Doubts about evolution? Surrender your registration--you are too dumb to vote.
This is so profoundly depressing.
As a special cultural event co-incident with the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth, we are treated to a veritable blizzard of news so disturbing as to beggar belief.
Reading the instant report, purporting to show a 43-39 edge for Creationism over Evolution, the mind staggers and the senses reel.
Bad enough these people walk among us without tatoos on their foreheads indicating caution:empty; that they might cast votes is practically an act of political terrorism. (Scares the shit outta me...)
An urgent Constitutional Amendment: To Register to vote, you must swear that you understand that the world is not 4000 years old, and that you do not believe Raquel Welsh could really be *flown off by a Teradactyl,.
*even if the resulting shot up her fur bikini from the ground was worth the price of admission to 10,000 B.C.
There's nothing surprising to me about where people come down on the theory of evolution. It is in vogue for the properly educated to decry this widespread ignorance but when you take a look at the landscape out there it should come as no surprise.
If you ask the average American if they believe in Quantum physics or any other scientific area of inquiry that is complicated and you're likely to get a similar answer. Know why? Because most of the people who say they don't "believe" in it don't know anything at all about it. In the case of evolution, the average American knows little more than "man evolved from apes". I don't think that adequately describes the process Darwin's theory covers. Since a huge number of people still believe Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11 and that he had WMD's, is it any wonder they don't believe in a theory of evolution they have never studied and so couldn't possibly understand? I think not. It really is not much of a stretch.
The real miracle here is that so many Americans do believe in evolution despite the 150 year fundamentalist campaign against it, and despite the fact that most people don't learn about it in their science classes in any detail.
The problem is in our educational system in that it simply does not teach about evolution because so many school boards are afraid of the militant wacko fundamentalists who have a hissy fit when they hear the word. In many school districts the entire subject is simply skipped or it is presented in the most abbreviated way as to almost be nonexistent. So, surprise, surprise: most Americans know little or nothing about what Darwin's theory of evolution really is. And, by the way, the typical fundamentalist who opposes evolution knows absolutely nothing about it either. As in the case of many societal problems, education is the answer to solving the problem of ignorance.
February 13, 2009 1:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
In Susan Jacoby's _The Age of American Unreason_, she details the history of the debate over evolution. It's quite fascinating. Early on, evolution was associated with the right-wing and it was attacked by leftists/populists.
February 13, 2009 8:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
nothing surprising
True; that's the part that's depressing...
February 13, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
But wouldn't it be a whole lot worse if people actually studied the theory of evolution and the idea of natural selection and had a grasp of it, but still rejected it? I think it is pretty hopeful actually given that so few are even exposed to anything like a well articulated explantion of Darwin's theory. All we have to do is stop allowing the idiotic bellicose behavior of the fundamentalists negatively impact science education.
February 13, 2009 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
All we have to do
Which brings us back to the contentious issue of purging the voter rolls...
Failing which, we might opt for a system in which the actual *course material of education is not held hostage by an elected board of yahoos.
*As opposed to administrative decisions, like what time the janitor should empty the baskets, which are properly within the school boards competence.
February 13, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't dispute the wisdom of that, but that's how it works. More smart people should run for school boards I can tell ya that and it really is one of our biggest problems in education: too many morons on school boards.
February 13, 2009 10:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
More smart people should run for school boards
How odd, and sad, that this should need to be said...You'd think it would be one of the obvious debts that age owes youth, in particular since we are standing on the far side of a grand canyon in public education--the liberation of women from a vocational menu where elementary education was the second highest paying entree...(in the 50's, 80% of the women earning over 60 K were tricking)
February 13, 2009 11:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I couldn't agree with you more.
February 14, 2009 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
For years the fundamentalists have been running for school board so they can tell our impressionable kids that there's a genuine possibility they'll go to hell if they try to figure out the difference between fact and myth.
None of us should be surprised that now 43% of them believe that God created the world in six days and the WMD are still somewhere in Iraq.
Sigh. Even the Catholic church has come to terms with this stuff. It would be good if we could too.
February 13, 2009 1:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
and the WMD are still somewhere in Iraq
Except in this version (see some of the comments that crawled out of the woodwork below...) the WMD miraculously appear for a random hour each month and then disappear for the rest of the month, just so we can be kept confused.
