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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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THE GARDEN OF LOVE
I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And "Thou shalt not" writ over the door;
So I turn'd to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore;
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joy and desires.
[William Blake, from "Songs of Experience"]
« Thanks, Jim Drummond. Thanks a lot. | Main | An altie fundamentalist Muslim! »
Category: Creationism
Posted on: January 17, 2007 12:20 AM, by PZ Myers
On Saturday and Sunday, 17-18 February, it's the Twin Cities Creation "Science" Association's Science Fair…held that week in honor of Charles Darwin's birthday, I'm sure. Unfortunately, I'm making the drive to Minneapolis twice that week already, so I'm going to have to pass on making a third trip.
Besides, it just makes me sad to see kids told they have to put bible verses on their science projects.
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Comments
Posted by: Tatarize | January 17, 2007 12:37 AM
The proposed science experaments are comic gold. Even with the utter nonsense and pure amusing crap I was taken aback.
18. Is intelligence influenced by physical attributes. i.e. are blondes "dumb" or does skin color influence intelligence?
I see what it wants you to conclude when it says make a wave generator to move some dirt around and conclude the at the strata did not come around at the same time. What the hell conclusion is it digging for here?
Posted by: Tatarize | January 17, 2007 12:49 AM
Classic!
50. Why is blood blue in our veins but turns red when we are cut? If we are cut in a vacuum would the blood stay blue?
What if you have a vacuum sealed bag and you put a needle into your vein (for say purposes of blood donation) how long does this blood remain blue in such a condition? ROFL
Posted by: Andy | January 17, 2007 12:56 AM
These guys showed up to the Peter Woit lecture on string theory that CASH hosted last November. They brought a stack of pamphlets detailing their Theory of Everything, which (among other things) declares quantum mechanics a fraud and calls for a Bible-based physics. (Wait, physics?)
The guy was amusing for about the first 2 minutes of his diatribe. I was amazed at the brusqueness with which Woit dismissed him, but then he told me (with the TCCSA guy well within earshot), "I get about 30 e-mails a day from people who want me to look at their crackpot theories."
-Andy
Posted by: lloydletta | January 17, 2007 1:18 AM
Doug Tice, the Strib's political editor, talks about the evolution "controversy" here:
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/bigquestion/?p=448
Much depends, of course, on what one means by the theory of global warming, or the theory of evolution. In the news article, Drummond goes on to clarify somewhat:
"[W]e are not now arguing," he says, "about whether global warming is going to happen; the argument has turned to: How big is it going to be?"
That seems to leave a large and critical point still open to debate after all.
Somewhat similarly, champions of evolution theory also frequently acknowledge, once they've ridiculed doubters a bit, that, well, yes, there is a fair bit in biology that Darwinism can't yet explain and Science must always open to criticism and questioning and so on and on.
But there is an unbecoming sloppiness, almost a bullying quality, about polemical flourishes like Drummond's and Keller's. They seem a little like warnings that anyone who questions anything about othodoxies like global warming theory or evolutionary theory runs the risk of being labeled a kook. They seem, in a word, dogmatic.
EY: PZ, I think this badly needs a fisking from you....
Posted by: Greg Laden | January 17, 2007 1:33 AM
Well, OK, you can all laugh, but the Volcano is still cool.
But seriously, in case anyone was trying to tell you that Home Schooling does not (often/usually/always?) equal fundamentalists:
"Twin Cities Creation Science Fair" = "Home School Science Fair"
Posted by: Greg Laden | January 17, 2007 1:36 AM
My favorites:
How much voltage or current can a human take before he is killed? Could do experiments on a plant.
Trilobites prove Noah's flood because they are curled up or not?
Can a dog run a maze faster than a gerbil?
Posted by: Jennie | January 17, 2007 1:41 AM
My favourites are:
How much voltage or current can a human take before he is killed? Could do experiments on a plant
and
Were all the animals friendly to man before the Flood? Idea: raise several baby animals like snake and mouse together to see if they remain friends as they are older
Those guys sure know how to test a hypothesis.
