talk.origins

talk.origins is a Usenet newsgroup (discussion group) which provides defenses for the evolutionary perspective against the creationist perspective. Its purpose is to be a place about the discussion of issues that relate to the origins of the universe, life on Earth, and civilization, with evolutionary biology, creationism, geology, and Velikovskyanism being the most commonly discussed subjects. The related TalkOrigins FAQ archive is a huge repository of information and discussion about two topics: the origins of the universe, and the origins and development of life.

Emblem of talk.origins archive.

We're all Homo here Evolution

Relevant Hominids

Charles Darwin Alfred Russel Wallace Gregor Mendel Richard Dawkins Jerry Coyne

A Gradual Science

Lenski affair Non-Darwinian evolution Scopes trial Wedge Strategy

Plain Monkey Business

Young Earth Creationism Old Earth Creationism Intelligent Design Microevolution vs. Macroevolution v - t - e

It dates almost to the beginning of Usenet -- before the 1986 Great Renaming, it was known as net.origins.

One useful feature of the site is their voluminous list of FAQ files, where creationist and other pseudoscientific claims are carefully debunked. The sheer quantity of quality scientific information has led to the Talk.Origins archives being considered the Net's most significant clearinghouse of origins information out there, even being cited from time to time in science textbooks for further reading purposes. The TO archive also makes a point to link back to pages with opposing viewpoints, something not as common among creationist pages. The site is maintained by the TalkOrigins Archive Foundation.

While activity has tailed off somewhat since 2006, the archive maintains a blog presence at The Panda's Thumb, a collaborative blog that aggregates articles on evolution from the science blogosphere as well as some original material.

Getting the stuff direct

If you're willing to get a news reader, TO's still there at news:talk.origins. News readers include Forte Agent, Mozilla, and Opera. You will need to have access to a news server to get the newsgroup. There are many free servers around newzbot.com, freenews.maxbaud.net, and newsservers.net, but these are usually read only, and don't allow you to contribute.

If you're a wimp not blessed with a news reader, it's available on the web through Google Groups. This also allows you to read and contribute to the group for free, unlike the read-only servers.

See also

• true.origin, the ironically-named creationist response
• EvoWiki, its de facto successor

External links

• The TalkOrigins Archive home page.
  • An Index to Creationist Claims, a massive and well-organized collection of refutations.
  • 29+ Evidences for Macroevolution: The Scientific Case for Common Descent, a massive compilation of evidences for common descent.
  • Talk.Design Sister site to the T.O. Archive.
  • PoTM The Post of The Month, a monthly collection of the best post of the post voted by t.o. posters.
• The Panda's Thumb, the official TalkOrigins blog.
• Another Talk.origins site. The Virtual University of Ediacara.
• Antievolution.org Affiliated with talk.origins (and even paid for by the TO Archive Foundation).
• "Random Thoughts on talk.origins" A few "random thoughts" from t.o. poster Paul J. Gans.
• The Talk.Origins homepage Includes the robot source code, and unofficial charter.
• Andrew Macrae's talk.origins page WARNING: Includes Ted Holden and Ed Conrad.
• 1995 Howlerfest A gathering for t.o. posters.
• 2003 Howlerfest The second gathering for t.o. posters.
• University of Ediacara Howler Monkers SETI group

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