…and this is a 
A flop!
Category: Creationism
Posted on: March 14, 2008 9:45 AM, by PZ Myers
I complained before that Florida lawmakers were being treated to creationist propaganda at a facility of Florida State University. Perhaps I should have had more confidence in the people of Florida. The movie was shown, and…
But the evening at downtown's IMAX Theater, which was rented out to Mr. Stein's group for $940, was a bust, with only about 100 people attending the movie.
They paid to have people attend for free, and they still couldn't get a decent crowd.
Comments
Define Epic Fail:
I'd feel pity if it weren't so damn fitting that this should happen.
Posted by: HumanisticJones | March 14, 2008 9:52 AM
Welp, I feel better about my fellow Floridians. I just hope that will seal the fate of the "academic freedom" bill trying to make it's way into law.
Posted by: firemancarl | March 14, 2008 9:57 AM
Ben Stein FaiL
and to think I liked "Win Ben Stein's Money"...
Posted by: DeamonCohln | March 14, 2008 9:58 AM
And in a related story the Expelled producers complained that 100 invited journalists posed as students, calling it another instance of a string of "leaks."
Sounds like this film is comparable to a leak of some kind, most likely Ben Stein taking one on science.
FAiL
Posted by: Inoculated Mind | March 14, 2008 10:09 AM
Unfortunately, we can't find a confirmed account of how many lawmakers actually attended. The newspapers are strangely silent on that little tidbit. But from what we have been able to gather (keeping in mind that this is unconfirmed), it appears that the number of lawmakers was in single digits.
You are welcome to visit the Florida Citizens for Science blog for regular updates concerning this "smelly crap." From our perspective, the news for the Discovery Institute is not good at all. They bombed big time and got all tripped up over their pet project, intelligent design. Fortunately, the newspapers picked up on that. So, I guess the best advice for anyone who wants to combat "academic freedom" bills and other such nonsense in your state is to invite the DI folks to town. Their shooting themselves in the foot routine is priceless.
http://www.flascience.org/wp/
Posted by: Brandon | March 14, 2008 10:15 AM
No press, no public, only a handful of legislators, and yet almost 100 people were there. The Expelled road crew must be huge.
Posted by: David vun Kannon | March 14, 2008 10:24 AM
Dude, I finally got the venue I wanted. I'm Performing my dance quintet--you know, my cycle--at Crane Jackson's Fountain Street Theatre on Tuesday night, and I'd love it if you came and gave me notes.
Posted by: jfatz | March 14, 2008 10:31 AM
Hmm, the article also says why the lawmakers couldn't come. they had other obligations:
"[...] and there was also a significant spiritual event going on. The 33rd annual Red Mass of the Holy Spirit started at 6 p.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More. It was part of "Catholic Days at the Capitol," and leaders from all branches of government, and Floridians of all faiths, occupations and political persuasion were invited."
Well it couldn't be as bad as the movie.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | March 14, 2008 10:35 AM
PZ, when Richard Dawkins called you Pee-Zed, did you every worry that he was calling you "pea's head"?
Posted by: Chris Bell | March 14, 2008 10:36 AM
Posted by: Tewhy | March 14, 2008 10:40 AM
Chris Thill said:
Apparently the "Expelled" PR people have just demonstrated that No Intelligence was Allowed when they put together their screening scheduling!
Posted by: Lilly de Lure | March 14, 2008 10:42 AM
Maybe they should try spiking the popcorn.
Posted by: Umkomasia | March 14, 2008 10:42 AM
WTH? They have Catholics in Florida? I'm shocked. Hard to say whether they are worse than evolutionists and Big Bangers or not.
In most fundie mythologies, Catholics especially and most other Xians are really Fake Xians(TM) and don't count for anything. The Pope is the Antichrist's representative on earth.
A hardcore fundie wouldn't dare enter a Fake Xian(TM) church.
Posted by: raven | March 14, 2008 10:53 AM
Sounds like they gave up one religious event for another.
Posted by: Deepsix | March 14, 2008 10:58 AM
#7 Big Lebowski quote FTW.
Posted by: J | March 14, 2008 11:03 AM
Flori-duh did something right?
Nah, can't be. Something's up.
Posted by: Bob | March 14, 2008 11:05 AM
I love how much time and energy they expend upon revealing what an inept bunch of clods and anti-science theocrats they really are.
