A law to allow public school teachers to challenge the scientific consensus on issues like climate change and evolution will soon take effect in the southern US state of Tennessee.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam allowed the bill -- passed by the state House and Senate -- to become law without signing it, saying he did not believe the legislation "changes the scientific standards that are taught in our schools."
"However, I also don't believe that it accomplishes anything that isn't already acceptable in our schools," he said in a statement.
The measure allows teachers to "help students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught."
It also says the legislation "shall not be construed to promote any religious or non-religious doctrine."
In recent days the governor had received a petition signed by more than 3,000 people urging him to block the bill, but its conservative backers had enough support to override a veto with a simple majority.
"Good legislation should bring clarity and not confusion. My concern is that this bill has not met this objective," Haslam said. "For that reason, I will not sign the bill but will allow it to become law without my signature."
Critics have labeled the legislation the "Monkey Bill" in reference to the highly publicized 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial" in which Tennessee charged high school science teacher John Scopes with violating a state law against teaching "that man has descended from a lower order of animals."
The Tennessee Science Teachers Association and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the measure's biggest critics, said it would provide legal cover for educators to teach pseudoscientific ideas.
"They are not talking that much about creationism but rather about Intelligent Design," Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU's Tennessee branch, said earlier this week.
"It's a very nuanced and clever way... to challenge the theory of evolution and allow teachers to inject Intelligent Design and neo-creationism."
Intelligent Design is the idea that scientific evidence can show that life forms developed under the direction of a higher intelligence.
The Discovery Institute, whose model legislation inspired the bill, had hailed it as "protecting the academic freedom of science teachers to fully and objectively discuss controversial scientific topics, like evolution."
Based in Seattle, the group backs the teaching of alternatives to evolution in public schools and supports research into Intelligent Design.
The latest controversy is part of a long-running battle between advocates of secular public schooling and conservative Christians who accuse authorities of infringing on their freedom by keeping religion out of the public sphere.
A Gallup poll in December 2010 found that four in 10 Americans believe God created humans in their present form some 10,000 years ago.
Scientific evidence shows that humans evolved from ape-like ancestors over a period of roughly six million years.
In 1968 that the US Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional, based on the separation of church and state, to ban the teaching of evolution.
Explore further:
Tennessee seeks to question evolution in bill
ryggesogn2
OldBlackCrow
I support the state's decision because one of two things will probably happen: 1. The economic ramifications will rear its ugly head when the students (who end up believing ID) are unemployable or can't get into top universities. 2. The students will compare/contrast ID with evolution and find that ID is stupid... especially if they are science oriented. If those students stay in Tennessee, then eventually the law will be overturn by sheer reason.
So, economics or reason will decide Tennessee's long-term fate. I say, let them ride!
ryggesogn2
Then you lie.
The bill only allows teachers to discuss the issues in question. It does not force them to discuss the issues nor does it prohibit them from doing so.
You disagree with this:{?}
"The measure allows teachers to "help students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.""
OldBlackCrow
No, I don't lie. I disagree with the bill itself because the state legislature should not be legislating education. However, since they have, I merely await the outcome of said legislation.
And I was specifically speaking to the probability that said legislation would allow teachers to support ID over evolution.
They do have the right as a state to create such legislation, but I don't agree with it. Education decisions should fall on the school board. So be careful not to judge so quickly.
ryggesogn2
If the state pays for it, the state should regulate it, right? That is the 'liberal' view, no?
Do you support Lexington, MA forcing elementary students to read homosexual stories without parental consent, which violates state law, but the state did nothing?
Not according to the SCOTUS.
OldBlackCrow
As for the Massachusetts example you cited, my stance is the same.
I don't speak for all liberals, just like other liberals don't. Speak for me. I have my own opinions and they stand on their own merits. If I'm proven wrong, then I'm more than willing to change my mind.
ryggesogn2
Then you are not a modern 'liberal'.
LariAnn
ryggesogn2
Has anyone ever tossed the proper ingredients into a pot, applied energy and life emerged?
Even cosmology gets a bit fuzzy at the beginning, if there was one.
After reading The Demon and The Quantum, by Robert Scully, physics folk who are trying to understand how the universe began are not too uncomfortable with God's creation. Biologists are very uncomfortable, though.
Modernmystic
Shhhh, don't confuse them with facts....it makes them angry.
baudrunner
Modernmystic
Yep, too bad the entire article is strawman as creationism and ID are not the same thing.
baudrunner
jennlhann
TheGhostofOtto1923
Calenur
Are you braindead? Any science teacher SHOULD BY PROFESSION be teaching all aspects of scientific theory, including the strengths and weaknesses. Education isn't about memorization, it should be an engaging discussion.
What makes this law so frustrating, is the fact that they're trying to shoe-horn religious nonsense into the world of science. Why are christians so upset with religion not being science? At a very practical level, science is the search for ways to understand, predict and influence the world around us. Saying "God did it" provides NO USEFUL INFORMATION, as we can't use that to better our society. Science is not religion, religion is not science. Keep your space monster out of my science class.
Deathclock
They have equal merit regardless.
Modernmystic
I never heard a distinction made between biogenesis and evolution. I never had it explained to me as to how two sexes evolved. I NEVER heard a science teacher explain how the universe violated the first law of thermodynamics via the big bang. How the big bang was a singularity and expanded...yet black holes by definition CAN'T. Not once. Nor why there is more matter than anti-matter in the universe....ect. etc. etc. Why? Because Science teachers TEACH DOGMA.
IF someone in the 1800s would have suggested to a scientist that time is relative he'd have been branded a "heretic" and a crackpot.
Get over yourselves...really...
Thanks for sharing your opinion?
Deathclock
So you are admitting to never studying the natural sciences at a level higher than grade school?
It doesn't...
You know nothing about big bang theory or black holes.
No, it's because the extent of your science education is grade school.
Modernmystic
Actually I guess it's not really an opinion but a falsehood.
Unless of course you're saying that the opinions of people who believe the Earth was created 6,000 years ago and people who believe it was created 13.7 billion years ago have "equal merit".