That Yahweh, what a kidder!
February 13, 2009 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Many believe evolution is a by-product of creationism. Think about it.
While I cannot overlook nor begin to understand your need to post this type of 'title' - I do comprehend that it only serves to tell of your intolerance for those who think/believe differently than you. Forget right or wrong...
How smart is it to do so and how does it help us unite and work together towards a more positive future?
February 13, 2009 2:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
it only serves to tell
No, it serves to direct the readers' attention towards the post, in competition with maybe a hundred other tags on the page.
I am delighted to observe that, in your case, at least, it fulfilled its purpose.
February 13, 2009 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe it's time to reframe the questions.
"Do you believe in X?" is a biased question.
Evolution is a theory, and theories are not to be "believed in" on a deep level. Anyone who professes to believe in a theory in the sense that one might believe in God is a fool or a liar.
Evolution happens to be a very powerful theory, or class of theories. And it fits some facts pretty well. Parts of it are falsifiable but have not yet been proven wrong by counterexamples. It also offers a nice narrative to replace common Biblical narratives, in terms of the history of biological life on Earth. Asking people to choose between narratives is a bit different than asking them to choose between beliefs.
Perhaps a better question would get at how people run their lives and make ordinary decisions on a daily basis. And then compare functional utility.
February 13, 2009 3:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Do not be silly. King James notes that the earth was created in 4004 BC, at 9:00AM or something, I am too lazy to pull it out right now. All due to a Bishop Usher. But some more liberal ministers put it at 6000 BC or so. Of course, there would not have been a BC at the time.
Notice how I said ministers. Priests, they gave up on this garbage a hundred years ago. My Catholic Bishop's Bible has no problem with a universe billions of years old. One of the Pius' thought the Big Bang Theory was the neatest thing around.
What I never understood about American Protestants--remember the largest Christian Sect in the USA is Roman Catholicism--is that while they desire a 'literal interpretation' of the bible, they refuse to learn Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek or even Latin.
If you really wish to get into this, follow the money. There are republican businessmen out there who sell textbooks. Now if you are having difficulty selling textbooks and you can find an entire constituency who will pay a lot of money to put fairy tales in science books, you might be on your way to a vast storehouse of government money.
Me? I do not wish to be examined by a physician who does not believe in evolution because he may have problems with evolved bacteria or viruses.
February 13, 2009 8:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
at 9:00AM
I always admired that precision...I mean, how can I be lying about taking a business trip instead of seeing that girl, I listed every single client to the tenth of an hour!!
February 13, 2009 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh you are a jolly roger, aren't you? Why stop there mate? Make the right to vote based on one's understanding of the debate between Ernst Mayer and Carl Woese regarding phylogeny. Kidding. Understand your sentiment, and perhaps it will come down to something like monarchy in the end, depending on intelligent, (or lack thereof), and timely, response to the issues facing us, not just as a nation but as a species. The problem with reading TPM is it skews one's perspective into believing that there are a whole bunch of smart, educated, critically thinking people out there. I'm tryin' real hard not to get depressed as I read articles such as those you link to.
February 13, 2009 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why stop there mate
I know, I know...but...it's just that....I mean...
Evolution fer cryin' out loud!!!
It's not like a difference of opinion over original recipe or extra crispy, ya' feel me?
February 13, 2009 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
eewwww! Ok, ok. I feel ya dude! Make mine x-tra krispy, if you're phoning in an order.
February 13, 2009 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
What?
February 14, 2009 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
What?
That would be original recipe tofu burgers, as opposed to the (extra crispy variant of M.'s choice.)
February 14, 2009 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you sure?
Ack!
February 14, 2009 9:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ack!
Not only am I sure about the burgers, but I was able to discern, from fleeting images in the video, that the terrifyingly realistic "parts" on view were, if fact, cleverly designed vegetarian replicas.
Right then, carry on...
February 14, 2009 9:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rock on Jolly. I just posted a blog that touches on the choice between tofu burgers, and food with faces, vis a vis planetary health. Carry on then...
February 14, 2009 10:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
What? Food?
