Penn and Teller's "BullS*it" Series: Creationists

admin

Anyone see the Penn and Teller bit on Creationists from their BullS*it series? It was very funny....and gut wrenching in some parts where they showed a school board get cornered into approving equal time for creationism in science class....and before that bowing to pressure and putting "evolution is only a theory" stickers in the front of all biology textbooks.

P&T's series is more entertainment than hardcore science info, but I enjoyed it for the entertainment.

Mangetout · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:09 pm Post subject:

I happen to agree with most of what Penn says; he is a man with a firm grasp of logic, after all, but I can't help feeling that even if he were completely, horribly wrong about something, he'd still win the argument by sheer force of personality.

admin · Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:48 pm Post subject:

I agree, he's a pretty strong presence.....not pushy, just persuasive.

bgbloedel · Newbie Alert Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 3 Location: USA

I'm new to the forum, but your topic caught my eye. It seems to me that evolutionists would actually welcome creationism in the science classroom if for no other reason than to put an end to it. Whatever their seeming political power, the Creationists would not be able to bar scientifically verified information from the texts. Indeed, putting a sticker on the front of text books saying that evolution is "only a theory" would give science instructors an excellent opportunity to explain what a "scientific theory" really is, and that the sticker actually amounts to an endorsement. Since there is little or no scientifically verified or credible evidence supporting Creationism, the idea would self destruct upon critical comparison and analysis. Under these conditions I think Creationists would do some very serious back-peddeling.

Mangetout · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:54 am Post subject:

Possibly, although maybe not; I think the trouble with the 'only a theory' thing is that it is an attempt to subvert the very definition of the word - because of this, it is counter-productive for the teacher to have to explain that something printed in (or affixed to) the textbook is wrong - if it's wrong, it just shouldn't be there.

Arthwollipot · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:58 pm Post subject:

Actually, the problem with the "only a theory" statement is that it singles out evolution as the one thing in science that is "only a theory". You don't see people putting stickers in physics textbooks that say "relativity is only a theory". Evolution is the only thing that is singled out by the "only a theory" statement, which implies even to the uninformed observer that evolution is different from other science.

Second, creationism isn't a theory. At all. It is non-scientific, and therefore does not belong in a science class. By all means teach it in sociology or religious studies, but not in science.

bgbloedel · Newbie Alert Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 3 Location: USA

Good points! My suggestion was raised simply to examine the idea of ending the controversy by hitting it head on. I think that it would take only one or two States (in America, that is) where Creationism was raked over the coals in the classroom before Creationists would permanently drop their political activism. As long as the issue is suppressed and Creationism remains unexamined, Creationists can claim that a conspiracy is at work and that the truth is being hidden. The political activism will be never ending.

Arthwollipot · Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:16 am Post subject:

Creationism has been examined, in a bigger forum than a 9th-grade science classroom.

It hasn't ended, because advocates of creationism have more important goals than the teaching of what can be known and proven.

Cubist · Pit Bull Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 353