I don't think they have yet caught on to the fact that this is the internet age, that all of their lies can be quickly and ably countered by people who know a great deal more than themselves. They're acting like everybody is as parochial and closed-off as their favorite audiences are, fundie churches.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 14, 2008 11:10 AM
Best comment over there was about how this was a private, closed screening for legislators, for them to see a movie that purports to be about freedom of speech.
Posted by: Hank Fox | March 14, 2008 11:17 AM
YOUHOU
Maybe that'll learn them that their foolish religious political action is worthless and bound to fail. This is just a fucking fear campain trying to relate honest people to genocides.
FUCK YOU BEN STEIN & CIE, you're the fucking stubborn intolerants, dishonest propaganda makers. Your political views have no power on scientific evidence.
assholes.
Posted by: benji | March 14, 2008 11:26 AM
YOUHOU
Maybe that'll learn them that their foolish religious political action is worthless and bound to fail. This is just a fucking fear campain trying to relate honest people to genocides.
FUCK YOU BEN STEIN & CIE, you're the fucking stubborn intolerants, dishonest propaganda makers. Your political views have no power on scientific evidence of evolution. Wanna be critical on science? DO FUCKING SCIENCE!
assholes.
Posted by: benji | March 14, 2008 11:27 AM
As you can see, it is a
ransom noteinvitation to a private screening of Expelled.Sent by cowards. Men who are unable
to achieve on a level field of play.
Men who will not sign their names.
Weaklings. Bums.
Posted by: Kerry Maxwell | March 14, 2008 11:38 AM
So the majority of the legislators of Florida have done something right this year.
Too bad it was skipping this movie - they just used up their year's quota...
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | March 14, 2008 11:43 AM
So, you never heard of Ave Maria, Florida?
Also, you are wrong about hardcore fundies not entering a catholic church. If they share a common cause, it does happen. I have seen anti-abortion rallies with fundamentalists groups end up in a catholic church. But the main reason for that is that Chicago's most energetic anti-abortion activist, Jumpin' Joe Scheidler is catholic.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 11:44 AM
Sure jfatz, I'll be there.
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 14, 2008 11:49 AM
I don't know why. Seems unlikely the state as a whole suddenly just rejected creationism and embraced science. I'm skeptical the poor attendance of the movie reflects the population's degree of sympathy for the content. Florida will continue to be a problem.
Posted by: Greg Esres | March 14, 2008 11:49 AM
My read on this is they invited a bunch of legislators who stayed away because they were worried they were going be accused of violating a law about open government. Private screening and all that.
Posted by: Bob L | March 14, 2008 12:11 PM
They must be Fake Fundamentalists(TM) !!!
I wasn't being entirely serious. The intolerance and bigotry of some of these cults is so medieval it is amusing. A favorite pasttime of theirs is excommunicating other Xians, sometimes by the billions.
Posted by: raven | March 14, 2008 12:21 PM
A huge theatrical run was never the idea; they want this to bounce around churches on DVD for a generation. They want to show it to hapless idiot legislators. It's a very fancy tract.
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | March 14, 2008 12:34 PM
Certainly a lot of science has been developed since Darwin proposed his conjecture. Dark rabbits are easy prey in snow leaving only white rabbit DNA in polar areas; this type of natural selection within a species is rather irrefutable. Scientific American magazine stated that if the rough draft of the human genome were stored on compact discs stacked on edge in their cases, shelf space would need to be nearly one half mile long! Yet mutations- never having added ANY scientifically detectable NEW DNA, leave macro evolution wholly inadequate to explain such extreme complexity even given a great time span. Think about it, what is a partially formed heart good for? Really do you believe both human eyes evolved with 3d focusing... at the same time- TWO SIMULTANEOUS randomly formed eyes? The evolution theory is even more weird as each male AND female 'randomly' developed the same two type eyes, That's four SIMULTANEOUS randomly formed eyes, dual random simulataneousness/duplicated!
Perhaps the following analogy can lend clarity:
Eons ago deep in the ocean iron ore began to develope and form into sheets, the sheets came together over time and formed holes- a process known to theorists as 'mutealotofstuff'; soon a fully formed ship floated into harbor...PLEASE- Where there's a watch there is a watch maker, where there is a world there is a world maker!
Posted by: Michael Woelfel | March 14, 2008 12:39 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, that was Michael Woelfel! That was quite humorous! Please give him a good hand!
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 12:42 PM
Yes, because it's not like men and women share any genes, or anything.
Moron.
Posted by: MartinM | March 14, 2008 12:43 PM
Raven wrote:
"WTH? They have Catholics in Florida? I'm shocked."
