Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
Last week, I wrote a post titled “Cosmos” Host Neil deGrasse Tyson Speaks Out about the News Media, Flat Earthers, Science Deniers, Climate Change Skeptics, Religion, and Dogma. Tyson—an astrophysicist, director of the Natural History Museum’s Hayden Planetarium in New York City, and the host of Fox Networks’ new science series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey—appeared on a multi-part series on Moyers and Company in January. Tyson and Bill Moyers explored a variety of topics—including the nature of an expanding, accelerating universe (and how it might end), the difference between “dark energy” and “dark matter,” the concept of God in cosmology and why science matters.
In the final episode of the series—which I’ve posted below the fold—the two men discuss science literacy and why it’s so critical to the future of our democracy, our economy, and our country’s standing in the world. Their discussion lasts about twenty minutes.
“Science is an enterprise that should be cherished as an activity of the free human mind. Because it transforms who we are, how we live, and it gives us an understanding of our place in the universe.”
~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
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~ Submitted by Elaine Magliaro
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Dredd,
I went through ten pages of the spam filter but didn’t find either of your comments.
Thank you so much, Elaine. I appreciate it. That was all.
Elaine M.
RTC,
I retrieved one of your comments. Are there more? The spam filter fills up quickly.
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I have two recently eaten by WordMess replies to davidm2575
RTC,
I retrieved one of your comments. Are there more? The spam filter fills up quickly.
C’mon man you gotta be kiddding me! Test, test; 1,2, 3….
This filter is killing me.
David: ” What I want is honest and meaningful acknowledgement that correlation analysis between atmospheric CO2 and temperature rise does not prove man has caused global warming.”
You said that on last weeks post, and it’s one of the few honest statements you’ve ever made in this forum and it is the very definition of confirmation bias.
Another quote from last week:
“The general theory of evolution as a grand explanation for the origin of species is not even close to being a law. It is not really even a testable theory in science. It is a research paradigm. Scholars generally do not question evolution or attempt to test its predictions, but rather they simply use it as an intellectual framework for discussion and giving meaning to studies. Data that does not conform to the paradigm often is ignored, discarded, or explained away.”
And here you say:
“I am not a young earth creationist, and even though I am a creationist, I also believe that evolutionary processes are part of the history of biological organisms of the planet.”
I see a similarity between your position on evolution and your insistence that you’re not religious, merely theist. You’ve probably been hairsplitting your entire life; making ridiculous and meaningless distinctions between things that nobody else gets, and then blaming people for not trying hard enough to understand what you’re saying. I’ll bet that in your private moments, you compare yourself to Noah.
As far as evolution goes, you keep insisting that researchers discard data that doesn’t fit, as if they’re agenda is try and deny a Creator. Don’t you think that if there were any data to prove the existence of a god, that someone somewhere along the line would jump at the chance to present it? Anyone who did so successfully would join the pantheon of scientific thinkers who changed the world.
The danger with creationism, as I see it, is that allows mankind to behave recklessly towards the environment. We see this in comments from politicians who claim that global warming is part of god’s plan for us. If there was a creator, the thinking goes, he created us to worship and glorify him, therefore the Intelligent Designer has a vested interest in ensuring our survival. Whatever mess we create, he’ll rescue the righteous.
I once compared Intelligent Design to a sort of trump card that bible thumpists can throw down on the explanation of any phenomena. Photosynthesis? How could it not be proof of an Intelligent Designer; after all, how could a dumb plant come up with a system for converting sunlight into sugar and oxygen?
Creationism is your trump card for evolution. But the researchers of the world are too lazy or god-haters to acknowledge it. You keep saying that there’s data that proves creationism. What is it, or do we have to wait for your book release? (Note the question mark.)
You’re probably right, though, about creationists inviting Tyson to appear on their show. That’s because they crave validation and attention.
Help! My post was stuck in the filter. Could someone please rescue it.
David: ” What I want is honest and meaningful acknowledgement that correlation analysis between atmospheric CO2 and temperature rise does not prove man has caused global warming.”
You said that on last weeks post, and it’s one of the few honest statements you’ve ever made in this forum and it is the very definition of confirmation bias.
Another quote from last week:
“The general theory of evolution as a grand explanation for the origin of species is not even close to being a law. It is not really even a testable theory in science. It is a research paradigm. Scholars generally do not question evolution or attempt to test its predictions, but rather they simply use it as an intellectual framework for discussion and giving meaning to studies. Data that does not conform to the paradigm often is ignored, discarded, or explained away.”
