Here are a couple of things that I learned in 2023:
First, that I need to forgive the young earth creationists and other Christians who have thrown me off track in the past with bad arguments, misinformation, conspiracy theories, anti-intellectualism, false accusations and hostility to science. Yes, it did a lot of damage to my career when I was younger, but forgiveness really is essential to the Christian faith, and I’m sure that if I’d remembered that and put it into practice rather than getting all angst-y and upset about it, I’d have seen the damage repaired much faster and much more effectively.
Second, that I need to stop talking and debating about science and instead focus on actually doing science. I’m constantly saying that science is a very hands-on and practical enterprise, and it is that hands-on and practical experience that qualifies you to talk about scientific subjects with any meaningful authority. I’ve also been increasingly frustrated with discussions about the philosophy of science that show little or no awareness or understanding of the mechanics of science. But they say that you should be the change that you want to see, and that being the case, it’s best if I focus on practising intelligent design rather than arguing about intelligent design.