Florida = mucho Cuban exiles = Catholics.
Janine's correct, too...conservative Catholics and conservative Evangelical Protestants, who would normally hate each other, are able to unite in temporary alliances such as opposing abortion, etc, and Pope Benedict is definitely more anti-science/anti-evolution than his predecessor, John Paul II.
Posted by: JJR | March 14, 2008 12:43 PM
"A Flop" might also have been an appropriate headline for your PREVIOUS entry!
Posted by: DaveX | March 14, 2008 12:46 PM
Yet mutations- never having added ANY scientifically detectable NEW DNA
Wrong. Polyploidy.
leave macro evolution wholly inadequate to explain such extreme complexity even given a great time span.
Wrong. There is no demarcation between "micro" and "macro" evolution.
Think about it, what is a partially formed heart good for?
A partially formed circulatory system.
Really do you believe both human eyes evolved with 3d focusing... at the same time-
There is no gene for "left eye" and "right eye", they *have* to evolve together.
TWO SIMULTANEOUS randomly formed eyes?
Evolution isn't random, try again.
Perhaps the following analogy can lend clarity:
Hey, if humans were made from dust, how come there's still dust?
Posted by: Graculus | March 14, 2008 12:49 PM
This is a false statement and shows your scientific ignorance.
Gene duplications are among the most common mutations in eukaryotes and we see them often.
To cite just one common example, duplications of oncogenes are seen in cancer cells, such as HER2, EGFR, Myc, MET and are known to contribute to the malignant phenotype. There is a even a commercial test for HER2 as a therapy is directed towards this form of cancer. Drug resistance in cancer cells is also gene duplication mediated, DHFR and MDR and this contributes to treatment failure often. The numbers are huge, 1/2 million people die in the USA of cancer every year.
Go peddle your lies somewhere else or read the wikipedia article on gene duplication.
Posted by: raven | March 14, 2008 12:49 PM
Ah, I knew Michael's idiocy sounded familiar.
Posted by: MartinM | March 14, 2008 12:51 PM
Where there's a watch there is a watch maker, where there is a world there is a world maker!
Where there's a Contender for Dumbest Fuck in History, there's a Contender for Dumbest Fuck in History maker!
Why is God so obsessed with making morons so fucking stupid I want to claw my own eyes out knowing that they exist and are breeding?
I hate you Michael! I hate you because you exist only to waste the largest brain evolution has ever produced (well, more or less in your case), and have a computer, and can type, when there are so many deserving children in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas, who'd give nearly anything to have the opportunities that you only waste.
I hope you get hit by a snowplow, you meathead. Fuck you. Fuck you! FUCK YOU!
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 14, 2008 12:53 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! IDiots!
Posted by: PalMD | March 14, 2008 12:54 PM
Mr. Woelfel. I'm not a scientist, but I'm pretty sure that mommies can give birth to both boys and girls, so I'm pretty sure they would pass along genes to boys, event hough they are girls. Those genes might make sure they pass along traits, like the form of the mommy's eyes. I think. Again, I'm not a scientist.
Posted by: zeekster | March 14, 2008 12:56 PM
I get the feeling you're a wee bit stressed my dear Brownian. Now, how about a nice cup of tea?
Posted by: maxi | March 14, 2008 12:58 PM
Brownian: There there. Soon you shall be numb.
Posted by: Rey Fox | March 14, 2008 12:58 PM
HER2 gene amplification is common in a subset of particularly aggressive breast adenocarcinomas. Because a targeted treatment is directed against this form, commercial tests are used to screen breast cancer patients for this form. The numbers are huge, 183,000 cases a year. Not only are gene mutations leading to new DNA common, they are medically significant, killing hundreds of thousands of US citizens every year.
BTW, a creo is here. You can tell by the series of outright lies and incredible ignorance.
Posted by: raven | March 14, 2008 12:59 PM
This should fit in well enough here. I posted it at Expelled's blog:
Posted by: Glen Davidson | March 14, 2008 1:06 PM
Not only are gene duplications common, we see copy number variations between one human and another. One of these is now known to have adaptive significance. Not only are humans evolving, we can see it in our recent history.
So much for the No New DNA lie. It's OK, creos always have a large supply of lies, nearly infinite.
Here is one example. Humans are evolving as I type and we now know examples of recent adaptive changes, adult lactose tolerance is one of several. Ability to digest starch is another. Different human populations have different copy numbers of amylase and this correlates with their diet.
