Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/oreilly-god-causes-tides_n_805262.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...262.html</a> Bill O'Reilly, who's definitely not smarter than a fifth grader, says science is incapable of explaining where the tides come from, and seems to imply it's from God. Bill, there's this amazing thing called the Interwebs and the Googles and the Wikipedias. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tides" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tides</a>
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones He knows what causes the tides and it was a calculated move on his part to play to his core audience. O'Reilly is a genius and this proves it. It doesn't matter what he said. All that matters is that the dinosaurs who watch his show don't question it.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<says science is incapable of explaining where the tides come from, and seems to imply it's from God.>> It really makes me sad that in the year 2011 we still have so many uneducated people in this country who believe stuff like this. (Or who choose to ignore the science in favor of their "religious" beliefs.) There are A LOT of mysteries in the Universe that we still don't understand, but tides just aren't one of those things. So why attribute "the tides" to God's work?
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Bill, there's this amazing thing called the Interwebs and the Googles and the Wikipedias.<< Feh. Lamestream liberal media.
Originally Posted By gadzuux This morning I heard a quote from Glenn Beck - "Do I believe in scientists? No! Because they're the ones that lied to us about global warming." A month or so ago Beck also said "Evolution is ridiculous - I don't believe we came from monkeys". Republicans are deniers and suppressors of science and fact. It's a repeating pattern, and republican leadership is only too happy to accomodate the ignorance and fear of their own base. What I don't understand is how more sensible republican voters can accomodate and this glaring denial of reality and still consider themselves represented by these clowns. How do you do that?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<What I don't understand is how more sensible republican voters can accomodate and this glaring denial of reality and still consider themselves represented by these clowns. How do you do that?>> I think I know the answer, gadz. I had a very interesting discussion the other morning with a fellow member of the CA Academy of Sciences (I'm a member as well) while waiting for the Academy to open. We were discussing the various exhibits in the new building, what we liked, didn't like, etc. This older gentleman, originally from Idaho, confessed that he didn't like the way the Rainforest exhibit "crammed Darwin down your throat." I knew when he uttered that phrase, I was going to be in trouble, seeing as how the Darwinian references were all related to the Madagascar portion of the exhibit, and rather low key. I tried to get a better understanding as to why this man was a member of the Academy, while protesting that the scientists did not respect "people of faith and their beliefs" by focusing on evolution in the exhibits. He was adamantly against the theory of evolution, but completely accepted why animals on Madagascar had evolved into distinct and separate species not found anywhere else on the planet. Problem was, he didn't accept Darwin's theory for US, the human beings. It was OK for animals to go through these evolutionary changes, but not us. We are the product of Adam and Eve. We humans are completely separate from the animals. We're special, and the rules of evolution do not apply to us. What I got from this gentleman was a profound sense of fear. He was afraid to entertain any notion that human beings are just another animal species on this planet, still evolving right along with the other animals. His fear of not being a "true believer" was so overpowering, it blinded him to the possibility that the scientists were correct. He didn't want to emotionally deal with the possibility that he had been wrong all these years, and that his preachers had been basically telling him mythology tales. Fear of losing your religion. That's what this is all about. It's so terrifying to people, they will completely cut themselves off from their environment and planet, as if they were just a temporary visitor. Any anyone -- ANYONE -- who expresses even the slightest similarity in their beliefs will become their best friend. Even a jerk like Beck. These people feel lost and cut off, because what they're repeatedly being told in church does not match up to what they witness on the outside. This older gentleman from Idaho, now living in California, was very lost. He acknowledged the science of the exhibits, but refused to incorporate it into his own life. It was truth, but not HIS truth. It was separate. The whole planet was separate from his existence. He was special, different, because he was a human being. This is the great disconnect that will ultimately destroy our environment and our very existence. These people truly believe that everything they do has zero impact on the planet, because they are separate from the planet, because they're children of God. And God will protect them from harm, if they're strong enough in their faith, if they're "true believers." This guy firmly believed this with every fiber of his being. And there are hundreds of millions just like him all around the world. We are so screwed.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<These people feel lost and cut off, because what they're repeatedly being told in church does not match up to what they witness on the outside.>> This is what infuriates me so much - these church "leaders" are really doing society a disservice by continuously ignoring scientific facts, and preaching myths. And the sad thing is that it shouldn't even be necessary. Their faith should be able to absorb these kinds of "revelations" about our planet without destroying itself. If their faith in God really hinges on the Biblical story of Adam and Eve being literal, then they really don't have much faith at all to begin with.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Their faith should be able to absorb these kinds of "revelations" about our planet without destroying itself. If their faith in God really hinges on the Biblical story of Adam and Eve being literal, then they really don't have much faith at all to begin with.<< THIS!!!!!!
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Science also can't explain Funyuns. Not very fun. Not really onions. What can they be?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan And Chia Pets! You never see them in the wild. Science can't explain that, either.
Originally Posted By mawnck <a href="http://tattletailzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/don_king1.jpg" target="_blank">http://tattletailzz.com/wp-con...ing1.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Funny. Here's another one: <a href="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/images/2009/04/06/picture_18.png" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/images_bl...e_18.png</a>
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 "Science also can't explain Funyuns. Not very fun. Not really onions. What can they be?" Disgusting I get very frustrated sometimes with people who refuse to acknowledge science because of their faith. As a person who believes in God and Jesus and global warming and evolution and dinosaurs it baffles me how some people actually want to think that they don't have to use their brains because everything they will ever need to know can be found in the bible and if it isn't there it must not be true. Personally, I like to tell people like that that God gave scientists their brains that led them to their discoveries and they should probably pay attention...just look at what happened to the people that didn't get on the Ark with Noah.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>just look at what happened to the people that didn't get on the Ark with Noah.<< <a href="http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/smb070317l.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.cartoonstock.com/lo...317l.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By alexbook What people don't realize is that water has personality. Some water is extroverted and some is introverted, just like people. Most water is extroverted, and loves congregating with all the other water in vast oceans. Introverted water, though, feels crowded and would like to escape from the oceans. The tides are actually introverted water attempting to go to Moon, because there are no oceans on the Moon (though there are seas).
