by welovethedark
Creationist Wisdom — Example 82
[Via The Sensuous Curmudgeon]
WE present to you, dear reader, a letter-to-the-editor which appears in the Daily American of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It’s titled Design or chance?
We’ll copy today’s letter in its entirety, omitting only the writer’s name and city, and adding our Curmudgeonly commentary between the paragraphs. The bold font was added for emphasis, as was a touch of color. Here we go:
Evolution not fact but theory. In fact there is more science that supports intelligent design. This is why evolutionists fight so hard to keep it from being taught in our schools.
Yes, we’re desperately fighting against real science. Let’s read on:
Evolutionists say that evolution is based on science and intelligent design is based on faith, but both require faith in something. Neither can positively prove the beginning of everything from nothing.
Jeepers! The theory of evolution just assumes that the universe exists. That’s a fatal weakness. We’ve been so blind! The letter continues:
Darwins [sic] theory of evolution requires working backward and sometimes ignoring facts that do not support their theory and requires millions of years opposed to the Bibles [sic] thousands.
The letter-writer’s brain seems to be missing the apostrophe lobe. Here’s more:
Carbon Dating measures the amount of carbon monoxide in material. Many things can vary these results; if buried or not and in what or exposed to air or sun and for how long, etc. Also you can set the scale from 0 to millions or thousands.
Aaaargh!! Moving along:
The rotation speed of the earth is slowing, if reversed the centrifugal force would overcome gravity and fling us from the earth well before the time required for evolution. Also dust on the moon increases at a given rate. The first moon landing they expected up to 22 feet; millions of years worth, but only found a few inches; 6-10 thousand years worth.
Wow — that’s a treat. We didn’t realize the moon dust argument and the earth’s rotation rate were still appearing in letters-to-the-editor.
[More]
This is why scientists get frustrated with continuing claims to their time and resources, by questions/statements that have been examined and debunked, yet continue to be asked. Every one of the statements can easily be falsified with simply a small amount of Google searching. The only reason to write such trite is because the author does not really want to be shown they are wrong. They do not care at all about reality.They wish to misinform and misrepresent. Truth is very far from what they seek.
After answering the same wrong question for the 80th time, after taking the time to try and answer politely, it can become a little tiresome to continue. Yet if the question is not answered, if the false statement is not addressed, if falsehoods continue to be promulgated, the scientist’s position is not strengthened. It is weakened.
So, setting multiple fires of misinformation requires the continuing effort of researchers to extinguish, even as this takes time away from the very work that often illuminates the world around us.
It often appears that the questions are continually being asked, not because anyone is really interested in the answer but simply to waste the time of the researcher. This seems too often the goal of some organizations. Slowing science down is what they really hope for.
They can not win on the facts so they will try and make sure the researcher is simply not able to do research anymore. It is like a lawyer during discovery sending over a million pages. They hope to drown the other side in incosenquentials so that a real defense can not be presented.
I expect we will find lawyers at the heart of this.
A Man With A Ph.D. 