And here you say:
“I am not a young earth creationist, and even though I am a creationist, I also believe that evolutionary processes are part of the history of biological organisms of the planet.”
I see a similarity between your position on evolution and your insistence that you’re not religious, merely theist. You’ve probably been hairsplitting your entire life; making ridiculous and meaningless distinctions between things that nobody else gets, and then blaming people for not trying hard enough to understand what you’re saying. I’ll bet that in your private moments, you compare yourself to Noah.
As far as evolution goes, you keep insisting that researchers discard data that doesn’t fit, as if they’re agenda is try and deny a Creator. Don’t you think that if there were any data to prove the existence of a god, that someone somewhere along the line would jump at the chance to present it? Anyone who did so successfully would join the pantheon of scientific thinkers who changed the world.
I once compared Intelligent Design to a sort of trump card that bible thumpists can throw down on the explanation of any phenomena. Photosynthesis? How could it not be proof of an Intelligent Designer; after all, how could a dumb plant come up with a system for converting sunlight into sugar and oxygen?
Creationism is your trump card for evolution. But the researchers of the world are too lazy or god-haters to acknowledge it. Yo keep saying that there’s data that proves creationism. What is it, or do we have to wait for your book release? (Note the question mark.)
You’re probably right, though, about creationists inviting Tyson to appear on their show. That’s because they crave validation and attention.
Diogenes
It is EZ to put the blame on some 400,000 churches.
I would put the REAL blame on the US public education system which managed to crank out some 150 Million individuals who believe in Creationism!
rafflaw
Diogenes,
Your number is way too high!
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2012 U.S. population 313 million
.46 x 313 = 144 million
150 – 144 is 6 million overestimate = 4% overestimate
PaulRevere Ware.
I have not seen any posts from itchingbay and humping dogs for a long time. Are you perhaps an associate of the dog pack.
avidm2575
I tried to reply to you Dredd. I tried twice, but the WordPress Vortex swallowed them up. If someone retrieves one, we only need one. They both say the same thing.
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Ditto, TWO of mine got censored by WordMess, except they are two different replies.
Cheers.
davidm2575
I tried to reply to you Dredd. I tried twice, but the WordPress Vortex swallowed them up. If someone retrieves one, we only need one. They both say the same thing.
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Ditto, except only one of mine got censored by WordMess.
Science is simply a word/term that we use to describe our knowledge and the technology we develop/use to discover more about what God long ago created. People have made many “religious” assumptions due primarily to a lack of understanding the scriptures. For example, we might say “It took a million years to get there.” describing a trip to see some distant friends or relatives. The same is true about the scriptures and understanding what they are and are not saying. To make a “religious” assumption and then later find out that assumption was wrong due to scientific discoveries is nothing different than what happens in science…we make assumptions “theories” based on the information available and then usually later learn that our assumptions were incorrect and then develop new and improved “theories”. As we continue to learn and discover things it only proves to me ore and more how science and the scriptures go hand in hand.
davidm2575
Dredd wrote: “The majority of churchianity believes that the universe or cosmos was created less than 10,000 years ago and that evolution did not, does not, and will not happen.”
I doubt most of “churchianity” believes the cosmos was created less than 10,000 years ago.
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In 2012 Gallup results for ALL Americans on this statement: “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years” was 46%, the trend being upward from previous years.
Concerning Christian church goers exclusively, that 46% of all Americans means that only a 4.1% increase in their belief would put the notion into the majority percentage.
Some Christians dissent from the questioning, arguing that the question to the general public is not sufficient as a question for the religious realm, so the Gallop poll may not suffice when polling religious groups.
Thus, even though there are figures that indicate the “young Earth” is a significant view when polling all Americans, “Christianity Today” and others want a different question for any poll for church and mosque attendees exclusively.
Either way, the 46% and growing number was a surprise.
Max-1
Dredd,
We all know the landing and moon missions were staged… 😛
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Yep.
I have heard that too.
Incredible what the agnotology challenged succumb to.
annieofwi
Dredd, it’s oil a matter of faith!
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Bingo.
Diogenes,
Your number is way too high!
It is EZ to put the blame on some 400,000 churches.
I would put the REAL blame on the US public education system which managed to crank out some 150 Million individuals who believe in Creationism!
Dredd,
We all know the landing and moon missions were staged… 😛
Elaine M,
For the sake of ‘BALANCE’ can we have a story about how Mothra created life on earth with one huge flap of his butterfly wings?