Posted by: Mena | January 17, 2007 2:07 AM
I never made it to the ideas page. I was LOLing too much with:
5. Pray your exhibit will witness to non-Christian visitors.
Why is this always a competition with others every damn time? Why can't kids just do some science and have fun?
Posted by: Mena | January 17, 2007 2:22 AM
Ok, I went over there. The spelling and grammar were atrocious. Homeschooling at its finest.
For example:
Make an experiment to show how Boyle's law applies to nebula.
Does sea currents affect climate?
Why do they live longer before the Flood?
What color is our brain? (although one collective brain explains a lot in this case)
Why do cats always land on there feet when they fall?
Why do people eat and drink allot when they are depressed?
Why did God make birds to fly?
Yowsa!
Posted by: Jennie | January 17, 2007 2:36 AM
And then there are the ones that are just weird. Like:
46. Where are teeth stored?
. . . zuh?
and
58. Why did God create the moon to control the tides?
Is the answer not contained in the question?
Well, OK, maybe if I researched the topic I'd find out that pre-Moon he got dizzy from having to orbit the earth every day.
Posted by: Interrobang | January 17, 2007 2:40 AM
Ouch, Mena. That's just painful.
I have a cat who, by direct observational evidence, contradicts the idea that cats "always land on their feet when they fall." I've seen him fall and land on his head several times now. Do you suppose I could submit him as an entry? Maybe as a paradoxical slice of buttered toast?
Posted by: G. Tingey | January 17, 2007 3:30 AM
Is entrance to this sham free/
I would suggest as many peole as possible go along, and trash it (intellectually)
Posted by: Snail | January 17, 2007 3:58 AM
I'm speechless, so I'll let them speak for themselves. From this page about dinosaur digs:
Lucky things. I want a pet elephant that obeys my commands. The one I've got now is full of back talk and argument.
Posted by: Tommaso | January 17, 2007 4:00 AM
Just for sharing, do you know this strip?
http://www.jesusandmo.net/
Posted by: Snail | January 17, 2007 4:01 AM
Damn! I missed the bit about some dinosaurs dying off because of 'climactic changes'.
Posted by: Simon Greenhill | January 17, 2007 5:28 AM
Holy hell, those kids don't have a chance do they? This sort of crap is child abuse. Not only do we have blatently incorrect garbage masquerading as "science experiments" (completely ignoring the anti-evolution ones) like: Why is blood blue in our veins but turns red when we are cut? If we are cut in a vacuum would the blood stay blue? or Do Lilydale closed clam fossils support a world wide flood? Collect 100 shells and compare. or Do we have to sleep to rejuvenate the rods and cones in the eye?
Not to mention the completely UNETHICAL experiments:
Can salt water and fresh water fish live in the same water or not?, How long can flies survive freezing in a frig? (fridge?) or How do mice react after 24 hours of confinement? What about other animals?
However, the "bumpkin" award must go to the kid who does this one:
Does a mare in foal become more ornery than one not?
Special mention for this one: What events caused (people) to become evolutionists? - I don't want to speak for the rest of you guys, but I'm an evolutionist because my mummy didn't hug me enough when I was a child.
-Simon
Posted by: Mike Haubrich | January 17, 2007 7:36 AM
"Is entrance to this sham free/
I would suggest as many peole as possible go along, and trash it (intellectually)"
Better yet, the organizers are calling for volunteers to be judges. You don't even need to know much about science (natch) because you will be paired with someone who does. You can still judge the quality of the work.
If this is not an opportunity to witness for atheism, I don't know what is. "Kid, your premise is faulty, so your results are also faulty. Have you ever heard of our friend PZ and the sacrifice he makes to educate people about science?"
Posted by: PZ Myers | January 17, 2007 8:11 AM
It's free and open to the public -- it's at a mall in Minneapolis. There's a catch, though: it's a bunch of little kids. You can't go in and trash it verbally, and you don't get to cuss out the perpetrators of nonsense. Little kids. It's a very clever shield, actually.