Posted by: raven | March 14, 2008 1:10 PM
I'm sure Mr. Woelfel has some conclusive, slam-dunk ID explanations for all your counter arguments. Go ahead Mr. Woelfel.
Mr. Woelfel...Mr. Woelfel?
Posted by: Captain Al | March 14, 2008 1:15 PM
Woelfel: Where there is a god, there must be a god-maker. That one, I agree with--the argument works for fictional entities.
Posted by: Jim Lippard | March 14, 2008 1:24 PM
Actually, a better way of putting it is that the argument works for human artifacts.
Posted by: Jim Lippard | March 14, 2008 1:25 PM
I am trying to pick out which is more funny, that the left eye and right eye developed separately or that male and females of the species evolve separately.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 1:25 PM
Mr. Woelfel...Mr. Woelfel?
Save your kilobytes. The best contribution to humanity someone like him could make would be if he were rendered down for his fat to make soap to stem a cholera epidemic.
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 14, 2008 1:25 PM
Brownian, please, let us not have that kind of talk. Even in jest, those kind of threats are not funny.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 1:28 PM
Okay, Brownian, my gut hurts from laughing now.
I see a double OM in your future.
Posted by: MikeM | March 14, 2008 1:29 PM
Brownian, please, let us not have that kind of talk. Even in jest, those kind of threats are not funny.
Hardly a threat; merely a colourful description. But maybe that was too close to inciting or suggesting violence.
Point taken. I'm sorry. I feel much calmer now.
Nobody do any rendering, okay? (Unless you're Fremen. And then you only get the water.)
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 14, 2008 1:36 PM
Thank you Brownian. I desire to save my dominatrix skills for the creationist.
(Oh, nice way to slip in a Dune reference.)
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 1:40 PM
Incorrect. It IS a false statement. But it does not show ignorance. He has made this claim before, on this very blog. When he did so, it was thoroughly explained why he was wrong, with examples. Therefore, he can no longer use ignorance as a defense. The last time, this false statement showed ignorance. This time, it's an outright lie.
Though there is a lot of ignorance there too. The nutcase does not seem to be able to grasp the concept of symmetry, or realize that males and females actually share genes. Does he not realize he's related to his mother?
Posted by: phantomreader42 | March 14, 2008 1:44 PM
Mr. Wolfel, please look inside your shirt. Got nipples? Good. Isn't it amazing how those evolved separately from their counterparts on the female of the species? And even the right one from the left one?
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | March 14, 2008 1:44 PM
I desire to save my dominatrix skills for the creationist.
Wha? How come he gets rewarded for being stupid?
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 14, 2008 1:45 PM
In response to Michael Woefel:
*Noone* believes that "two simultaneous randomly formed eyes occured". Not you, not me, noone. Your rant about men and women needing to evolve separately is laughable. What do you know about Straw Man arguments?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
Please don't vote or have children.
Posted by: Jeff Campbell | March 14, 2008 1:47 PM
Not to be a wet blanket but 100 people sounds like a lot for a doc(mock)umentary. If there was a counter-movie called Flunked: No Intelligence Period about why ID isn't taught in schools do you think it would have done better?
Posted by: Alverant | March 14, 2008 1:47 PM
Okay! But remember, safety words are for wusses.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 2:06 PM
Gah! Foiled by Big Science again. We all know that all the scientists, atheists and other heathens clogged all the roads with their fancy sports cars. And they used their bags of money and porno to lob at people attempting to enter the theater. Sure, a few of the righteous made it inside, but, well, politicians will be politicians. Money and sex are often distractions.
Damn you Big Science! Damnnnn youuuuuuuuu!
Posted by: Jason | March 14, 2008 2:19 PM
HA!!! Take that, you sub par person!
Posted by: Michelle | March 14, 2008 2:19 PM
as a florida resident, i'm not so much concerned about the public. it's that openning bit about ben stein in front of the florida state legislature that concerns me.
Posted by: arachnophilia | March 14, 2008 2:25 PM
Okay! But remember, safety words are for wusses.
And, um, so is not pretending you're my eighth-grade gym teacher, so--
Ahem! Where did you want me to store these balls, Mrs. Tookey?
Posted by: Brownian, OM | March 14, 2008 2:27 PM
Well, is this suprising? Is the film really about anything? It reportedly doesn't even describe what ID is.
Ben, what good is half an IDea? ;-)
Posted by: Kristine | March 14, 2008 2:39 PM
I think we've found the the Theoretical Concept worthy of following "specified complexity" and "irreducible complexity."