IS that what you're saying?
Calenur
If the suggestion is coupled with evidence, I highly doubt that assumption.
You likely didn't receive any of that information because you already had your answer. Science teachers do not teach dogma, they teach science. Your comments land you squarely in the camp of 'if they can't explain one thing, then we know nothing.' As has been said numerous times on this site, just because we don't know everything, doesn't mean we know nothing.
Creationists think the entire universe was created just for them....now who really needs to get over themselves?
Modernmystic
Of course it does. Unless of course you have a falsifiable theory that allows for the creation of mass and energy from nothing.
No it's you who don't. See I can fold my arms and stamp my feet too...I learned that trick when I was three :)
Modernmystic
No I didn't. You can try again though.
Then why do they teach a theory of creation that violates the laws of physics?
Funny I'm in the other camp, because I agree with you...
Deathclock
It wasn't created from nothing...
You know nothing about the science of which you deign to speak, you admitted it yourself. "No teacher ever taught me ... ", remember?
Modernmystic
What was it created from then? Be sure you're claim is falsifiable AND agrees with current dogma.
First of all this may come as a SHOCK to a dogmatic, but one doesn't need a teacher or an authority to learn something.
Secondly they TAUGHT me the strengths, not the weaknesses of their pet theories...
Deathclock
It doesn't, you don't know anything about big bang theory or the laws of physics, you admitted it yourself when you said that science teachers never taught you anything. You're an IDiot.
Modernmystic
You keep saying that like it MEANS something. It doesn't, it's your opinion. Clear?
I did no such thing.
Deathclock
It is not and was never meant to be the theory for the origin of everything, this is something that the ignorant public has turned it into and that is not supported by the evidence. The evidence for the BB includes the CMBR and the red shift of distant galaxies, among others. Why don't you spend some time reading a fucking book (or at least wikipedia) instead of trolling this website with your ignorance?
Modernmystic
Ignoring that some variants of the theory do JUST THAT. Then explain how if it was more dense than a black hole it expanded into anything.
I'm a proponent of the big bang BTW, I just think it's got some HUGE problems that are constantly glossed over and ignored. Moreover there is no falsifiability to it, so I'm not sure how it's taught as science...
Deathclock
Then you should learn something about it, the universe didn't expand into anything... and the laws of physics only function in the context of the universe, so it is IMPOSSIBLE for the universe as a whole to violate the laws of physics.
TheGhostofOtto1923
"In the new work, The Grand Design, Professor Stephen Hawking argues that the Big Bang, rather than occurring following the intervention of a divine being, was inevitable due to the law of gravity."
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing," he writes. "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist."
http://www.youtub...LCau_Z_Y
Terriva
This "logic" is comparable to the creationism. If nothing else, creationism doesn't pretend, it's logical.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Creationism DOES pretend and is fundamentally illogical. It is peddled by liars with agendas. Your statements make one suspect you are one of these peddlers? Or at least one of their unwitting shills perhaps?
http://www.youtub...wMP4Sxgo
Modernmystic
Which was my whole point...there is no natural mechanism which allows for the creation of matter and energy at all. In addition it's impossible for matter and energy to expand at the densities that existed at the big bang. So the laws of physics must have been different then, however I've seen nothing to explain this. Have you (no sarcasm intended)? If not then the theory is WRONG in some way.
Moreover I've seen no falsifiable theory about why there is more matter than anti-matter in the universe. Have you? If not kindly step off about the BB being scientific, it may be FAR MORE scientific than creationism, but it's not strictly scientific at all.
The law of gravity is something. Go fish Stephen...
Modernmystic
Also you've never answered my question re: ID proponents being equivalent to creationists;
Are the opinions that the universe was created 6,000 years ago vs. 13.7 billion years ago equally valid...or were you wrong on that point?
Tennex
TheGhostofOtto1923
TheGhostofOtto1923
TheGhostofOtto1923
http://www.pounde...emepark/
(and as we know ashkenazi came from Khazaria so hes not turkic either)
Hey maybe his mom was anglo. Or maybe he was illegitimate. Yeah thats it.
Modernmystic
Re: Matter and energy creation
http://en.wikiped...dynamics
I didn't come up with them Otto.
Re: Implausibility of the initial expansion of the universe from an infinitely dense state.
Present the mechanism that would allow this to happen. It contradicts current theories about black holes and gravitation. Therefore one or the other must be wrong.
Impossible to say since none has been put forward. In either case therefore my point stands.
No, apparently that's you in this case as I've just demonstrated.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Modernmystic
Why would I do that when it's the first law we're discussing here?
Logic explicitly states how the first law CONTRADICTS (not disproves) any naturalistic theory of creation. The first law doesn't disprove the big bang, it simply points out that the matter and energy dealt with in the theory had to come from a framework outside the theory.
If you're not qualified, by your own admission, to deal with simple and obvious problems with the theory you probably shouldn't be posting about what should be taught to children...or at least no one should pay any attention to you based on your own estimation of your grasp of the subject.
Since you're not even willing to debate the matter I see no point in further reply.
TheGhostofOtto1923
"CHEYENNE, WY, June 24- he founder of the world's most opular religion, Christianity, as the natural son of a Roman soldier, according to Eddie endrick, a local new testament cholar.
"Yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was raped by a Roman soldier and our Saviour was the outcome of that awful, brutal act- an act I now can prove defined His mission in life," Kendrick said. Kendrick is the founder and research director of the Center for Gospel Truth here in Cheyenne."
http://www.jesusr...temid=26
-No doubt a germanic barbarian. Of Arian persuasion.
http://uk.answers...3AAbVj5p
TheGhostofOtto1923
Deathclock
No, you aren't listening, the BB theory does not mention the creation of matter/energy. For all I know the entire concept of "origin" is one of human invention that doesn't apply to reality. We have never witnessed the true origin of anything, we have no reason to belief it is even meaningful aside from our own systems of classification. When we talk about the "origin" of an object we are INVARIABLY talking about when some matter/energy in one form changed to matter/energy in another form... this is not the origin of anything real, only of a conceptual object.
