Bill Nye: Teaching kids creationism undermines both them and the U.S. - Polidicks

[QUOTE=nVidia;37425550]Let's just take all the people who believe in god, and put them somewhere else and let them build their own little happy society and see how well that's going to work.[/QUOTE] We already have that...it's called the Southern U.S.

I remember when I took biology my freshman year of high school that my teacher had to preface the whole evolution thing (despite living in a relatively liberal part of Oregon, which is a liberal state) with it "just being a theory" and that she wasn't saying it was a fact or her own personal view (I know that it actually is her personal view because [I]she's a biologist[/I]). She had to/has to (I'm not sure if she's retired or not by now, but she'd been there for at least 10 years by the time I graduated) do this every year to keep her job. It's also rather sad to me how many people say they "don't want to know" how things are or work (meaning they aren't creationist, but they also don't care). It was pretty humbling having to explain to my father while there are still monkeys (and apes, after I had to explain that difference to him) if humans exist and that humans didn't live with dinosaurs, let alone live harmoniously with them. I don't know if I can blame a man that was raised Catholic and only went to public school once he was about 12. He's been atheist since around that time too.

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;37425532]Dawkins doesn't either. Dawkins just isn't timid or reserved about it. Dawkins is blunt and unabashed. He feels no reason to stay quiet about these things. Because of that, many people think Dawkins is an asshole when he really isn't.[/QUOTE] Yes, and it's that attitude which causes people to think he's an asshole and disregard him. An example of myself would be in a few threads here I will say what I feel is right and many people take it as me being an asshole even though that's not my intention. It's just that people don't like things being stirred up and those who are forceful and unreserved about it make them feel threatened.

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;37425532]Dawkins doesn't either. Dawkins just isn't timid or reserved about it. Dawkins is blunt and unabashed. He feels no reason to stay quiet about these things. Because of that, many people think Dawkins is an asshole when he really isn't.[/QUOTE] Bill Nye is the same though, he doesn't dance around the issue. I remember reading an article where he talked about a woman who stormed out of a lecture he held, when he claimed the moon didn't generate light like the sun. He didn't back down or anything like that, he told the woman she was wrong until she stormed out.

[QUOTE=sedarahC;37425075]There is nothing wrong with [B]parents[/B] teaching them it, just teach them the alternatives too and let them make their own decisions.[/QUOTE] What are you talking about. Giving children false information is bad no matter who the fuck it comes from.

What I want to know is if genesis is supposed to be a metaphor then what was all that unicorns and behemoths shit about and if it wasn't part of the original story, then I want to know what priest said "You know what this holy book needs? Unicorns!"

[QUOTE=EcksDee;37425730]What are you talking about. Giving children false information is bad no matter who the fuck it comes from.[/QUOTE] This would make a great mass debate thread, whether parents hold the right to teach their children the same values that they live by, contrary to public acceptance of a scientific theory.

I agree with Nye's point, but isn't this more of opinion article than actual news?

[QUOTE=sedarahC;37425783]This would make a great mass debate thread, whether parents hold the right to endow their children the same values that they live by, contrary to public acceptance of a scientific theory.[/QUOTE] In "modern society" people want children to be able to make their own moral decisions, despite the fact that children don't really have the logical ability to make their own decision.

I agree with Nye's point, but isn't this more of opinion article than actual news? He's a performer. Not a politician, his statement, regardless of being true or false, has zero weight. I thought that we didn't want X says that Y about Z here.

[QUOTE=Wii60;37425135]teaches good morals and stuff though at times.[/QUOTE]To be honest, the Bible isn't really a good source of morals. The good stuff is common to most sane people regardless of religion, and the bad bits are discarded because of those common morals. I really don't see any reason in trying to salvage a good moral system from it, when we have a fairly decent collection of moral rules (albeit needing some work in certain areas) already in general use in most industrialised/developed nations, whether secular or religious.

[QUOTE=sedarahC;37425075]There is nothing wrong with [B]parents[/B] teaching them it, just teach them the alternatives too and let them make their own decisions.[/QUOTE] pi = 3 teach the controversy, let kids decide

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;37426162]pi = 3 teach the controversy, let kids decide[/QUOTE] Sounds fine by me. Because you shouldn't tell them pi=3.14 and some random numbers, remember that kay'? You should present mathematical evidence, show examples, work with the fact. Then you can say "well, and despite of all that, some people believe that pi=3. Make up your own mind.

[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;37425773]I want to know what priest said "You know what this holy book needs? Unicorns!"[/QUOTE] Those fucking bronies dude, they ruin everything.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37426194]Sounds fine by me. Because you shouldn't tell them pi=3.14 and some random numbers, remember that kay'? You should present mathematical evidence, show examples, work with the fact. Then you can say "well, and despite of all that, some people believe that pi=3. Make up your own mind.[/QUOTE] never teach math

[QUOTE=Wii60;37425102]im a christian and personally to be honest creationism shouldn't be taught in school isn't that what church and stuff is for?[/QUOTE] It should be taught generally. You know, the basics. But it shouldn't be taught as a valid form of thinking. It should be treated as any other non-factual text.

