tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post7719715421996463349..comments2024-01-02T10:55:10.607-06:00Comments on Angry Astronomer: How does the garden grow?Jon Voiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550625188837528980noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-64074503072298862982011-05-10T18:29:21.204-05:002011-05-10T18:29:21.204-05:00I think we should just slaughter them. They won...I think we should just slaughter them. They won't change. They're happy with things as they are. Not only that, but they're perfectly willing to kill for their own misguided values, why shouldn't we rationalists respond in kind?<br><br>A great man once said that belief without blood can only go so far. At some point, there has to be blood.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-59721792029053273862008-03-12T14:11:00.000-05:002008-03-12T14:11:00.000-05:00I think we should just slaughter them. They won't ...I think we should just slaughter them. They won't change. They're happy with things as they are. Not only that, but they're perfectly willing to kill for their own misguided values, why shouldn't we rationalists respond in kind?<BR/><BR/>A great man once said that belief without blood can only go so far. At some point, there has to be blood.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-53009359750879367242007-06-17T10:54:00.000-05:002007-06-17T10:54:00.000-05:00When in 2001 it became clear that Captain Unelecte...When in 2001 it became clear that Captain Unelected's tax cuts would only benefit the richest 1 % of the population, someone made a poll. 19 % of Americans believed they belonged to the richest 1 %. I wonder if these are the same ones who believe they know it all about evolution and cre_ti_nism but wouldn't recognize either if it bit them in the proverbial ass...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-65597542010977454762007-06-13T17:47:00.000-05:002007-06-13T17:47:00.000-05:00I agree that most creationists don't have a very g...I agree that most creationists don't have a very good grasp of evolution or cosmology. I was raised as a fun-duh-mental Christian, and thought I had all the answers as to why all this evolution nonsense was just absurd.<BR/><BR/>Then I challenged evolution face-on. I brought every creationist argument I had to bear against evolution, and asked how people--from laypersons to professors to random people on the internet--could still believe in it given all its "flaws". Of course, my challenge was met with fact, evidence, logic and reality, and after several years I had nothing left. The few arguments I actually had against the real claims of evolution were easily shown false, but the most staggering fact I learned was that I'd been fighting an enemy as imaginary as my god; nearly all of my arguments were against a strawman that didn't represent anything evolution claims.<BR/><BR/>Rather off-topic, but that fact is what led me to dismiss religion completely; if the smartest, most educated, most responsible persons in the church couldn't have the integrity to present the most basic claims of evolution correctly, how could I trust them to present anything else correctly? I understand, of course, that being wrong about one thing doesn't make you wrong about another, but since my entire belief system was based on the more-or-less infallibility of the church, that kind of threw a wrench in the cogs; if my omnipotent god would allow so many people to be so deceived in his name, I didn't care to follow him anymore.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-7055878512753099692007-06-11T09:04:00.000-05:002007-06-11T09:04:00.000-05:00Great post. Despite the critique of your metaphor...Great post. Despite the critique of your metaphor, I think you got your point across just fine.<BR/><BR/>And I love the idea of trying to instill some humility in the last year of high school. I agree that arrogance is a huge problem in this country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-40174370926923344502007-06-11T08:41:00.000-05:002007-06-11T08:41:00.000-05:00While we're digging in the dirt, why not open the ...While we're digging in the dirt, why not open the whole can of worms? What's the minimum people should know about Evilution? I've read <A HREF="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2009" REL="nofollow">Origin of the Species</A>. What else would i need? Do i need a lab, too? What if i disagree with his treatment of some part of the topic? For example, what if i think he totally missed what happened with dogs?<BR/><BR/>In the past thirty years, a number of science "facts" have changed. For example, the size of Pluto, the number of stars in the galaxy, the age of the Universe. All of these have changed by nearly a factor of two. How current do i need to be?<BR/><BR/>In my opinion, basic knowlege of how science works needs to happen first. Then, going through the arguments on what evidence supports Evolution and why can happen. Same for the Big Bang. And, yes, there is material that needs to be repeated.<BR/><BR/>My fourth grader had to learn lots of long names of parts of animal and plant cells this year. It's no surprise to me that my wife did not remember any of this, masters degree notwithstanding.<BR/><BR/>Then, what about math? It's hard to imagine dealing with statistical arguments while struggling with long division.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03934169832326108710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-23494852901430993602007-06-10T18:55:00.000-05:002007-06-10T18:55:00.000-05:00One of the biggest problems with compulsory educat...One of the biggest problems with compulsory education in the US today is that schools too often stress the connection between educational level and labor capital as if the only reason to pursue schooling is to increase one's value as an employee. <BR/><BR/>There seems to be little emphasis on learning and exploration for its own sake, nor on the other motivations for education: research and expansion of human understanding, to benefit one's fellow humans, personal satisfaction, intellectual stimulation, etc. Most disturbing, education's implicit pact with responsible democracy is almost completely ignored save for a few lines at the front of high school civics textbooks. <BR/><BR/>We would do well as a culture divorce education from the presumption of a salary increase.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-3585617589303618082007-06-08T19:14:00.000-05:002007-06-08T19:14:00.000-05:00I've considered it, but I'm not a biologist and fr...I've considered it, but I'm not a biologist and freely admit that I know little more than the basics. But at least I'm quite solid on those which is more than I can say for most Americans.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, Big Expansion would be a much better moniker but isn't nearly as catchy. Big Bang was coined to mock the theory but it just stuck.Jon Voiseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11550625188837528980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-44067812562639156542007-06-08T19:09:00.000-05:002007-06-08T19:09:00.000-05:00hey jon, the should make an article about the misc...hey jon, the should make an article about the misconceptions of evolution as you did with the big bang theory. (shoudn't it be called the big expansion theory? I always wondered about that)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-41936233976614810312007-06-08T18:53:00.000-05:002007-06-08T18:53:00.000-05:00I wasn't much happy with the metaphor either, but ...I wasn't much happy with the metaphor either, but that's why I'm not an english major.Jon Voiseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11550625188837528980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25327006.post-90093487157336493682007-06-08T16:54:00.000-05:002007-06-08T16:54:00.000-05:00A fertile soil of ignorance, watered with religiou...<I>A fertile soil of ignorance, watered with religious superstition, and<BR/>bathed in the sunlight of assumed knowledge is what has led us to the<BR/>deeply rooted weeds we have today.</I><BR/><BR/>I dunno, I think fungi and mushrooms might have been the better metaphor here, growing in the hidden darkness and all that. I wouldn't compare "assumed knowledge" to sunlight myself. Fertilizer, maybe, and fungi <B>love</B> that.Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16862162157713428951noreply@blogger.com