Deathclock
Wait a minute, I see what's happening here... MM is under the impression that the hot and dense state of the universe at the big bang was the same thing as a black hole... it was NOTHING like a black hole. Black holes exist in the universe, the big bang was the expansion OF the universe, two completely different things.
Also, the term "singularity" is a misnomer. Black holes do not have infinite density, they do not exist in zero volume. This is another one of those stupid misconceptions tacked on by the media to dramatize the science. It's true that the density of a black hole is immense, quite possibly the most condensed form of energy possible, but it still exists, and existing with zero volume means not existing.
Modernmystic
Was there something in existence 17 billion years ago?
Quite correct. There is cause and effect though. The theory IMPLIES the creation of matter/energy. The implication is the contradiction. If we were in some kind of steady state there would be no contradiction, our observations tell us we aren't in such a condition though.
Moreover it's not even a self consistent theory AFTER you have all the energy the theory deals with. You still have the problem of more matter than anti-matter, and there is the problem of how did all that matter escape the pull of itself to expand at all.
Deathclock
Modernmystic
It doesn't have to be, gravity will pull on spacetime the same as it pulls on the matter/energy present at the beginning. Unless of course gravity was different then. In which case there should be a testable theory that describes that condition. I'm unaware of any. Again, if there is one I'd like to hear it (honestly, no sarcasm or incredulity).
Then how much more dense was the universe at the beginning? Now as to the second point, one can't have their cake and eat it. Obviously black holes exist, zero volume can't apply to something that exists.
Deathclock
Years have no meaning in the context of this discussion.
Modernmystic
The expansion of space-time occurs within the universe though and hence must follow the previously mentioned laws. Either that or we have to revisit Hubble's observations.
Oh, well then the universe was created 6,000 years ago and the creationists might be right?
Then why were physicists surprised to see the expansion of the universe accelerating when they were expecting the gravity to be slowing it previous to this observation?
Deathclock
No, again, gravity operates WITHIN the universe, the expansion of space-time is a property of the universe as a whole, not a component within it. Gravity does not affect the expansion of space-time...
Deathclock
No it doesn't. The expansion of the universe happens TO the universe, not within it.
You understand that the universal expansion allows objects to recede from each other faster than the speed of light, yet despite this the speed of light as a universal speed limit has not been broken? This is because the expansion of the universe and the related effects on the universe DOES NOT COUNT toward violating the laws of physics that exist WITHIN the universe, because this occurs TO the universe, not WITHIN it.
Modernmystic
Everything we observe is happening within the universe. To say something is happening TO the universe means it's happening within it as well. To say ANYTHING is happening at all means it's happening within the universe. There is no "outside".
Deathclock
All modern theoretical physicists, astrophysicists, and cosmologists disagree with you.
I don't know that they are right and you are wrong, but I know which one is the smarter bet.
(To be fair, I would prefer it if the word universe meant all that existed, such that there could be nothing outside of it, but that is not how most scientist use the term. Most scientists in related fields consider our universe to be a thing of which there may be others).
Modernmystic
All of them? I think not :)
As to those that do, do they have a falsifiable proposition for holding this position?
Look, FTR I'm not saying modern cosmology is wrong. Quite the contrary. I'm saying it's incomplete, and inconsistent. I'm saying I don't think it serves anyone to attempt to gloss over these problems to soothe our worldviews...
Deathclock
No one thinks it's complete... there is no TOE yet. Is this news to you?
Modernmystic
No, I agree that most (if not all) admit the theory is incomplete. There are a lot that seem to ignore, and gloss over the inconsistencies however. There are proposed axioms within the theory that disagree WITH the theory/accepted laws of physics, and with observation.
Deathclock
THIS is the observational evidence, and the explanation is that the expansion of the universe allowed things within the universe to recede faster than the speed of light... however the universal speed limit that it is was not broken, because they did not move THROUGH space at the speed of light, they receded with the expansion of space... they didn't move, the construct that they reside in grew, and that construct that is the universe doesn't have to follow the rules that govern things WITHIN it.
The observational evidence actually supports this, which is the opposite that you are claiming.
Deathclock
http://en.wikiped...stortion
chardo137
alfie_null
bluehigh
The lower the energy density the faster time flows. The more sparse the universe, the faster it evolves.
Trending to infinite volume produces a trend toward the infinite evolution of time.
On this basis, the universe has no end, so there is no violation of conservation of energy.
No beginning and no end? So Creation and the Big Bang disappear in a puff of smoke. For my next trick I will prove black is white and get run over on the next zebra pedestrian crossing.
Modernmystic
You're incorrectly interpreting the observation.
Modernmystic
It's not. We weren't "immediately" separated by 14 billion light years. We're simply seeing light that's 14 billion years old. Stars didn't even exist 14 billion years ago. LIGHT didn't exist until 300,000 years after the big bang.
The observational evidence is that we're observing galaxies close to 14 billion light years away that are receding very fast. That supports the framework I just described. I'd challenge you to present a source that says that everything was separated by 14 billion light years immediately after the big bang.
Modernmystic
So then the axiom we must now accept is at some point there was a creation of time, matter, and energy between 17 billion years ago and now.
Most modern cosmologists place this at approx. 13.7 billion years ago.
365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 15.974 seconds
Mkay.
TheGhostofOtto1923
I do not either. But I recognize this and accept it, whereas MM keeps on pretending, despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary.
He learns this sort of doublethink in church on sunday where he hears that some large superbeast will grant his wishes and desire his eternal company just because MM WISHES it, and is willing to kiss hairy butt. See the similarity?
'God describes the universe in a book full of concepts that I can understand. God loves me and so created me in his OWN IMAGE. Therefore the universe is constructed to be fully understandable by little pseudogods like me; and furthermore, all the answers to any questions I may have can be found in this book (or within my own godly brain)!' Amen(Ra).
TheGhostofOtto1923
Can you do this? Take your time. I'll check back periodically.
-Oh and importantly, try not to do it using catchphrases like
"2And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
-okay?
-Also please try not to use any of this crap
http://en.wikiped...x_nihilo
Thanks.
TheGhostofOtto1923
http://www.youtub...G-TCpbtw
-Come to think of it billy would look a lot like your jesus buddy wouldnt he?
TheGhostofOtto1923
Gawad
No, not at the energy regimes of the BB. As far back as the 70s GUTs were pointing the way to why this was possible: the research suggested that at the energy regimes of the BB, the strong, weak and electomagnetic forces are unified with gravity *and this different, original force would have been repulsive*. IOW, at that energy regime all that mass/energy would not have been under gravitational attraction, but under *violent* repulsion, and that energy regime was possible *because* all that M/E was confined to such a tiny volume.
Gawad
Sigh. As mush as I appreciate your efforts DC, you're going to have to come to grips with the distinction between a BH singularity and its event horizon (EH). I can assure you that "singularity" is more than just a media creation. It really is a state of infinate density postulately by current theory and one where current theory explicitly fails. The EH is just the limit at which the BH's space-time (S-T) curvature causes S-T to flow towards the singularity at a velocity that exceeds C (which is why nothing can get out). GR can handle EHes quite well, unlike singularities.
Gawad
So...I take it you think the No-Hair Theorem doesn't apply to God? Actually, come to think of it...I suppose God WOULD be the hair in the No-Hair Theorem. Hummmmm...
R(amen)
Modernmystic
Here's the first poster that has actually given an ARGUMENT to what I've been saying. I'm actually excited to read more about this. I've often thought that unification might make the laws act differently at the beginning than they currently do, but have NEVER seen it or had it suggested to me. Can you please post a source?
Also I should say this is an argument against one of the inconsistencies I've pointed out...not all.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Here you go MM. I know you think you are Wm Lane Craig (youre not). I certainly do not think I am hitchens. But anyways why dont we let them argue the topic? They do it so much better-
http://www.youtub...=related
Modernmystic
-Stephen Hawking
Modernmystic
You know? Interesting, I think I'm MM...where did you come by this knowledge?
Obviously not, you don't believe in ID...Hitchens does....
I have this strange quirk that I like to come to my own conclusions...silly me...
Modernmystic
Deathclock
You really are nuts.
Modernmystic
-Richard Dawkins
Not only does he admit to the possibility of ID, he thinks that ALIENS might be responsible...
Wow...
Deathclock
You just push the fucking goal post back for what reason? WHY posit, without any evidence, that aliens designed us when all that does is push the question back one level so that we have to ask "where did the aliens come from"... oh, they were designed by other aliens... oh really? Then where did THEY come from?
Do you see how ridiculous it is to go down this path? You are committing a logical fallacy called reductio ad absurdum, look it up.
Modernmystic
Irrelevant to the question and the point of the article. Dawkins admits the possibility of ID ON THIS PLANET and therefore why shouldn't it be taught in schools.
IOW ID in it's purest form doesn't "take sides" here. An intelligent supernatural being (which we have no evidence for) or aliens (which we have no evidence for)...it's still ID.
As an aside...why are you so HOSTILE? I'm not impugning you personally. Why do you need me to agree with you?
Modernmystic
To crystallize the point....my post was more about DAWKINS, not about ID per se....
Deathclock
What the fuck? It's POSSIBLE so it should be taught? Do you know how many things are technically "possible"?
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE SUGGESTING THIS, why should we teach it? Being technically possible is NOTHING, almost anything is POSSIBLE.
What is wrong with you?
Deathclock
This type of thinking OFFENDS me, personally. It's dangerous to society.
Modernmystic
We have no evidence for naturalistic biogenesis either...why should that be taught in schools?
More to the point...direct your angst at Dawkins, not me. I'm simply holding him to a standard and my original post was directed at his inconsistency, nothing more.
I said no such thing....I asked for a reasonable differentiation...
Dangerous to society...really? We'll be fine precious...really we will. You have no right not to be offended....
Deathclock
Modernmystic
We have no EVIDENCE for it...yet. We may in the future, but we currently have no evidence for it.
Moreover it's not plausible...there are hundreds of discrete chemical processes that need to take place in a living cell for it to be alive. That all these hundreds of processes occurred at once in the same place is EXTREMELY implausible.
Darwin can be excused, they didn't know how complex a single cell was in his time...you can't be excused...
Deathclock
Modernmystic
Agreed...
On edit: Well with the caveat that all we are made of are NOT abundant elements. We're the product of nucleosynthesis. Actually in comparison to what we currently think the universe is made of we're quite rare. Totally irrelevant to the point though I concede, but it's important to be accurate.
Deathclock
No, we do, you just don't have knowledge of the topic.
Oh wow, you think a cell is indivisible? I'll give you a hint, self replication would have been the first step, and that would have come LONG before cells.
Oh yeah, and we've witnessed that occur spontaneously in nature...
Modernmystic
No, we don't, you just don't have knowledge of the topic.
In order to be alive...yes it most certainly IS indivisible. Now who's committing the logical fallacy called reductio ad absurdum?
IF you have the complete theory from amino acids to a single living cell please post it...I and the rest of the scientific community await with baited breath...
Deathclock
On the contrary, to be even more accurate we are made simply of quarks, leptons, and bosons... The arrangements of these things is not important, they are the constituents of ALL matter, including the matter we are made of.
Modernmystic
On the contrary according to the most current "scientific" thinking and theory most of the universe is made of dark matter and dark energy which we are not made of...
Deathclock
We've witnessed the rise of self-replicating entities.
No, first of all what is and is not "alive" is rather arbitrary. We define what that word means, in reality there is black and white line separating what is "alive" and what is not "alive"... in essence we made up this concept, it doesn't really mean anything except (and because) what we define it to mean.
Look up self replicating peptides, or just read here:
http://www.talkor...ife.html
Deathclock
Hypothesis... we don't know what these things are or of they exist, we call them "dark" because we haven't been able to record any direct information about them, only their apparent effects on normal matter.
