I Don't Understand Creationism

I have never understood creationism... it is so out of touch with reality and so disconnected from any logic that it defies any explanation. Yes, it might have been somehow compelling 500 years ago, when scientific evidence for pretty much anything around us was scarce, but by the last century, there were no reasons to stick with it. One has to have some really strong cognitive dissonance going in order to remain in the pure creationism camp (the earth being 6000 years old, geological strata deposited by a great flood, etc). Even the newer incarnation of creationism, Intelligent Design (ID), does not pass logical and scientific analysis, because it bases itself on faulty understanding of physics and biology.

To illustrate my point I give you the latest Science vs. Nonsense Debate:




What's even more interesting than the debate itself, was an "experiment" done right before it took place, when a reporter asked a bunch of people coming to see the debate to write questions for Bill Nye. Here is the result:

22 Messages From Creationists To People Who Believe In Evolution

Some of those questions are pure gold... and for most of the people who have even the basic understanding of science, they are either nonsensical, or very easy to answer, but there are two sources that are worth reading:

Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy Blog: Answers for Creationists
and
Steven Novella's NeuroLogica: Questions from the Nye-Ham Debate

Here We Go Again: Mr. Wise - Not So Wise After All

Yes, he is an embarasment to our state again:

"Why do we still have apes if we came from them?" Wise, a retired educator, said during the interview with the Tampa radio station. "And those are the kind of questions kids need to ask themselves. You know, 'how did we get here?' And, you know, there's more than one theory on this thing. And the theory is evolution, the other one is intelligent design."

More conservative Legislature considers evolution bill


Not so wise and an embarasment to all educators as well. Let's hope the educators of today are wiser, and let's hope this bill dies quickly and we do not have to see another Dover and all the money wasted.

Roger Ebert - A Skeptic - Who Knew?

I always turned to Roger Ebert for his movie advice, not political, or skeptical views. I guess I was wrong:

New Age beliefs are the Creationism of the Progressives. I move in circles where most people would find it absurd to believe that humans didn't evolve from prehistoric ancestors, yet many of these same people quite happily believe in astrology, psychics, reincarnation, the Tarot deck, the i Ching, and sooth-saying. Palmistry and phrenology have pretty much blown over.

New Agers and Creationists should not be President

He has a great point: for way too many in our society it is easy to bash ultra-religious views, but somehow we do not notice all those "progressive", new age beliefs that are equally nonsensical and can negatively influence our decisions in the same way. In the 21st century, there should be no place in politics for people without rational approach, as this influences their decisions in too many bad ways.

Intelligent Design, Online Edition

This is a nice piece from Barret Brown on William Dembski, whose name I got thrown in my face in the past in some intelligent design vs. evolution debate... it's a bit funny, so I recommend it highly:

Intelligent Design, Online Edition

Creation Museum Science Fair

I saw news about this: Creation Museum Science Fair going around the blogosphere... but you really have to read the Guidelines to appreciate the stupidity of the whole thing...

The Stupid, It Burns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!