(Picture from here.)
I had a disturbing conversation over the weekend.
I have this friend who I like very much but who is also a Christian who refuses to acknowledge evolution. He also tends to bring me tidbits of anti-evolution propaganda to talk about.
The conversation tends to devolve quickly. (heh. heh.)
Of course, I think he's wrong and he thinks I'm wrong. The evidence is on my side but that makes no difference in a matter of faith. Because his faith, along with the rest of the anti-evolution crowd, hinges on a piece of science he is honor bound to deny the science. Since he is not a scientist this further descends into a battle of authorities.
Into this came the movie Expelled, Ben Stein's little foray into propaganda.
Like most of the propaganda, it's pretty much a lie or misdirection. If you want to read a refutation of expelled, here are some links:
SciaAm: Here. Here. Here.
Expelled Exposed.
Wikipedia
AtheistEthicist
Roger Ebert
Like other conspiratorial issues, there's a lot of circular reasoning around Expelled. The film centers around a couple of bald faced lies. I don't know if Stein believes them or has been duped but that doesn't make any difference. The conversation about these lies (and evolution itself) goes something like this.
False Proposition: Richard Sternberg was fired for publishing a pro-ID paper in a Smithsonian magazine.
Refutation of False Proposition: Well, no. In fact he wasn't. He was never an employee.
Dilution of Refutation: A lot of people believe that he was fired.
Refutation of Dilution: They're wrong, too. It's not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of fact.
Pursuit of False Proposition: Come on, you have to admit there's some possibility of this. After all, look at all of the people who say it happened.
Repeat of Refutation: So what? Thabo Mbeki and his entire administration refused to believe AIDS was caused by HIV and told people to drink beet tea. Did their numbers make them right?
New False Proposition: Lots of scientists believe that evolution doesn't work. There are lots of holes.
For the people on line, not my friend, it can even go so far as true conspiracy theory.
False Proposition: There are lots of holes in evolution-- enough that we should abandon it.
Refutation of False Proposition: That's not true. Look at (list of things.) Look at these (authorities).
Denial of Refutation: They're just part of the grand scientist conspiracy. They want to get grants and so they manufacture results. The fact that they're putting up [refutations of the false proposition] proves it.
(Note the similarity of reasoning to the same as Global Warming Deniers.)
And on and on.
People make money on this sort of rat crap. One of the lines in Bored of the Rings goes something like, "This book is mainly about the making of money and from its pages the depth of soul of the authors can be seen."
You can say the same about Expelled.
The problem is that there is so much drivel out there about evolution (and global warming and science in general) that people of good faith but little scientific understanding are getting bamboozled. Ripped off. Lied to. If you're standing in a storm and you have to choose between a rock of unknown stability and a rock you're familiar with, you're going to choose the familiar every time. It's human.
We live in a time where liberal compassion is called weak and traitorous. When species once considered canaries in the coalmine of our environment are not only being allowed to die but being shuffled off wholesale while being ignored or deemed unfit by their inability to survive the toxic stew dumped on them. When one state can smash the militia and police of another and then claim superiority because the other side can't maintain itself.
Is it such a surprise that bald faced lies and propaganda are accepted as comforting truth?
For anybody out there still listening, here are the principles that I use to penetrate the fog:
1) Like There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL), simple answers are rarely correct. There are very few social or scientific matters that don't become wildly complex when you look closely enough. Therefore, be suspicious of simplicity.
2) Science is all about experimental verification. Scientific publication is all about peer review. Anything that doesn't submit to these two principles and calls itself science isn't. (I have a whole rant on how experimental verification can be scientifically applied to non-verifiable hypotheses (such as the Big Bang) but that's for another time.)
3) Numbers are your friend. Anecdotes are your enemy. People find stories stronger than facts. Therefore, stories must not be considered as evidence with much standing.
4) Ideology is no substitute for any of the above. Once Ideology enters the argument, reason leaves.
5) Consider the risks if the idea is wrong or right. (The risks if Global Warming is right? Bad, bad, bad.)
6) Consider the gains if the idea is wrong or right. (The gains if evolution is right? New medicines. Understanding of physiological systems. Explanation and utilization of scientific principles. Gains if Intelligent Design is right? Zippo.)
7) It's not worth reading without citations. If you read an opinion piece and it makes claims of fact without citing the source, don't bother. FactCheck.0rg is your friend.
8) Consider the source of the source. If a bunch of scientists sign a petition arguing against evolution, that's interesting. If, however, on examination those scientists are, say, economists from Oral Roberts University, it's probably not worth bothering about.
9) Most news isn't. If there's enough data to show up on the news, it might be interesting if you can get the original material. But most news is slanted, biased, incomplete and wrong especially when it comes to science. If you're not willing to dig down and figure it out, shut up about it. You're probably wrong.
10) Don't use a single source for anything.
And finally, the most important thing, remember that people who distribute "information" for the money are the least credible sources.