Given that we have absolutely no knowledge of what these things are, if they even exist, it would be foolish to operate on assumptions regarding them.
Modernmystic
IOW and for simplicity...How often do you beat your wife?
SO there is a skeptic lurking under all that scientific dogma you accept via the "authorities"...bravo.
On edit: There IS actually evidence for dark matter, but I agree it's not "settled science".
Deathclock
Sure, but it is divisible into small iterative steps, just like the evolution from single celled life to humans...
TheGhostofOtto1923
"When the bones of prehistoric animals began to be discovered and scrutinized in the nineteenth century, there were those who said that the fossils had been placed in the rock by god, in order to test our faith. This cannot be disproved. Nor can my own pet theory that, from the patterns of behavior that are observable, we may infer a design that makes planet earth, all unknown to us, a prison colony and lunatic asylum that is employed as a dumping ground by far-off and superior civilizations."
You dont watch the vids I post. Your loss. You said it. This is evident because your conclusions are usually silly as has been demonstrated to you.
TheGhostofOtto1923
This is what dawkins has to say about quote mining in general, about religionist mining of this particular quote of his, and about ID.
http://www.youtub...tNuGt4rw
-Dont be lazy MM. Watch the entire sequence for an explanation of why repeating this lie as you have done is so egregious.
And then we should expect an apology.
Gawad
Well, MM, sure because there's a HUGE amount of it: this has now become basic modern inflationary theory stuff, at least at the academic level. Whatever its shortcomings it's considered common knowledge in high energy physics, even though it hasn't generally filtered down to common popular knowledge. If you want something quick and accessible, if very, very partial try:
http://csep10.phy...ion.html
Only so many hrs in a day. Still I can answer them if you want.
Gawad
As a 2nd *critique of your schooling*, what can I say...?
Well, if they had they would have been in error as there is no violation. As the ultimate closed system the Universe is in COMPLETE AGREEMENT with 1st Law of Thermodynamics: As far as we can tell, no energy has ever been transfered into or out of the Universe and the total mass/energy content of the Universe has never changed. Cont.
Gawad
I'm willing to bet that your (common) misconception is based on an underlying assumption that there is some kind of an "outside" of the universe to which thermodynamics (& time & energy conservation) applies in the same way as it does in the Universe, and that this "outside" went from having "nothing" to having "something" (or "everything") inexplicably, thus violating the 1st Law.
But there is no "outside" of the universe either in time or space for thermodynamics to operate on! THIS IS YOUR *OWN* INJECTION, MM!
The Universe is its own closed system from T_0 & up, *including* the BB. The BB doesn't create energy, it happens IN the universe and redistributes its contents.
Gawad
Already provided an answer for that one...you're welcome.
Well, again, this is because you've only bothered with the lite versions, and this leads you to make a number of false assumptions (some of which are understandable because the two are often presented as differing only as far as to the amount of "content"). Most importantly, our theories have nothing very useful to say about singularities so we don't really know how similar the two are, but you are assuming they are the same. The fact is that there's every reason to believe THERE ARE NO TRUE SINGULARITIES IN THE 1ST PLACE. The only thing these really represent are POINTS OF FAILURE in our theories! So there's every reason to think that the 2 types of "singularities" are NOT in fact identical and that the original (BB) would break Superunification levels and create Space-Time while the later ones (BHs) would not and destroy S-T.
Gawad
Mirror, mirror...MM.
Regardless, I don't think this legislation has been introduced to help real science teachers with their teaching. It can't do that since, at least as presented here it's redundent with the function of teaching science anyway. It does rather seem to be a way to protect teachers who wish to promote ID as science, however, and that's anything but healthy.
Mastoras
No, this is not correct.
Intelligent design is a point of view where the result of evolution is taken for granted, and the driving force is claimed to be a certain intelligent. This is called a teleological way of thinking. Telos is a Greek word (what else?) and it means the end, the purpose.
Opposed to this is a point of view where things evolve not driven to their predestined end, but driven by the laws of nature. This is the scientific point of view, and this is evolution.
When Laplace was asked whether God was a part of his world system, he famously said: "I didn't found necessary this hypothesis".
For people in the West, Eastern was last week. Even so, and for all others, Kalo Pascha to all.
-.
Mastoras
Yes, they did, many decades ago. Lysenko (Lysenco?), a Russian scientist, and others, did this. Untill now, they were able to get the building blocks of aminoacids. There were some news recently, that aminoacids themselves were found in a meteorite (if I trust my memory). So, perhaps materials from meteorites helped catalyse life 3,5 billions ago.
But references to the proper ingredients and their proper analogies only shows an ignorance about how quite normal laws of physics, chemistry, and also thermodynamics, can lead to biological substances, and then on to life systems. Life is not a mixture of this and this analogy of ingredients, it is an organised system of substances (ingredients, if you must called them like this).
No, my friend, we are yet to construct a living system, for instance a cell. But that is hardly a support for religious explanations.
-.
Mastoras
I propose that people should read, and ideally study, the history of science. And also, the philosophy of science. In many aspects, knowing science is identical to knowing the history of science.
Religion is not science. But religion in history and religion in our and other people's society, can be studied similarly to other matters. We can have no definite conclusions about these, because these matters have to do with human beings. And human beings, unlike numbers and physics, are infinite by nature, and so they always display more and more aspects. Also: humans have a choice.
Start with a search on "Biblical Studies". Its about the Bible in its historical context. Very interesting, if you like letters and history. But not a pleasant reading if you believe the Bible is a fax from heaven.
-.
ryggesogn2
The first great scientists also believed in God and were motivate into science by their faith, to study and understand God's creation. If they could understand God's creation, maybe they could better understand God.
Yes, please, let's discuss the history of science.
TheGhostofOtto1923
http://www.youtub...UiuZvUuw
-You should watch vids. A pic is worth 1000 words, and moving ones are worth even more. You can see the insanity in this creation scientists eyes as he speaks. Chilling.
Mastoras
I can't help you with that.