Posted by: gravitybear | January 17, 2007 8:44 AM
I live about 5 minutes away from HarMar mall. I would almost like to go down and check it out, but I think I would just end up getting very depressed by all these kids being captive to their parent's crazy religious notions.
Posted by: Tatarize | January 17, 2007 9:15 AM
That's hardly the spirit. PZ noted upwards that he going to do more links and stuff. I say you should go to the HarMar mall and take a bunch of pictures. Moreso with the worst of the worst. I mean, being depressed by captive kids is one thing, providing pictures the rest of us can laugh our asses off at is another!
Posted by: Tatarize | January 17, 2007 9:20 AM
That's hardly the spirit. PZ noted upwards that he going to do more links and stuff. I say you should go to the HarMar mall and take a bunch of pictures. Moreso with the worst of the worst. I mean, being depressed by captive kids is one thing, providing pictures the rest of us can laugh our asses off at is another!
Posted by: James | January 17, 2007 10:31 AM
4. Statistical occurrence of giants, and midgets and dwarfs and giantism.
Do I have to say it?
Posted by: Mena | January 17, 2007 2:02 PM
We haven't mentioned it but what about #65:
What affects skin color? Is one color better than another? What was God's purpose in this?
I don't believe in ridiculing little kids, it's the fault of their parents, but that one goes way too far. Hopefully none of them will choose that one.
Posted by: n3rdchik | January 17, 2007 4:02 PM
I think we should all encourage our kids to enter - just not base the findings on Christian mythology. Topics could include:
Estimated voltage/decibels of Zeus' thunderbolt
Evidence of Mayan doomsday calendar correctness
Estimated location of Vallhalla
just sayin'
Posted by: Monado | January 17, 2007 8:00 PM
Deduced location of Yggsadril! (spelling?) Estimated date of Gotterdamerung? Explanation of the galaxy as godess's milk?
And my fave: Get pregnant white mice. Have half of them stare at spotted sticks. See if they have spotted babies. That's Old Testament genetics.
Posted by: Monado | January 17, 2007 9:37 PM
The white mice is my suggestion. I didn't read the list of 114 suggestions I stopped at the one that said scientists think that if they prove that evolution is true then they have proven that God doesn't exist. Talk about loading the question with emotional freight! Has anyone noticed that evolution is an observed fact and that scientists are trying to elucidate its mechanism?
"Put your Bible verse on your project." Has anyone mentioned not confusing scientific evidence with religious writings?
Posted by: Millimeter Wave | January 18, 2007 2:22 AM
well, most of the suggestions for projects that truly boggle the mind have already been mentioned, but I think they missed one suggestion:
What do you think? Should I send it in?
Posted by: David Marjanović | January 18, 2007 8:08 AM
True blondness comes from within.
Apart from the fact that it would boil...
Posted by: David Marjanović | January 18, 2007 8:11 AM
Bible verses!
I don't see what's wrong with that. For example, there is one somewhere in an epistle of Paul...
"Test everything, and keep the best!"
Isn't there?
Posted by: Alison | January 18, 2007 8:31 AM
It occurred to me as I was drifting off to sleep last night that this is actually a dastardly plot by the Discovery Institute. They have spies checking out the displays, and at night they break into the mall, steal the best ones, and submit them as their own for peer review. Then they will laugh at us when we accuse them of having done no research of their own. "HA," they will say, "Look at this fine piece of research we did on the stability of the ark!!"
Posted by: Keith Douglas | January 18, 2007 2:09 PM
I'm greatly fond of science fairs, though more in the abstract than the implementation sometimes. (I judged at one once where it seemed to take place on a regular school day, which I think is a bad idea as it disrupts physical education classes, the library and what not in that case.) This bastardization is a shame, to say the least. That said, some of the silly project titles put up above don't sound so bad if guided in appropriate directions by an actually competent science teacher. (Yeah, yeah, I know.) For example, "Are blonds stupider?" could actually teach someone about science's ability to overcome predjudice if done right.