Still No Free Lunch from Bill Dembski!

Posted by Andrea Bottaro on April 23, 2004 08:15 PM

In a startling turn of events, multifaceted theologian/mathematician/philosopher and ID Generalissimo Bill Dembski, not content of having single-handedly revolutionized every field of modern science, has apparently decided to turn his keen intellect to the restaurant business, and has opened, in co-ownership with a certain Don Port, an “Intelligently Designed BBQ” joint in Riesel, Texas.  “I was tired of being asked: where’s the beef?”  the Baylor University Research Associate Professor in the Conceptual Foundations of Science apparently told some of his closest associates.

Port’s and Dembski’s Brazos Barbecue offers delicacies ranging from homey chopped beef sandwiches to high-scale (and super-sized) large rib plates.  No functional intermediate forms between dishes have so far been identified, raising questions on whether ordinary food processing can accomplish these culinary transitions.  In keeping with the dictates of the No Free Lunch theorems, no items on the menu are gratis, though all seem actually quite affordable.  In the spirit of peer-review, we regrettably note the absence of “sides” information on their web site, which might lead customers to false positive menu inferences [1]. 

A review of noted food critic D. Wolpert declares Dembski’s hearthy entrees far more substantial than his mathematical abstractions, though ultimately still “smothered in BBQ sauce”.  Other critics are however far more enthusiastic: “A towering genius: Bill Dembski is the Chef Boyardee of the Smoking Pit!” hails R. Koons.  “A rare achievement…” chimes in M. Behe.  “Well-done, Bill!” says A. Plantinga, with characteristic understatement.

The entire Panda’s Thumb crew wishes Bill Dembski and his partner the best of luck in this new enterprise, which we earnestly hope will eventually develop into a full-time job for the erstwhile Isaac Newton of Information Theory.  The only thing that puzzles us is that the web site lists Dembski as a “silent partner”.  Since to our knowledge no one has yet succeeded in shutting up Dembski, we gather that he must be busy chewing.  Now, that’s a good sign!

[1] W.A. Dembski, The Design Inference, 1998, p. 144.

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Glenn Morton, Matt Brauer, Mark Perakh and Russel Durbin for mostly not-so-serious suggestions.

Trackback URL: http://www.pandasthumb.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/166

Comment #1460

Posted by Gary Hurd on April 23, 2004 11:50 PM (e) (s)

UMMM I like eaten ribs, and broken femurs, and tibias, and …

http://medstat.med.utah.edu/kw/osteo/hurd/deer2.jpg…

UUUoh they got sauce too… Ummm

Comment #1461

Posted by Virge on April 24, 2004 02:29 AM (e) (s)

Still chuckling.

“silent partner: Bill Dembski”
if only…

Comment #1467

Posted by Frank Schmidt on April 24, 2004 08:16 AM (e) (s)

A man of many parts, Bill. With lots of experience in slinging bull. This venture sounds like a teleologically ideal situation.

More seriously, is the sauce any good? We non-Texans expect a report ASAP.

Comment #1469

Posted by shiva pennathur on April 24, 2004 11:21 AM (e) (s)

Dr. Dembski and Co., are duty bound to serve the real stuff this time!

Comment #1472

Posted by EmmaPeel on April 24, 2004 03:39 PM (e) (s)

WHOIS sez:

Registrant:
ISCID
Suite 1800
PRINCETON, NJ 08542
US

Domain name: BRAZOSBARBECUE.COM

Administrative Contact:
  Sparacio, Micah 
  Suite 1800
  PRINCETON, NJ 08542
  US
  609-924-4424  Fax: 609-924-0582

Technical Contact:
  www.123cheapdomains.com  - -, Domain Registrations — 

…

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 04-Jun-2003.
Record expires on 04-Jun-2007.
Record created on 04-Jun-2003.

Hmmm… maybe it is legit.

Comment #1473

Posted by Andrea Bottaro on April 24, 2004 04:34 PM (e) (s)

Emma:
I am quite sure it is legit.  And there’s nothing wrong with it.  In fact, anyone here from the Houston/Waco area, please go check it out and let us know!

Comment #1474

Posted by David Froehlich on April 24, 2004 05:18 PM (e) (s)

“Houston/Waco area” seems like a large area considering they are about 300 miles apart (although in Texas it may be a congressional district).

Comment #1477

Posted by ArtK on April 24, 2004 06:19 PM (e) (s)

I’m still waiting for the Explanatory Filtered Coffee and the Evolutionist’s BBQ Chicken (lizard, since them scientists can’t tell the difference between a bird and a reptile.)

Comment #1479

Posted by Andrea Bottaro on April 24, 2004 07:12 PM (e) (s)

“Houston/Waco area” seems like a large area considering they are about 300 miles apart (although in Texas it may be a congressional district).
Hey, I thought Texans would drive much farther than that for good BBQ!!

[I actually meant Riesel/Waco, I don’t know why I wrote Houston]

Comment #1486

Posted by Mark Perakh on April 25, 2004 08:56 AM (e) (s)

Perhaps Bill’s next books (from Brazos Press) would be “Darwinists Get Skewered in
Riesel,Tx” and “The No Free Lunch Principle in
Practice: Satisfied Customers Eat Up Barbecued Materialists at Reasonable Prices in Riesel, Tx:”.

Comment #1488

Posted by Pim van Meurs on April 25, 2004 10:25 AM (e) (s)

For sure, the author of the webpage, which was done in Microsoft Word format is

William A. Dembski and the Company is FTE

 

  William A. Dembski
  Normal
  William A. Dembski
  7
  820
  2004-04-20T12:24:00Z
  2004-04-20T17:58:00Z
  3
  227
  1298
  FTE
  10
  2
  1594
  9.4402

Comment #1489

Posted by Pim van Meurs on April 25, 2004 10:26 AM (e) (s) 

 
<o:DocumentProperties>
  <o:Author>William A. Dembski</o:Author>
  <o:Template>Normal</o:Template>
  <o:LastAuthor>William A. Dembski</o:LastAuthor>
  <o:Revision>7</o:Revision>
  <o:TotalTime>820</o:TotalTime>
  <o:Created>2004-04-20T12:24:00Z</o:Created>
  <o:LastSaved>2004-04-20T17:58:00Z</o:LastSaved>
  <o:Pages>3</o:Pages>
  <o:Words>227</o:Words>
  <o:Characters>1298</o:Characters>
  <o:Company>FTE</o:Company>
  <o:Lines>10</o:Lines>
  <o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
  <o:CharactersWithSpaces>1594</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
  <o:Version>9.4402</o:Version>
 </o:DocumentProperties>