Darwin's Back Blox: Dual Random Simulataneousness/Duplicated and the New Scientific Waterloo of Godless Darwinism, by Billy Behe
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | March 14, 2008 2:43 PM
shit! shoulda been "Billy Beheski"
party in Brownian's gym teacher's pants...
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | March 14, 2008 2:44 PM
As Ben Stein would say deadpan, "Wow." The bad news about the Expelled movie limited engagement tour in FL is that it only takes a few state legislators to cause major headaches. Maybe they can pony up to pay for the legal bills for the state they will incur--yeah, right. By that time they will be on to some other piece of nonsense.
Have any of you seen the Ben Stein "Grab a Fork," commercial for Alaskan seafood? He seems to as well informed about sustainability of fish et al. stocks in the world's oceans as he is about ID. In a few year from now: "Would you like a spork to eat that soylent green with, Ben?"
Posted by: jeh | March 14, 2008 2:52 PM
"I see a double OM in your future."
Pretty soon it will be "Brownian, OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM..." We'll have to start an extra special society called the, um, Order of the Deluise.
Posted by: Rey Fox | March 14, 2008 3:03 PM
Careful jeh - Janine is gonna be all over you for that comment...
To counter-act Teh Crazy, you should all, each and every one
of you, visit the Expelled the Movie site, and sign up now
for free tickets to the closest local theater. Since I have already signed up, I can tell you that you will need to enter a "title" to get admission. I think "Pastor", "Bishop" or Tel Evangelist will get you in right away.
Sorry Janine - "Dominatrix" ain't gonna cut it I believe. Maybe "Proper Demure Christian Submitting Woman" will work for you and Kristine.
As you sign up, they will also let you bring 3 friends - I recommend this, because even if your friends don't show up, you will have helped both yourself and the rest of the crowd, by creating more legroom so all 5 of you in the theater can enjoy yourselves.
Now get out there and sign up! Do it Now!
Posted by: J-Dog | March 14, 2008 3:12 PM
Posted by: mona | March 14, 2008 3:33 PM
Scientific American magazine stated that if the rough draft of the human genome were stored on compact discs stacked on edge in their cases, shelf space would need to be nearly one half mile long!
Is this a rare example of a new creationist lie? I couldn't find it on the web anywhere.
In the real world, the human genome has about 3 billion base pairs, each of which takes two bits to store, so that's 750MB. That won't quite fit on one CD, but you could fit five copies onto a DVD.
You could save more shelf space if you don't use those clunky full-size CD cases. The slim-line cases are only half as wide.
Posted by: chaos_engineer | March 14, 2008 3:33 PM
With all the repeated elements in the genome, it would compress into less than a CD. If only God had invented LZW at the same time as DNA, we'd be way ahead of the game.
Posted by: David vun Kannon | March 14, 2008 3:53 PM
Personally, I'd love to win some of Ben Stein's money. But I don't know if I could stay in the same room with him long enough. How did he get all that moolah in the first place?
BS's seafood commercial was a complete shock. He almost - almost - smiled and broke out of his monotone at the end.
I nominate Expelled for the Reefer Madness Award. The Latest Greatest Drunken Frat Party Supposedly Serious Flick! Everybody hit the boozerÃa and the junk-food aisle of your local supermarket, and get ready to fling that popcorn and peanuts at the screen!
Posted by: themadlolscientist | March 14, 2008 4:01 PM
It actually wasn't his money. The show's producers allocated a certain amount for prize money for each show. He got to keep whatever wasn't won by the contestants.
I enjoyed the show, but it wasn't Jeopardy. The questions were pretty challenging, but you could beat him if you stayed away from history and politics. (Obviously, science would be a winning strategy.) They made you wear a dunce cap if you answered in the form of a question.
Posted by: OriGuy | March 14, 2008 4:29 PM
J-Dog, your leash is too long!
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 4:29 PM
Michael,
I'm curious, was it your Urim and the Thummim that helped you to your divine knowledge of human development?
Posted by: Rick Schauer | March 14, 2008 4:43 PM
Let's be even more generous. Let's say you were ridiculously inefficient, and used an entire byte to represent each base pair. That's 3GB for the entire genome. You could fit all of it on a single DVD. With space left over. Without any kind of compression. Still insist on using CDs? It would take only five, again with some space left over.
The DVD edition of the movie "JFK" contains more information than the genome of John Fitzgerald Kenneddy himself.