¡¿¿THEESE? Mi Ameego??!
Muy bueno. ¡¡¡Muy, muy MUY, Bueno!!!
February 14, 2009 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
¡Muchas gracias, amiga!
February 14, 2009 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm thinking that 4000 year thing is some obscure Catholic clergy's reasoning, isn't it??
Is that the best you can do to in your effort to discredit Christianity.
February 13, 2009 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
discredit Christianity
*Jesus is my lord and saviour, what the fuck is it to you.
*Yahweh, on the other hand, can kiss my rebellious ass.
February 13, 2009 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I tok a good look at your picture. Man you need to take a bath and get off whatever you're on before you start worrying about fossils.
February 13, 2009 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
tok a good look
While I appreciate your readiness to alter your consciousness before authoring your comment, I am obliged to correct your spelling:
it is "toke", not tok.
Also, why don't you come back when you are not ashamed to display your picture.
February 14, 2009 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Dickday means the King James version of the Bible, or is referring to King James who followed Elizabeth 1 as ruler of England, then that would be the reasoning of a Protestant member of the clergy.
Which is not to say that a Catholic member of the Clergy couldn't have said the same thing at the time. Uninformed speculation is, after all, an equal-opportunity business.
Dickday, could you specify your James?
February 13, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The King James Bible. I have one as well as the American Bishop's version.
Sorry, I get sloppy sometimes. Well most of the time.
February 14, 2009 12:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bishop Usher had company, including Newton, but the exercise was to use the Biblical chronology as literal.
February 13, 2009 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
the Biblical chronology
Right down, IIRC, to parsing the patriarch's generations with a laudable solemnity that was unimpaired by the resulting necessity to contemplate feats of prodigious geriatric sexual performance.
February 13, 2009 11:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah Roger, but in doing family trees you find that Methusela was 940 years or so old when he expired.
Then following the flood, people were not supposed to live longer than 120 years or so (this was taken from ancient Egyptian myths that the perfect life was 120 years). Of course, God contradicts himself because Noah lives to be 700 or so and even after that there are these 'people' who lived long enough to get smucker jars for hundreds of years.
Which is silliness of course. There are great tomes written about myths and contexts, etc...
Do not argue evolution with these idiots. Ask them how long a human being can survive. If they tell you nigh onto a millenia, do not let them vote.
February 14, 2009 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
How about this setup. If they exhibit the wherewithal to support themselves and mind their own business, don't worry your little bitty heads if they think dogs can live a thousand years.
If they're so lazy or irresponsible they're surviving on the public weal, even if they're hard core Darwinists, deny them the right to vote!!!
February 14, 2009 7:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
mind their own business
Alas, that's exactly what Yahwists refuse to do.
February 14, 2009 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Two points:
1. Everyone should have "doubts" about evolution and natural selection. Doubts are what make them scientific and testable.
2. There isn't any reason you can't believe in both. If God can create the world, I imagine he'd have little trouble leaving us some fossils to play with whle we're growing up.
February 13, 2009 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like beating up on people absolutely fixed in error, but I miss the part where people believing the enormous fossil record is a trick from the devil should have any effect on anything. I also missed the part where you try to discredit Christianity.
I prefer this litmus test for voting rights:
If you believe a book commissioned by the King of England to justify his habitual marriages and divorces by reference to his divine rights, then you should be sent to England to do your voting.
February 13, 2009 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
the enormous fossil record is a trick from the devil
At least that fable fits into some larger cosmology where there is a malevolent deceiver on the loose.
Compare the proposition advanced by El P. which appears to lay the blame for this confusion at the feet of the very author of the universe himself, so to speak.
February 13, 2009 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Won't the process of natural selection take care of eventually weeding out the 'less intelligent'?
Perhaps your real issue is with the fact that evolution works too slowly.
At this rate, full acceptance of Darwin's theory should come in about 2409. (I can make up numbers as good as any clergyman's.)
February 13, 2009 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, unless the less intelligent people bug us until we all kill ourselves out of sheer frustration.
February 13, 2009 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
the process of natural selection
No discussion of natural selection (in the stated context) would be complete (especially in view of the birthday celebration) without mention of the Darwin Awards
February 13, 2009 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink