SciAm on Expelled

i-0dd2987442c8b1b9832eb6ef7b034242-expelledexposed.jpg

First Fox News, now Scientific American gives Expelled both barrels. They dedicated a fair amount of space to ripping into the movie, and you might be wondering if it isn’t giving the movie more publicity than it deserves, a question I’m getting asked a lot, too. Of course it is! The controversy is exactly what they want, since it will help put butts in seats. However, this is bad publicity, and what serves our ends is that people see the movie skeptically, and are made aware of the fundamental dishonesty of the makers. John Rennie notes this problem:

Rather, it seems a safe bet that the producers hope a whipping from us would be useful for publicity: further proof that any mention of ID outrages the close-minded establishment. (Picture Ben Stein as Jack Nicholson, shouting, “You can’t handle the truth!”) Knowing this, we could simply ignore the movie–which might also suit their purposes, come to think of it.

Unfortunately, Expelled is a movie not quite harmless enough to be ignored. Shrugging off most of the film’s attacks–all recycled from previous pro-ID works–would be easy, but its heavy-handed linkage of modern biology to the Holocaust demands a response for the sake of simple human decency.

I agree — this is a movie that goes beyond stupidity to actual malice, and it shouldn’t be ignored. SciAm does a great job in exposing the intellectual poverty behind this propaganda film.

Also, remember how Mark Mathis was mentioning that they allowed Michael Shermer to see the movie, as if he were expecting a thumbs-up from Shermer? His review is also online, and as I expected, it is not kind.

Does skepticism stand a chance on TV?

It’s worth a try, and it certainly would stand out against the near-universal background of credulity on television. The makers of the Skeptoid podcast are putting together a pilot for a program on skepticism, with Phil Plait and Steven Novella in the cast. Let’s hope it makes it! Network executives — it’s something new and different, and it’s the kind of thing that might get me and people like me (you know, upscale, highly educated technophiles with some disposable income to spend on high-end luxury items) to turn on our TVs again.

I get email

There has been a recent upsurge in email coming my way. Some of it is very complimentary, thank you very much to all who have written in to say nice things about the blog, and some of it is extremely nasty (no thank you, I’m not interested in being sent to hell right now), but others … others are just weird.

[Read more…]

Which religion?

That Willikers fella has a fine post on the differences between science and religion. Even if he obstinately refuses the label of “atheist” I have to go along with him on this:

So, science is universal, while religion is rather local. One relies on an epistemology everyone in the world has access to; the other relies on an epistemology that barely works for that religion. To say of all religions that “each is valid” is to assert an absurdity. If each religion is separately valid, and all religions contradict each other, we are way past postmodernist silliness and out the other side into pure fiction and flights of imagination. It basically causes the very idea of knowledge to be degraded to the point that it no longer has the slightest meaning.

I think he ought to be invited to speak at that Australian creationist conference. If he and I were to show up there, I’m sure they’d hate him far more than me.

Creationists tell the truth, for once

Some wacky creationists are having a Creation Supercamp in Australia. I am surprised by one thing: their opening description of the event is actually true! I can’t find one thing I disagree with in this statement.

The atheists are on the march like never before. Why? Because creation is also being discussed like never before and they are worried! This weeklong series of lectures and activities will equip you and your children with the necessary tools and information to dramatically affect this world for Christ.

Yes, I think we are seeing an atheist surge right now, and yes, we are worried by the growing creationist activism — I’d even say that rising creationism is one factor in motivating many of the “New” Atheists. Of course, that isn’t a good thing. We also think that the risks of measles prompts worldwide efforts to vaccinate against the disease, but no one thinks that is an endorsement of sickness.

I also think these kinds of events do help misguided people “dramatically affect this world for Christ”. Always for the worst, always with greater and greater levels of stupidity, but sure, they’re affecting this world. That Christ guy seems to have said a few smart things; it’s too bad his name has become such a symbol of deluded idiocy, thanks to people like Carl Wieland, one of the conference organizers.

Unfortunately, too, that one paragraph seems to have exhausted the creationists’ full quota of honesty, and looking over their schedule of speakers, it looks like they’re going to babble out a whole week of lies to compensate.

Short-sighted Republicanism, again

Our useless governor has just killed the expansion of the Bell Museum. This kind of dimbulb thinking annoys me beyond measure: the role of our government should be to build and sustain common shared resources, yet over and over again we see an intentional deprivation of the most basic tools of a civilized society, a denial that is easily made by these jokers because the consequences of doing harm are deferred to another generation. Museums are not just superficial entertainments (although the creationists don’t get that) — they are storehouses of collected information, like a library that holds a more complex array of data than books and recordings. You don’t build them because you’ll get a benefit next week, but because it is a long-term investment in intellectual infrastructure.

(via Greg Laden, who doesn’t seem to like Governor Pawlenty much at all)

An interview that goes straight to the important issues

People are still interviewing me about the silly Expelled movie. The most prestigious news source so far, though, has to be my campus newspaper, The Register. They even ran it on the front page of their April Fool’s issue, a signal honor which I only acknowledge at this late date because I was so busy gallivanting about that I missed it. You’re supposed to be able to read it at the source, but the link seems to have gone all flaky, so at least until it’s fixed, I’ve put the interview below the fold.

[Read more…]

Truth tickets and stupid offsets

Perhaps you’ve heard of carbon offsets: the idea that if you’re going to do something that will release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, you also buy or support something that will sequester an equivalent amount of carbon. It’s a rational way to compensate for necessary activities and keep your damage to the environment neutral.

Well, how about stupid offsets? Let’s say you’re going to do something that will increase the net amount of stupidity in the universe, like, say, paying to watch some inane creationist propaganda film because you’re curious about just how bad it can be. You can, without feeling guilty, if for every dollar you spend on the dumb movie you also invest an equivalent amount in something that increases intelligence, like donating to the NCSE. It’s an excellent idea: if you absolutely must pitch a few dollars into the pockets of lying frauds, make sure you counterbalance the problem and buy Truth Tickets, too.

And even if you don’t want to see the stupid movie, you can still buy Truth Tickets to compensate for all the idiots who will.