You use the word scientist in a modern sense and apply it to the begginings of the human activity that led to science. Then you present one step of this history, and silently imply that it characterizes the whole.
So, I can't help you. If you can't read among the lines of your own thought, then you will always missing the general picture. And you will always take for granted the very things you want to prove.
How exactly is studying black holes help us understand "God's creation"? As you said, though without realizing it, we can do this by a faith: the faith that it helps us understand God's creation.
-.
ryggesogn2
That's the point of the exercise, to understand.
Then you have no understanding of the history of science.
TheGhostofOtto1923
http://en.wikiped...o_affair
Here is a comprehensive overview
"A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom
by
ANDREW DICKSON WHITE
LL.D. (Yale), L.H.D. (Columbia), PH.DR. (Jena)
Late President and Professor of History at Cornell University"
http://cscs.umich...i/White/
ryggesogn2
http://www.adhere...lei.html
Stifle freedom of thought? That is just what the AGWites attempt to do with their 'settled science' and what the atheists are attempting to do with any theory that the universe was created.
ryggesogn2
"I have often asked my physicist colleagues why the laws of physics are what they are. The answers vary from thats not a scientific question to nobody knows. The favorite reply is, There is no reason they are what they are they just are. The idea that the laws exist reasonlessly is deeply anti-rational. "
http://www.nytime...nted=all
ryggesogn2
This shared failing is no surprise, because the very notion of physical law is a theological one in the first place, a fact that makes many scientists squirm. "
http://www.nytime...nted=all
ryggesogn2
"there is a modern-day equivalent to Galileo, specifically on the issue of global warming"
"That man is the Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark, who seems to have discovered the most important factor that actually regulates Earth's climate, and who is quietly in the process of proving it."
http://www.realcl...090.html
ryggesogn2
If the government got out of schooling and let people choose how and where to spend their money on their children's schools and on other children's schools (I'm assuming that, consistent with history, many more-affluent people who are free to choose how to spend their money would willingly subsidize the schooling of those who are less affluent5), the problem would go away. "
http://www.econli...hts.html
Mastoras
In the above, we are told that "science has faith-based beliefs."
Immediately after, we are told that "science proceeds on the assumption.."
These are two different things.
The correct one is the second: science has assumptions.
Does this makes a difference?
Yes, it does. People with assumptions change them if facts make this necessary.
But people with beliefs are unable to change them. For a believer a belief is the conclusion, not the starting point. There is no (logical) way to challenge a belief.
That is why you should not argue with a believer. Life is short. But then, we are all in need of other human beings, even as unpenetrable discussants.
In the above, I didn't said "assumptions change...". Rather, I consciounsly said "people with assumptions change them...". I said it this way because science is a human activity.
-.
ryggesogn2
But faith needs to be reinforced. Scientists have faith the universe has laws that don't change. If the data stops supporting this faith, that faith may be questioned.
"Anybody who has been seriously engaged is scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'Ye must have faith.'
"We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up until now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future."
Max Planck
Read more at http://www.brainy...0fFAz.99
Deathclock
NO IT IS NOT, I've told you this a dozen times in the past, is your brain made of cement?
All beliefs are without proof, you don't have to believe in something if it is proven, you simply KNOW it. Faith is belief without EVIDENCE, not belief without proof, because ALL belief is without proof.
Can you remember this this time so I don't have to write this all over again every month for you?
ryggesogn2
Most Christians then do not have faith, they KNOW God exists in their lives as they have evidence.
"belief that is not based on proof"
http://dictionary...se/faith
TheGhostofOtto1923
You FEEL that it is evidence of some supernatural presence because someone told you this. Someone human and very real.
You have been deceived for someone elses benefit. Now that you know, doesn't it make you feel a little silly? A little angry maybe?
It should.
TheGhostofOtto1923
"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong."
-He also wrote his own bible, editing out all the religious mumbo jumbo. Did you know that?
And as a politician and a public figure he was compelled to ascribe to the church as everybody was back then.
But he was a rational man. Had he lived today, and knowing what we now know about religion and science, he would no doubt be a rabid antireligionist like myself. At least in private. Because he could well see what this particularly ruinous addiction is threatening to do to the world.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Well it is hard to know what galileos personal beliefs were isn't it? He lived in the midst of the inquisition, and had tasked himself with what was considered at the time heresy. In order to SURVIVE and prevail he would at least have had to convincingly pretend to believe.
He did father 3 illigitimate kids, particularly uncatholic behavior, as was challenging the idea that the earth was ground zero.
Galileo was a rational man. Had he lived today, and knowing what we now know about religion and science, he would no doubt be a rabid antireligionist like myself. At least in private. Because he could well see what this particularly ruinous addiction is threatening to do to the world.
TheGhostofOtto1923
"...published in the New York Times generated controversy over its exploration of the role of faith in scientific inquiry...The Edge Foundation presented a criticism of Davies' article written by Jerry Coyne, Nathan Myhrvold, Lawrence Krauss, Scott Atran, Sean Carroll, Jeremy Bernstein, PZ Myers, Lee Smolin, John Horgan, Alan Sokal and a response by Davies beginning I was dismayed at how many of my detractors completely misunderstood what I had written. Indeed, their responses bore the hallmarks of a superficial knee-jerk reaction to the sight of the words "science" and "faith" juxtaposed. While atheists Richard Dawkins and Victor J. Stenger have criticised Davies' public stance on science and religion, others, including the John Templeton Foundation have praised his work."
-Well of course they did.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Religionist faith - continued adherence to religious doctrine DESPITE increasing evidence that it does not explain the universe.
-So what does religionist faith provide that enables it to persist despite overwhelming evidence that it fails to explain the universe? We are left with the compulsion of addiction, and the people who would exploit this for their own personal gain...either monetary, prestige, or to maintain their own addiction.
