Glenn Morton

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Glenn Robert Morton (1950–2020)[1] was an American geophysicist who worked in the petroleum industry. In the 1970s and 1980s he was a young-Earth creationist and professional creation scientist, who published several articles in Creation Research Society Quarterly and regularly presented at creationism conferences. However, he eventually found it impossible to reconcile his creationist beliefs with the data he dealt with as a geophysicist, and from the 1990s onward he was a proponent of theistic evolution and a critic of creationism.

After his abandonment of creationism, Morton was a regular contributor to NCSE ReportsPerspectives on Science and Christian Faith, and the Talk.Origins website and newsgroup. Two of his articles have received particular attention. The first is his autobiographical account "The Transformation of a Young-Earth Creationist", originally published in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, in which he described his futile struggle to reconcile his creationist beliefs with the geophysical data, as well as the hostile reactions he experienced from other professional creationists. The second was a post on Talk.Origins in which he coined the term Morton's demon, a play on Maxwell's demon.[2] "Morton's demon" describes a form of confirmation bias that lets in evidence in support of a person's existing beliefs, but refuses to let in evidence that contradicts them.

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References[edit]

  1. Glenn Morton Obituary (Aug. 9, 2020) The Dallas Morning News.
  2. Morton's Demon by Glenn Morton (February 2, 2002) The TalkOrigins Archive.