With compression, you could store the entire genetic codes of Will Smith and Muhammad Ali in less space than that taken up by a copy of the movie based on Ali's life that Smith starred in.
A personal anecdote to put this in perspective. I am a member of an anime club. The DVD library for said club contains more data than the genetic codes of every club member combined.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | March 14, 2008 5:03 PM
"Really do you believe that all of the genes that control the development of eyes are located on the sex chromosomes, and are unaffected by the embryo's axes of symmetry?"
You lost him at "genes". Or possibly even "believe".
Posted by: Rey Fox | March 14, 2008 5:41 PM
"Hazmat team to aisle three, Creationist hit by Pharyngula train in aisle three"
Posted by: Graculus | March 14, 2008 6:00 PM
Ha, yeah. I'd watch it, too, if you paid me $9.40. It couldn't be any worse than Ferris Beueller's Day Off.
Posted by: M. Robert Bond | March 14, 2008 6:48 PM
#44
Now raven, don't go using that peer-reviewed research to prove your point. We all know that there's a global conspiracy by the Darwinists and their media lackeys to keep all the brilliant ID manuscripts by the Discovery Institute fellows from being published. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish writing this negative review for a paper that presents evidence of an intelligent agent responsible for eye development.
Posted by: James F | March 14, 2008 6:51 PM
I despise Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Ferris' unwarrented sense of entitlement makes my teeth hurt. It takes having an opponent like Ben Stein to make a "hero" like Ferris seem cool by comparison.
Posted by: Janine, ID | March 14, 2008 6:56 PM
In a weird way I kind of like this one. He reminds me of the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future (from Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Thousands of years ago before Sigourney Weaver...
Posted by: Citizen Z | March 14, 2008 7:35 PM
The free chips are to die for.
Posted by: Jon H | March 14, 2008 9:03 PM
Michael:
If you're seriously interested in learning something about evolution, I suggest you start by reading this, this, and this, which either answer most of the issues you've raised or show why the questions themselves are wrong, before moving on to browsing this.
Even if you're not, at least prove you're smarter than the average troll by getting it through your skull that none of your criticisms are unanswerable, new, or even particularly creative.
Posted by: Azkyroth | March 14, 2008 10:11 PM
Whenever someone tries to use the moronic watchmaker argument on me I point out to them that nothing in nature even vaguely resembles a watch. Then I ask them whether, when they find an apple on the ground, they look for an apple factory or a tree.
Posted by: Malcolm | March 14, 2008 10:44 PM
David vun Kannon @72
Careful what you wish for. If Dog had used compression routines on the genome and kept the same mitosis and meiosis mechanisms, we'd have much higher cancer and bad mutation rates.
Better would have been to go in the opposite direction with good redundancy, using a Reed-Soloman block code or a CRC or something. At least then there would have been none of this problem with the original 'kinds' evolving into other things.
Another advantage, of course, would be the clear indication that there really was a designer. No more pesky atheists pointing to evolution and sqeezing Dog into smaller and smaller Gaps.
Posted by: JohnnieCanuck, FCD | March 14, 2008 10:59 PM
chaos_engineer #71 says, "In the real world, the human genome has about 3 billion base pairs, each of which takes two bits to store, so that's 750MB. That won't quite fit on one CD, but you could fit five copies onto a DVD."
Nice - so one can fit a modest-sized nuclear family on a DVD...
But in the OTHER 'REAL' world, nature is not so clumsily encumbered by having to store info on gargantuan objects like disks. Everything fits quite admirably within the confines of a cell's nucleus...the material weight of which must be a very VERY tiny fraction of that of a plastic disk.
I don't have the figures available to perform the calculation, but I would not be surprised if the decimal reached well beyond 12 places. Anybody who knows care to give an estimate? What exactly IS the mass ratio between a complete set of human chromosomes and a disk, these two means of storing (virtually speaking) the same amount of information?
(Of course, the disk containing that "same info" will never start reproducing and express itself into the many specialized cells of an operational organisms, even when you add the mass of the computer to it in order to read it out, but all the machinery the chromosomes need is available in it's cell).
Posted by: Arnosium Upinarum | March 14, 2008 11:01 PM
It only cost $940.00 to rent an IMAX?
What?!
That can't be right. Does that include labor?
Because if that's all it takes to rent an IMAX I'm missing out on some business opportunities.
phat
Posted by: phat | March 14, 2008 11:26 PM
Maybe they should try spiking the popcorn.
phht.
the obvious answer is that they should