Futility

For a while there I got right into the arguments with Dawkinswatch, but eventually I realized that nothing I said ever actually sunk in. In fact it barely registered. DW kept applying non-sequitors and changing the subject by way of argument, and I realized that all I was doing was increasing traffic to his nonsense. So I dropped it, in hopes that maybe ignoring the stupidity would decrease the attention it was getting.

And then he posts this, blathering on, once again, about how evolution is just racism.

In reply to this, I have little recourse but to draw on the wisdon of lolcats:

Hint:

 

Not everything you read on the internet is true!

A History of Public Education

This was forwarded to me, sorry I don’t know the origin, but there a number of variants out there.

A history of public education

Teaching Math In 1970
A logger sells a truck-load of timber for $1000.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the selling price.
What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1980
A logger sells a truck-load of timber for $1000.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the selling price, or $800.
What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1990
A logger sells a truck-load of timber for $1000.
His cost of production is $800.
Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 2000
A logger sells a truck-load of timber for $1000.
His cost of production is $800 and his profit is $200.
Your assignment: Underline the number 200.

Teaching Math In 2009
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is totally selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands.
He does this so he can make a profit of $200. What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes?
(There are no wrong answers. If you are upset about the plight of the animals in question, counselling will be available)

Thought of the Day

 

“Inaction is not an option!“

Spouting inane platitudes, however, is.

I call Poe on Edward Current

 

Poe’s Law, for those unfamiliar with it, states:

Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won’t mistake for the real thing.

This has become a popular meme in the skeptosphere, and is used to illustrate that many arguments for fundamentalism, creationism, and pseudoscience are so completely whacked one has to wonder if they are serious.

One great head-scratching perpetrator of Poe-worthiness is Edward Current. Current is some sort of christian comedian wannabe who has posted a number of glib, silly videos on youtube in an attempt to mock atheism. His points, however, are so juvenile that one wonders if he actually believes them himself. As a case in point, his video The Atheist Delusion  contains the phrases “Science and Reason have no place in our lives”, and “It’s the 21st century, let’s make it feel like the 14th”. I would say that these two statements alone flag it as a clear Poe, except that in the same video he calls Stephen Hawking a freak - something no self-respecting creation-satirist would do.

Update: So it turn sout that Current IS in fact a satyrist. I am slightly embarrased at being taken in, but I can now laugh even louder at his stuff, and watch it with a new appreciation. Though I still say shame on him for mocking the Hawking!

Finding teh Stoopid

The other day, I came across what I thought was one of the stoopidest things I had ever read. It was an anti-evolution diatribe, and it contained a statement to the effect of

Scientists expect us to believe them about evolution, but ho wcan we when they tell us about stuff like DNA. The A in DNA stands for acid, and you know what happens when you come in contact with acid!

At the time, I was in a rush to complete something else, and I thought I would come back and mock it later. For the life of me I can’t find it in my history or by searching. Bummer. I thought I might put it to the readership (“finding the source of the quote as paraphrased above is left as an exercise for th ereader”). All six of you. But then I thought it might be fun to ask readers to find their own cases of stoopid.

So here is the challenge: find the stooopidest quotes you can that present an argument against an established scientific principle, and add it as a comment to this post. Have fun, but have your asbestos brain protectors ready.

Thought of the moment

 

 Is this a rhetorical question?

Another Thought of the Day

If I told you that there is an animal on this planet that enjoys ripping the reproductive organs off other organisms, to present them as a trophy to a potential mate, would you find that morally or ethically reprehensible?

If so, what are you planning to get your loved one on Valentine’s Day other than flowers??

Time well wasted

As it is, I have the attention span of a gnat. But when I find toys like the Bus Slogan Generator, that’s it – I get no work done at all.

Ping of thanks goes out to Elles.

Here’s another:

What the heck. One more.

Thought of the day

I was preparing LB agar plates with my students, when one of them made an astute observation. You see, the LB medium used – a mix of salts, tryptone, and yeast extract – is designed specifically to support the growth of bacteria such as E. coli. Now, the natural habitat for E. coli is in the digestive tract of terrestrial vertebrates. The medium contains the types of nutrients that this organism would find in its natural habitat.

And that is why, as my student so aptly put it, LB medium smells like ass.