bioluminescence (sometimes). We began to believe.

November 25, 2011

Science and Modern Pterosaurs

I recently communicated with a well known paleontologist (he has his own page on Wikipedia) who had written, some years earlier, a long blog post intended, apparently, to discourage anyone from believing that any pterosaur species lives in “the modern day.” It seems obvious that his opinion is unchanged as of mid-November, 2011. Also unchanged is this paleontologist’s proclivity for avoiding details: He avoids any detail in any dating of any particular pterosaur fossil and he avoids any detail in any relevant sighting of an apparent modern pterosaur. I avoid mentioning his name here because the problem lies with general axioms of standard-model Western paleontology (and poor thinking habits that seem to be popular, if not blatently encouraged, within this community), not with this particular scientist.

Misidentification and Pterosaur Sightings

Some followers of standard-model paleontology, among the professors who support those models and the students who also march in that file, have targeted the general concept of sightings of modern living pterosaurs. But they aim their arrows at the warehouse in which targets are stored, not at any official target. That is how they hit their “target,” for their arrows easily hit the large building. I don’t deny that those professors and students have hit what they were aiming for; one side of the building is full of arrows. I question why none of them walk up to that building (it is close enough), open the door (it is unlocked), and ask to use an official target (it is free to borrow).

I don’t deny that ordinary persons can misidentify something and believe, or at least suspect, that they had seen a modern pterosaur; I have lost count of those whom I have corrected, or tried to correct, regarding Frigate birds (some videos show obvious Frigate birds). But be aware: Those misidentifications are irrelevant to the critical sightings.

Duane Hodgkinson was in a jungle clearing that was only about one hundred feet across when he and his army buddy saw the flying creature run to get airborne. The creature had a wingspan similar to that of a Piper Tri-Pacer airplane and a tail “at least” ten or fifteen feet long. It had a long neck and a long appendage coming out of the back of the head. It was no Frigate bird.

Hodgkinson was no ordinary eyewitness. At the time of this sighting, he was a weather observer for artillery (New Guinea, 1944). In recent decades, he has been a flight instructor. For the past seven years (since I started interviewing this America World War II veteran) it seems that no standard-model paleontologist has mentioned the name “Hodgkinson” when referring to reports of apparent living pterosaurs; perhaps it might discredit, to some observers, standard-model paleontology.

No college degree in science can justify any professor’s lack of scientific reasoning regarding potential misidentifications of modern living pterosaurs (avoiding critical details is unscientific). The critical sightings, like the one by Hodgkinson, need attention, for they provide details that allow true scientific reasoning to take place.

The word “target” on the side of a building in which real targets are in storage—that is not an official target. And the general concept of misidentifications-for-live-pterosaurs—that is not a specific sighting report of an apparent pterosaur. Foggy thinking is not scientific, even if a science professor is unknowingly lost in that vagueness. Science lives on details and on human experience (even when the result is unpopular in ones culture); science can die in foggy thinking and in dogmatic popular imagination, even when paleontologists continue to use the word “science” to try to remain popular or to cover up their unscientific methods (even when those professors do so unknowingly). Human experience will prevail, in spite of professorial dogmas.

The third edition of the nonfiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America is now available on Amazon. After reading the second edition of this book, one reader gave this Amazon review (completely unsolicited by the author):

“I couldn’t put this book down. It is absolutely fascinating to read about eyewitness accounts of the people who have seen these creatures. To learn about these testimonies from such an open minded perspective is refreshing in the extreme! The way that our school systems and scientists alike are indoctrinated is sad. There is so much money out there being used for research, if only they would use it for good. I highly recommend this book to anyone! People should know the truth about what is going on. No one ever hears anything about this unless they conduct extremely specific internet searches, even then, information is minimal. Jonathan Whitcomb needs to write more books!” (from StrangeDream, on Amazon.com, for 2nd ed. of the cryptozoology book)