==========================================
Wall of IdiotsI had a disturbing conversation over the weekend.
I have this friend who I like very much but who is also a Christian who refuses to acknowledge evolution. He also tends to bring me tidbits of anti-evolution propaganda to talk about.
The conversation tends to devolve quickly. (heh. heh.)
Of course, I think he's wrong and he thinks I'm wrong. The evidence is on my side but that makes no difference in a matter of faith. Because his faith, along with the rest of the anti-evolution crowd, hinges on a piece of science he is honor bound to deny the science. Since he is not a scientist this further descends into a battle of authorities.
Into this came the movie Expelled, Ben Stein's little foray into propaganda.
Like most of the propaganda, it's pretty much a lie or misdirection. If you want to read a refutation of expelled, here are some links:
SciaAm: Here. Here. Here.
Expelled Exposed.
Wikipedia
AtheistEthicist
Roger Ebert
Like other conspiratorial issues, there's a lot of circular reasoning around Expelled. The film centers around a couple of bald faced lies. I don't know if Stein believes them or has been duped but that doesn't make any difference. The conversation about these lies (and evolution itself) goes something like this.
False Proposition: Richard Sternberg was fired for publishing a pro-ID paper in a Smithsonian magazine.
Refutation of False Proposition: Well, no. In fact he wasn't. He was never an employee.
Dilution of Refutation: A lot of people believe that he was fired.
Refutation of Dilution: They're wrong, too. It's not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of fact.
Pursuit of False Proposition: Come on, you have to admit there's some possibility of this. After all, look at all of the people who say it happened.
Repeat of Refutation: So what? Thabo Mbeki and his entire administration refused to believe AIDS was caused by HIV and told people to drink beet tea. Did their numbers make them right?
New False Proposition: Lots of scientists believe that evolution doesn't work. There are lots of holes.
For the people on line, not my friend, it can even go so far as true conspiracy theory.
False Proposition: There are lots of holes in evolution-- enough that we should abandon it.
Refutation of False Proposition: That's not true. Look at (list of things.) Look at these (authorities).
Denial of Refutation: They're just part of the grand scientist conspiracy. They want to get grants and so they manufacture results. The fact that they're putting up [refutations of the false proposition] proves it.
(Note the similarity of reasoning to the same as Global Warming Deniers.)
And on and on.
People make money on this sort of rat crap. One of the lines in Bored of the Rings goes something like, "This book is mainly about the making of money and from its pages the depth of soul of the authors can be seen."
You can say the same about Expelled.
The problem is that there is so much drivel out there about evolution (and global warming and science in general) that people of good faith but little scientific understanding are getting bamboozled. Ripped off. Lied to. If you're standing in a storm and you have to choose between a rock of unknown stability and a rock you're familiar with, you're going to choose the familiar every time. It's human.
We live in a time where liberal compassion is called weak and traitorous. When species once considered canaries in the coalmine of our environment are not only being allowed to die but being shuffled off wholesale while being ignored or deemed unfit by their inability to survive the toxic stew dumped on them. When one state can smash the militia and police of another and then claim superiority because the other side can't maintain itself.
Is it such a surprise that bald faced lies and propaganda are accepted as comforting truth?
For anybody out there still listening, here are the principles that I use to penetrate the fog:
1) Like There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL), simple answers are rarely correct. There are very few social or scientific matters that don't become wildly complex when you look closely enough. Therefore, be suspicious of simplicity.
2) Science is all about experimental verification. Scientific publication is all about peer review. Anything that doesn't submit to these two principles and calls itself science isn't. (I have a whole rant on how experimental verification can be scientifically applied to non-verifiable hypotheses (such as the Big Bang) but that's for another time.)
3) Numbers are your friend. Anecdotes are your enemy. People find stories stronger than facts. Therefore, stories must not be considered as evidence with much standing.
4) Ideology is no substitute for any of the above. Once Ideology enters the argument, reason leaves.
5) Consider the risks if the idea is wrong or right. (The risks if Global Warming is right? Bad, bad, bad.)
6) Consider the gains if the idea is wrong or right. (The gains if evolution is right? New medicines. Understanding of physiological systems. Explanation and utilization of scientific principles. Gains if Intelligent Design is right? Zippo.)
7) It's not worth reading without citations. If you read an opinion piece and it makes claims of fact without citing the source, don't bother. FactCheck.0rg is your friend.
8) Consider the source of the source. If a bunch of scientists sign a petition arguing against evolution, that's interesting. If, however, on examination those scientists are, say, economists from Oral Roberts University, it's probably not worth bothering about.
9) Most news isn't. If there's enough data to show up on the news, it might be interesting if you can get the original material. But most news is slanted, biased, incomplete and wrong especially when it comes to science. If you're not willing to dig down and figure it out, shut up about it. You're probably wrong.
10) Don't use a single source for anything.
And finally, the most important thing, remember that people who distribute "information" for the money are the least credible sources.
==========================================
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