These are much the same reasons that we see aging rock stars and celebrities conspicuously using tobacco in videos and movies. Product placement.
ryggesogn2
"1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
"About 15 billion years ago a tremendous explosion started the expansion of the universe. This explosion is known as the Big Bang. At the point of this event all of the matter and energy of space was contained at one point. What exisisted prior to this event is completely unknown and is a matter of pure speculation."
http://www.umich....bang.htm
Which was published first?
powerup1
This is not about "academic freedom, but about forcing people to accept your religious world view. It is about trying to teach religion as science. This does not belong in a science class. It should be taught in a religion studies class.
You want to call your faith science without requiring it to adhere to science's standards.
powerup1
ryggesogn2
Sounds like the current 'progressive' regime that wants to force us to not smoke, to not eat salt, to not eat sugar, to not eat meat, to not burn oil, to not.....
powerup1
ryggesogn2
The law before this bill forced teachers to present the atheist world view.
The US govt has established the atheism IS a religion.
ryggesogn2
Sounds just like what socialists are doing to attack Christians, the US Constitution, free markets, and promote dogmatic 'science' such as AGW, forcing students to watch AlGore's propaganda.
ryggesogn2
http://www.christ...ble.html
The theocracy of early Massachusetts required parents to teach their children to read so they could read the Bible for themselves.
Harvard was established to provide the best educate for religious leaders.
dogbert
The naturalists have established themselves as the required religion in schools. In America, a state religion is anathema, so it is only to be expected that efforts would be made to allow the expression of other religions in school.
The first amendment to the constitution was created to prevent these very arguments by telling the government to leave these issues alone, but our courts have essentially negated that amendment and established a state religion.
Any laws which tend to restore the first amendment right of free expression and religious freedom are good laws.
Deathclock
Which one tells you absolutely nothing?
Deathclock
The lack of religion is not a religion. Conflating science with religion is stupidity.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Skultch
This debate is only appropriate in college-level philosophy class, probably when it's time to study Popper.
Am I missing something?
ryggesogn2
Maybe this is the fundamental failure of science education in the US.
Science is a process, not a collection of data. It is taught by poorly educated teachers as a collection of unquestionable facts.
I agree that some level of nomenclature in needed in any subject area, but the fundamental process of science begins with observations, hypotheses, experiments and maybe a theory. This is a natural process we all experience and somewhere in the 'education' process, it is killed by indoctrination.
How are biology teachers supposed to answer how did life begin? This is a simple question young and old students ask, but biology does not have an answer. Maybe someday they will, but how readily do they acknowledge their ignorance?
It is not often we hear from scientists "We don't know."
Just read the headlines in phyorg. All imply some level of 'knowing', not uncertainty
Calenur
You don't hear it because your head is in your ass. Scientists often do, and will never hesitate to say "we don't know." I don't know where you get this crap. The writers for phsyorg aren't scientists, however why preface every article headline with "We don't know for sure, but..." Your posts are asinine.
ryggesogn2
When and where?
If they have, few are listening and few bother to correct those who report on their work in 'popular' press like this.
Skultch
...and HS children are NOT scientists. Comparing ID (hypothesis) to evolution (mature theory) is the job of Scientists, and is NOT appropriate for general HS students. We should be helping them to UNDERSTAND Theories, and NOT ask them to perform peer review of immature Hypotheses.
ryggesogn2
Why?
Afraid to teach people to think for themselves?
It is well documented the current method of teaching science is failing.
Don't you think students will better understand theories if they learn how to create their own?
Who says, you?
Deathclock
You don't create a theory, you create a hypothesis... the theory either follows the hypothesis or does not.
I wonder if you would better understand theories if you paid attention in high school.
By definition, high school students are high school students...
ryggesogn2
Paid attention to whom?
Haven't you noticed that US schools fail to teach science or math well?
And one reason a law like the one in TN was passed is because theories are sold as absolute facts.
Apparently those who teach science do not teach what a theory is well.
And who has been in charge of the US school system for decades? 'Progressives', unionized teachers and university education departments.
Skultch
ryggesogn2
http://www.eetime...-method-
I think this is the way the process has really worked, for thousands of years.
People observe, consciously and unconsciously, collecting data, looking for patterns...
I don't think any scientists just had a 'sudden thought' without some prior observations, (conscious or unconscious), proposed a hypothesis and proceeded down the path of the defined scientific method.
ryggesogn2
If words don't have well defined meanings in science, then why bother with words?
Shouldn't science be precise in its terminology and definitions?
BTW, what precisely do you mean by "scientific theory of evolution"?
And if the theory is a fact, no one should be working in the field, all the facts are known.
Skultch
Also, you are the same guy who claims complexity and nuance is something not to be considered in economics, so I have no hope that any explanation I give would make you or the world any better.
ryggesogn2
This must explain the sorry state of STEM in the US. No one know how to teach.
ryggesogn2
http://chem.tufts...eory.htm
From the same source:
"In any language, usage determines the meaning of a word."
One would have thought that there would be an ISO or NIST based definition of the term instead of 'usage' and 'peer' review.
No wonder science has degraded over the years, few standards.
Skultch
Deathclock
A theory is not a fact, a theory is composed of many facts. A theory is an overarching idea that is best supported by the physical evidence. A theory must be testable, it must have predictive power, and it must be falsifiable. Theories are NEVER considered facts, for good reason, to prevent dogma. The "work" being done is to settle TINY unknown details of the theory that do not themselves compromise the overall theory in any way.
ryggesogn2
But, the 'progressives' need to control education to engineer the 'perfect' society.
But when the 'progressives' loose the majority, and another agenda replaces theirs, we see the results here.
If you 'progressives' really wanted to educate, you would demand the end of state funded education. If you can't bring yourself to that, then follow the example of Sweden and provide students with vouchers so parents can choose the best school.
But then the 'progressives' loose control, don't they?
What is more important to the 'progressive' results or control? So far, the answer is control.
dogbert
Excellent observation. If we really wanted to restore America's education system to the excellence it once had, we could simply get the federal government out of the education system.
ryggesogn2
Another motive for keeping govt controlled schools is property values. A town that controls the school and maintains a good reputation increases the property values in that town. Not very egalitarian. With no district lines based upon city, county, people can choose where to live, not based upon the local school district. Other factors would then come into play on housing values.
