OK, not quite an odyssy, but here’s a quick insight into how my mind works.<\/p>\n
Starting from Kottke<\/a>, I read this nice little article about Ariel Levy’s wedding<\/a>, where Levy mentions her spouse’s conservative family, including a brother, Todd, who “works for the creationist movement.”<\/p>\n Of course, I had to abandon New York Magazine <\/em>to look up Todd Norquist on Google, which led me to the Discovery Institute in Seattle. (That’s probably the part that offers the most insight on how my mind works, by the way.)<\/p>\n The Discovery Institute is the leading proponent of the Inteligent <\/a>Design<\/a> movement. Their About Us<\/em> page neglects to mention that bit of information…or anything about ID at all.<\/p>\n Their mission statement is so devoid of actual description that I had to backtrack a few pages to make sure that I hadn’t found an interesting organization that just happened to share the same name.<\/p>\n Discovery Institute’s mission is to make a positive vision of the future practical. The Institute discovers and promotes ideas in the common sense tradition of representative government, the free market and individual liberty. Our mission is promoted through books, reports, legislative testimony, articles, public conferences and debates, plus media coverage and the Institute’s own publications and Internet website.<\/p>\n Current projects explore the fields of technology, science and culture, reform of the law, national defense, the environment and the economy, the future of democratic institutions, transportation, religion and public life, government entitlement spending, foreign affairs and cooperation within the bi-national region of “Cascadia.” The efforts of Discovery fellows and staff, headquartered in Seattle, are crucially abetted by the Institute’s members, board and sponsors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That’s just…remarkable. Seems neat, actually.<\/p>\n