On February 4th 2014 there was a debate between Bill Nye (American scientist known for his The Science Guy educational program) and Ken Ham (the creationist behind the Creation Museum and Answers in Genesis). The topic was:
Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern, scientific era?
The whole debate is available online here (warning: it’s over two hours long), but this is not what I want to write about this time. During the debate, Matt Stopera from BuzzFeed asked 22 creationists to write a message or question to the other side. Most questions were quite dumb. This one is my favourite:
I thought it would be fun (for me) to reply these questions, so here are my answers (keep reading).
1) Bill Nye, are you influencing the minds of children in a positive way?
I’m not Bill, but I’ll reply for him.: YES. Unlike religious people, he’s teaching scientific facts, not mystical nonsense based on a book from the bronze age.
2) Are you scared of a divine creator?
I don’t believe in any god or creator, so no. What about you? Are you scared of leprechauns?
3) Is it completely illogical that the Earth was created mature? i.e trees created with rings… Adam created as an adult…
Yes, it is illogical because you don’t have any evidence supporting that claim. All you have is a book that tells you so.
4) Does not the second law of thermodynamics disprove evolution?
No, it doesn’t. The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy an isolated system never decreases. Our planet is not an isolated system (it’s powered by the Sun, affected by gravity from surrounding planets, etc). If you want to learn about thermodynamics then go ask a physicist, not your preacher.
5) How do you explain a sunset if their is no god?
The Earth rotates and the angle between our position and the Sun changes. The atmosphere reflects the light from the Sun. And it’s there, not their.
6) If the Big Bang theory is true and taught as science along with evolution, why do the laws of thermodynamics debunk said theories?
They don’t. Go read a high school science book.
7) What about noetics?
Yeah, what about noetics? Are you by chance asking about how our intelligence emerged in our brain? I’m not a neuroscientist, but the current consensus is that intelligence emerges when you get enough neurons together. Go search emergent property in a dictionary.
8) Where do you derive objective meaning in life?
There is no objective meaning for life. You’re born, you consume organic matter to grow, then you die and decompose. The meaning of your life is whatever you decide to do with it between being born and being eaten by worms.
9) If god did not create everything, how did the first single-celled organism originate? By chance?
Basically, yes. The conditions in the primitive Earth were very different from what they’re now. A single self-replicating molecule happening by chance was all that was needed. We don’t know the exact precise way in which it happened, and neither do you. Saying God did it! is stupid.
10) I believe in the big bang theory… God said it and BANG it happened!
You’re dumb.
11) Why do evolutionists/secularists/huminists/non-god believing people reject the idea of their being a creator god but embrace the concept of intelligent design from aliens or other extra-terrestrial sources?
First of all, I guess you meant humanists and there.
We don’t believe in any gods because there’s no evidence. The ones claiming that it was aliens are as wrong as the ones claiming that it was a god.
12) There is no inbetween… The only one found has been Lucy and there are only a few pieces of the hundreds necessary for an “official proof”.
Are you talking about evolution? Go to a natural history museum. See the fossils for yourself. We have millions of fossils and a pretty good idea of how we all evolved. Your statement is wrong.
13) Does metamorphosis help support evolution?
I’m sure it does. We don’t know yet how insects developed this process, but someday we will probably know. In the meanwhile, saying God did it! is completely devoid of any evidence, and also dumb.
14) If evolution is a theory (like creationism) or the bible, why then is evolution taught as fact.
First, creationism isn’t a fucking theory. It’s just nonsense derived from a fucking book. Evolution, on the other side, is a scientific theory, a collection of facts and observations that describe the real world. That’s why it’s taught as a fact: because it is.
15) Because science by definition is a “theory” -not testable, observable, nor repeatable” why do you object to creationism or intelligent design being taught in school?
You’re commiting an equivocation: you’re mistaking the colloquial meaning of the word theory (a guess or especulation about something) with the scientific meaning of the word. A scientific theory is a collection of facts and observations that explain the real world and that have been examined, repeatedly confirmed, and accepted as fact by the scientific community. Creationism doesn’t have anything of this. It’s all based on a book. That’s why science should be taught in school and creationism shouldn’t.
16) What mechanism has science discovered that evidences an increase of genetic information seen in any genetic mutation or evolutionary process?
To be honest, no idea. Genetics is a very new branch of science. We’re still studying the genetic code of many living beings. There are theories about all the junk DNA in out chromosomes, and we’re still uncertain about whether it has a purpose or not.
17) What purpose do you think you are here for if you do not believe in salvation?
I’m here to live a happy life, make people around me happy, and try and help others in whatever I can. This is the purpose that I see for my own life, and it hasn’t been imposed on me by any supernatural being.
18) Why have we found only 1 “Lucy”, when we have found more than 1 of everything else?
Lucy is an Australopithecus, and we have many of these. What makes this skeleton special is the fact that we found parts of the skull and ribs, which allowed us to study this species and gather lots of scientific evidence.
19) Can you believe in “the big bang” without “faith”?
Yes. I don’t have “faith” that the Big Bang happened. I accept the scientific evidence that points to it happening.
20) How can you look at the world and not believe someone created/thought of it? It’s amazing!!!
The fact that something is complex doesn’t mean that it was created by a supernatural being. Nature is cool.
21) Relating to the big bang theory… Where did the exploding star come from?
First, it wasn’t a star. We don’t know what it was exactly because the laws of physics break down in those conditions. But you don’t know what happened either.
22) If we come from monkeys then why are there still monkeys?
You look very dumb.
We didn’t descend for modern-day monkeys. Modern-day monkeys and us both descend from a common ancestor, which was some kind of ape. We evolved in one way and monkeys evolved in a different way.
To make things easier for your tiny brain to understand: you and your cousin both descend from the same couple (your grandparents). Us and modern monkeys are cousins, and our common ancestor is our great-great-great-(lots of greats more)-grandfather.
What you’re asking doesn’t make any sense. It’s equivalent to saying: if I come from my cousin, then why is my cousin still around? As you can see, you don’t make any sense.
The reply given to number seven is wholly unitelligent in depth and knowledge of the Noetic scieces.In addition, the vast majority of said article is catty and maliciaous and not at all well-spoken from a scientific perspective. You do us no favors with this.
Pardon my quick typos(which you will most likely point out). As there is no edit button, c’est la vie, mon cherie. I have no more time for this. Good day, young lady. Best wishes in your preaching endeavors.
Apolgies. Not young lady, but young man. :)
If we evolved from monkeys where is the fossil record to show this? why are there no evolution today? Why don’t we see Monkeys that are almost human, i.e. Neanderthals?
Are you serious, or are you trolling?