If charters or vouchers existed, the city of Niagara, NY would not have been motivated to force Hooker Chemical to sell Love Canal to them for a $1 to build a school.
Skultch
ryggesogn2
It is interesting that the evolutionists don't seem to worry too much about killing off the next stage in human evolution. If, as they say, evolution is a continuous process then all life is one more step on the path. But the 'progressives' support killing babies, especially those that are 'deformed', which could be an evolutionary adaptation. They want to limit the number of people on the planet. Fewer people means fewer opportunities to observe human evolution.
'Progressive' evolutionists, by their actions, don't seem to want humans to evolve further.
TheGhostofOtto1923
"Boko Haram, translates as "Western education is sacrilege""
http://en.wikiped...ko_Haram
-And we can also appreciate why religion-based cultures often need to be destroyed as they cannot be expected to evolve along with the rest of the world. Because they are DESIGNED to destroy, and will destroy, by propagation or by the rifle as the good islamist said:
http://www.youtub...pp_video
cont
TheGhostofOtto1923
Western populations are now growing in concert with the carrying capacity of the regions in which they live. But they are being inundated by the overflow from exploding religionist cultures.
And so we are left with the only solution to stem overpopulation; abortion. ONE BILLION ABORTIONS within the last 100 years. And still the world is critically unstable as religionist cultures hemorrhage and spread their poison worldwide.
Ryggy and his brethren would pray to their god for a solution, but the answer is always 'If everyone believed as you do there would BE no problem'. But the only way to make this happen is by propagation or by the rifle, as the good books all inform.
Evil is as evil DOES. Religion is evil in the very worst of ways.
EverythingsJustATheory
EverythingsJustATheory
Which means that any sexually active woman (even married women) who have had multiple periods are by a conservative's definition a serial killer.
If it's good enough for god, it's good enough for me.
kaasinees
TheGhostofOtto1923
http://www.youtub...e=fvwrel
-A muslim shows him how xian doctrine is bogus and how the bible is bogus and so he accepts allah. I wonder how hard it will be now to show him these same things about islam? Apostasy is a different matter now isnt it numbnuts?
Theyre all false. The only solution is to avoid them ALL.
ryggesogn2
To the 'progressive' evolutionist, this is natural selection at work. Nature made the choice.
Killing babies is a choice man makes. Man decides to take the place of nature, to play at being God.
Is that why so many want to kill babies? It makes them feel like a god?
TheGhostofOtto1923
kochevnik
ryggesogn2
Humans do not reproduce asexually. The baby is a unique human being with genetics different than the mother.
Killing the baby is a violation his inherent right to life.
I guess this is one reason 'progressives' are opposed to inherent rights.
kochevnik
ryggesogn2
Like your fellow socialists, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Kim,... you must dehumanize before murdering.
Following your parasite thread, why aren't children, welfare recipients, invalids, mentally ill, the aged, etc. considered parasites, too?
kochevnik
dogbert
Actually, ryggesogn2, to the socialist, they are all parasites on society. That is why they hate them and seek their destruction.
TheGhostofOtto1923
Remember? Social parasites are people of no value. Like unbelievers, pagans, heretics, apostates, etc. At least believers make good martyrs yes?
ryggesogn2
Yes, it is the socialists who support killing the aged, but they love welfare recipients as they provide the power base for the socialists, until they reach the utopian level of the DPRK and then all they need is a vicious army. They don't need to worry about elections.
TheGhostofOtto1923
The people are made to suffer, and then their books and their clerics tell them that this is the fault of the heathens next door. They are told that this enemy must be either converted or killed. And since their god never does things for himself, it is up to the people to do the killing and the converting.
Religion thrives on suffering. It could not exist otherwise.
ryggesogn2
He was a 'progressive'.
You sound like Ayn Rand.
TheGhostofOtto1923
kochevnik
kochevnik
ryggesogn2
Who is opposed to charter schools and vouchers in the US?
'Progressive' teachers and their unions that keep funding democrat political campaigns.
ryggesogn2
Because they can stay drunk most of the time.
But 'happy' is just bit too much with Jante' Law running in the background.
It's more like they are 'happy' because it is difficult for anyone to work more, to earn more than anyone else.
They are resigned to mediocrity.
Better to have never tried at all than to try and fail, or worse, try and be very successful and earn the envy and jealousy of your 'friends' and neighbors.
And success cannot be hidden. All income tax records in Norway are public record and on-line so you can see everyone's salary and profits.
I'm glad my ancestors emigrated from Norway.
ryggesogn2
For how long?
"Many Danes had to pinch themselves a month ago when their new prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who heads a coalition of leftist parties, launched a strategy document called Denmark 2032. This addressed frankly the need for Denmark to define some tough spending priorities. Its underlying presumption was that the universal welfare state with its generous entitlements would not be able to survive in its current form. "
http://www.bloomb...ate.html
Russkiycremepuff
Russkiycremepuff
And now that my country has embraced some Capitalistic business ventures, but rejected the Western values to much degree, I must wonder if it should have been more liberal in so many ways under Communism, instead of the strict and unrelenting hammering of the psyche of children, teens and young adults to keep their loyalty to the state and our leaders. We had no choice or very little. Many people were religious, but kept very quiet about it. I think that the ACLU believes in no choices in public schools, and longs for Socialism for the children and to avoid dialogue and discussion on merits. I do not understand the fear and dread if the creationism are taught along with evolution.
kochevnik
ryggesogn2
Better look up charter schools:
http://www.kippin...-school/
ryggesogn2
"There are times when you glance at the leftist Daily Kos blog and wonder if they're being sabotaged from the inside. Case in point: a blog titled "The fetus is a parasite."
Read more: http://newsbuster...se4gXw6k
"
Of course any woman who really feels this can have herself spayed and the responsible 'progressive' would do the same for any parasite daughter they are unfortunate enough to birth.
Ever hear of the Shakers?
Let's hope these 'progressives' keep removing themselves from the gene pool.