I'm jewish, and my Religious Studies teacher once took us to a beach and said "what's easier to believe: that a watch just appeared out of nowhere in this sand or that the sand slowly formed a watch over millions of years" and then went on to say that if it's easier to believe the watch appeared out of nowhere, then how come there's people that defend evolution and not creationism. And I was like "damn this is grade-A propaganda".

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37425821] He's a performer. Not a politician, his statement, regardless of being true or false, has zero weight.[/QUOTE] He has a Bachelor of Science degree, I for one would say that he has MORE weight over a politician who has just been taught how to spin things in their favour.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37426194]Sounds fine by me. Because you shouldn't tell them pi=3.14 and some random numbers, remember that kay'? You should present mathematical evidence, show examples, work with the fact. Then you can say "well, and despite of all that, some people believe that pi=3. Make up your own mind.[/QUOTE] that's not teaching pi=3 that's just saying that some people believe pi=3 teaching math is more than just saying something = something else [quote=DainBramageStudios]never teach math[/quote]

The funny thing with creationism is, that they keep coming up with ridiculous excuses for things that prove them wrong. We are at a point where these excuses just make no sense at all anymore, we just know better.

[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;37425913]To be honest, the Bible isn't really a good source of morals.[/QUOTE] The New Testament?

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37426194]Sounds fine by me. Because you shouldn't tell them pi=3.14 and some random numbers, remember that kay'? You should present mathematical evidence, show examples, work with the fact. Then you can say "well, and despite of all that, some people believe that pi=3. Make up your own mind.[/QUOTE] my god, what are you doing!

[QUOTE=Noble;37426537]my god, what are you doing![/QUOTE]Not math.

this thread feels like /r/atheism wanking material anyone with half a fucking brain knows that evolution is fact, the people this video attacks are the same people that are so stubborn that they will defend their viewpoint to the grave. it's a good attempt, but i'm afraid all it does is stir up controversy

When did America become so staunchly religious? Years ago it used to view forcing religion on people as something the evil British did to them, hell people were paranoid of Kennedy being close to the pope because they didn't want church and state to mix. Where did it all go so wrong?

[QUOTE]As my old professor, Carl Sagan, said[/QUOTE] woah cool

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37426194]Sounds fine by me. Because you shouldn't tell them pi=3.14 and some random numbers, remember that kay'? You should present mathematical evidence, show examples, work with the fact. Then you can say "well, and despite of all that, some people believe that pi=3. Make up your own mind.[/QUOTE] They should honestly teach Pi as what it is, the perimeter/circumference of a circle radius .5 unit. It's not like kids that age won't understand if you circumscribe a circle with a square that has each side length 1 "unit" and slowly make its sides tend closer to the circle (as in make it not a square anymore, using basic limit stuff), that the perimeter of the polygon circumscribed around the circle approaches that of what Pi is equal to. All that needs to be done is an explanation of definitions or just don't introduce words such as circumscribe if it's never been used before and show it graphically while explaining it. It would have made math in elementary school and middle school feel much more like things I understood instead of things I was supposed to accept until much later (definitions of trigonometric functions, Pi, invertibility, etc.). [QUOTE=carcarcargo;37426586]When did America become so staunchly religious? Years ago it used to view forcing religion on people as something the evil British did to them, hell people were paranoid of Kennedy being close to the pope because they didn't want church and state to mix. Where did it all go so wrong?[/QUOTE] People were paranoid of Kennedy because he was the first [i]Catholic[/i] president, among a whole lot of other things, but in terms of creed that's why. The United States, from what I recall, has always been really damn Christian. Why do you think they added the controversial "under good" to the Pledge of Allegiance and allow churches to be free of taxes? The people the emigrated here from England didn't leave because they were atheist, they came here because their sect was being persecuted by the current rule of England and they thought the Dutch were a bad influence on their children.

[QUOTE=redhaven;37426527]The New Testament?[/QUOTE]That's hardly a good moral guide, either. Mark 7:9-13 NIV And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” Jesus also mentions a few times that Torah law is to be upheld.

[QUOTE=Clementine;37425167]It should be used as a baseline for some morals, some morals are outdated and shouldn't be listened to because they literally make no sense and are based on illogical fallacies that have since been learned about and such have been proven to uh, not be bad at all(gays being bad and should be murdered) [editline]27th August 2012[/editline] I dunno about that[/QUOTE] No it shouldn't. As soon as you start picking moral lessons out of it that you like you allow others to do the same and that's not how moral values work.

I am glad to share my first name with Bill Nye. Its awesome to be honest.