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September 11, 2008 — OK, now that I’ve set the stage, I’d like to get to the main point of this column. So grab another cup of coffee, adjust your monitor, and prepare to reclaim your sanity in a world where millions of people seem to be incapable of rational thought on these four issues.
It’s true that crazy conspiracy theories sometimes gain national attention. It’s true that people like Sarah Palin might help lead a nation-wide movement to defile science in American classrooms; it’s true that a sizeable chunk of our populous (many of whom were in Denver for the DNC) still believe that 9/11 was an inside job; it’s true that Rush Linbaugh has millions of listeners (some with graduate degrees!) who believe that global warming is a hoax; and it’s true that even the New York Times gave undue credence to the black-holes-will-swallow-the-earth theory about the Large Hadron Collider.
Before you begin your search for that Mediterranean beach where you can begin life as an ex-patriot, however, consider that ignorance is not something new to this world, nor has it ever been.
In this day in age we have more information at our fingertips than ever before. It’s the kind of world where two men from Hawaii can consider themselves experts on the consequences of a powerful atom smasher which is buried 330 feet below the soil on the other side of the planet. People like Rush Linbaugh, who I doubt fared very well in his high-school science classes, and who has never taken a graduate course in planetary geography, can grab a microphone and denounce the nation’s oldest scientific institution (the NOAA, founded in 1807), simply because it’s located in a highly Democratic congressional district (Boulder, Colorado).
When Blaise Pascal definitively declared the existence of a vacuum (a space with nothing in it) after his famous experiment in 1646, the Catholic Church was horrified. If there was a place where nothing exists, they feared, then there was a place where God didn’t rule, which therefore disallowed God the ability to be omnipotent.
Science has long faced this kind of resistance from superstitious religious leaders. In time, wise religious leaders have learned to reconcile their belief with scientific discoveries.
We can’t expect Sarah Palin to do so very quickly, but many years from now our nation’s disagreement over creationism seem as strange as France’s uproar over the idea of nothingness.
Imagine if the internet and talk radio had existed in Pascal’s time. Imagine the wave of disinformation and ignorance which would have poured over the man as Middle-Aged France unleashed its Christian fears upon him. In time, however, over generations, his ideas won out, as the truth of scientific-minded men and women always wins out.
We have many millions who are unenlightened, but we also have many millions who understand the difference between what’s correct and what’s incorrect, what’s information and what’s misinformation.
Around the world, more and more work is being done in the various disciplines of science which, in turn, is helping illuminate our world and give us a better picture of its origins, the origins of the species, and the inner workings of the cosmos, the Earth, and our own bodies.
We cannot expect the irrational side of our culture to suddenly evaporate. But we can remain calm and optimistic in the face of their absurdities. In the same way that we can find their borderline-insane arguments on the internet, we can find solidarity among one another on the world wide web (which, incidentally, was created by a scientist at CERN, the same place where the Hadron Collider is being built). We can calmly and rationally reject falsities, avoid ad homonym slander, and continue enjoying the fruits of scientific labor, which are sublime, manifold, and as surely true as anything can be in this Universe.
6 Comments on "Creationism, deadly black holes, 9/11 conspiracies, global warming hoaxes, and other myths, Part II"
Rick — September 11, 2008
Here's where I stand:
On the LHC lawsuit - guys, please research the science before exposing your ignorance to the world with a lawsuit!
On the 9/11 conspiracy - I believe we were attacked by foreign terrorists, not from within.
On global warming - I don't think that "the debate is over", but I do believe we at least need to look for alternatives to fossil fuels. I also hate how politics and the media have hugely exaggerated and distorted things in other to serve their own agendas.
On creationism vs evolution - The Bible is not always literal. God could have used the Big Bang to create the universe, and used evolution to create various species. God is not proven by science, but is also not dis-proven.
Thank you, it is nice to see an article from someone who does not absolutely demonize and attack the opposing viewpoints!
switch — September 11, 2008
And by the way... my prediction of what will come of the LHC experiments is that it will just leave all the smart Evolutionists more stumped and confused than ever before. Just so that it's out there.
JTankers — September 11, 2008
The Large Hadron Collider section should clarify that the safety information is theoretical and disputed by a small number of non-CERN scientists who independently reviewed the safety findings.
(LHCFacts.org)
Large Hadron Collider Safety is currently challenged in both European and American courts. (LHCDefense.org)
Tom Boyd — September 11, 2008
Hi Remy,
Safe to say that this essay is not intended to comfort people like you.
As far as I understand it, most creationists determine the age of the planet by adding up all the generations written about in the chapter of the Bible with all the "begats" in it, which is mainly Genisis 11. The number varies according to the person who does the arithmetic, and what they determine the length of a generation is, and how long some of these people lived (which is sometimes specified in the Bible as being as much as 430 years). Partly because of this, but mainly because of a lack of scientific process, the age of the Earth varies according to which creationist you're speaking to.
I'm not interested in changing your mind, but I encourage you to read all of the links I have in the article, get yourself a scientific education, and see if afterward you can still find a way to believe in creationism.
tb
switch — September 12, 2008
What you said is right about how the age of the earth is calculated, but the 4000 is only BC (not BCE btw... that's another disgusting attempt by evolutionists). That plus the 2008 years (currently) since then makes approximately 6000. Oh, and it's not just one chapter, it's all throughout the Old Testament (not the New Testament).
Now the only reason you would say that I should go out and get myself scientific education is because it's riddled and mostly based on faulty evolutionist THEORY and ASSUMPTIONS. I do believe I have a good head on my shoulders. I'm not some vegetable that just accepts the first thing thrown my way, so I don't appreciate that you assume I'm some uneducated village idiot.
How about you take a good look into creationism and seriously and honestly consider how evolution has failed on many, MANY levels.
The very fact that you deleted my first post tells me that there's something you're scared of people seeing!?
Tom Boyd — September 12, 2008
I didn't delete your first post, switch. It's on part one of the article and this comment is on part 2.
For Part I please click here:
http://www.realvail.com/RealRhetoric/381/Creationism-deadly-black-holes-911-conspiracies-global-warming-hoaxes-and-other-myths-Part-I.html#comments
