We have evolved, we weren't created!
It'z Christmas morning, and it's a very different day from the depressing/trying two months I've been having. Different, in that I'm awake before 9:00 am and I was able to get a full night's (broken) sleep. Every year my sister "gets into the spirit" and helps my mother take up the mantle of Christmasy joy and meanderings, while my brother and I sleep in, retreat, and get headaches.
Something interesting: Over the past 8 or so months I've been embracing a school-of-thought (of sorts) called "Skepticism". I capitalize it because it truly is an intellectual movement with specific organizations (New England Skeptical Society, or NESS), Founders (Carl Sagan), leaders (James Randi), and even celebreties (Penn and Teller, the Mythbusters). Skepticism, simply put, is the application of the scientific method to claims which are testable. It's the testable part that is key here.....While it is true that most Skeptics are atheists, Skeptics are less interested in the veracity of the God claim because even-minded people don't claim "there IS a God", but rather that they "believe in God". Fine by me, I don' care what you believe, just so long as you don't start telling me there is "evidence' for god. Skeptics can actually get along quite well with people of unshakable faith, but its the new-agers (astrology, tarot), alternative medicine advocates (chiropractics, homeopathy), and evangelicals (creationists, intelligent design "theorists") that really get stuck in my craw. Its these people that make testable claims; that the starts dictate/guide my personality and I should make real-life decisions based on the position of Venus relative to the moon; that by diluting a substance like caffeine in water by a factor of 1,000,000, I can cure my sleeping problems, or that the scientific community hasn't really decided on evolution yet, and that students should hear "both sides" of the debate, and allow kids to make up their own mind about how live came to be on earth.
It is to this last point that I draw your attention to, and it made being a Skeptic named Steve TOTALLY worth it:
A number of years ago, some creationists in the United States got together and compiled a list of "100 scientists critical of evolution" (a task which took them quite a while to achieve, mind you), a laughable and telling enterprise, to be sure, as if science is decided by manifesto, or by popularity (science is not a democratic process). To counter it, and to make fun of it, the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) compiled "200 Scientists named Steve who accept Evolution" .
Then, an Australian comedy group wrote a song.This is a song about a Skeptic. A Skeptic named Steve. And you can bet that I'm just the sort of asshole who will play this all. the. fucking. time.
Breakfast is on the table, and now, like every year before, I am expected to stuff my face with bacon and coffee. A fun time at age 18.....not 28. Maybe an orange this year.
Enjoy your time off!
Something interesting: Over the past 8 or so months I've been embracing a school-of-thought (of sorts) called "Skepticism". I capitalize it because it truly is an intellectual movement with specific organizations (New England Skeptical Society, or NESS), Founders (Carl Sagan), leaders (James Randi), and even celebreties (Penn and Teller, the Mythbusters). Skepticism, simply put, is the application of the scientific method to claims which are testable. It's the testable part that is key here.....While it is true that most Skeptics are atheists, Skeptics are less interested in the veracity of the God claim because even-minded people don't claim "there IS a God", but rather that they "believe in God". Fine by me, I don' care what you believe, just so long as you don't start telling me there is "evidence' for god. Skeptics can actually get along quite well with people of unshakable faith, but its the new-agers (astrology, tarot), alternative medicine advocates (chiropractics, homeopathy), and evangelicals (creationists, intelligent design "theorists") that really get stuck in my craw. Its these people that make testable claims; that the starts dictate/guide my personality and I should make real-life decisions based on the position of Venus relative to the moon; that by diluting a substance like caffeine in water by a factor of 1,000,000, I can cure my sleeping problems, or that the scientific community hasn't really decided on evolution yet, and that students should hear "both sides" of the debate, and allow kids to make up their own mind about how live came to be on earth.
It is to this last point that I draw your attention to, and it made being a Skeptic named Steve TOTALLY worth it:
A number of years ago, some creationists in the United States got together and compiled a list of "100 scientists critical of evolution" (a task which took them quite a while to achieve, mind you), a laughable and telling enterprise, to be sure, as if science is decided by manifesto, or by popularity (science is not a democratic process). To counter it, and to make fun of it, the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) compiled "200 Scientists named Steve who accept Evolution" .
Then, an Australian comedy group wrote a song.This is a song about a Skeptic. A Skeptic named Steve. And you can bet that I'm just the sort of asshole who will play this all. the. fucking. time.
Breakfast is on the table, and now, like every year before, I am expected to stuff my face with bacon and coffee. A fun time at age 18.....not 28. Maybe an orange this year.
Enjoy your time off!