Bill Nye is a tall, lanky guy who, in the past, made a bunch of science videos, complete with frenetic music and a fair amount of ardent evolutionary propaganda. I had the kids watch a couple of them, but didn't like them all that much partly because they were over the top loud, with lots of sudden visual shifts, and partly because he was so ardently evolutionist. At least once, I caught a weird scientific error about planetary orbits.
In the past couple of weeks, Nye posted a video that supposedly "debunked" pro life arguments using "science." Our eldest child came across it first. She chuckled her way through it, then showed it to our next 2 children. All 3 had fun pointing out the truly stunning logical fallacies. Wow. I had a hard time watching it because it enraged me so much, which just goes to show that sometimes my kids are more mature than I am :-).
There is a pro life conservative blogger named Matt Walsh who wrote a rebuttal, which is fairly good. It is here, with both the Nye commentary and Walsh's point by point discussion.
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/abortion-fans-are-bad-at-science-and-even-worse-at-making-rational-arguments/
I will say that while I agree with Walsh most of the time, I don't prefer his use of sarcasm as I don't think it leads to open, constructive discussion. However, in the case of this Nye diatribe, sarcasm is very tempting. Nye really makes no sense, while being extremely condescending and pretentious.
Walsh did miss one very obvious issue, and that is this stellar quote from Nye:
Sorry, you guys. I know it was written, or your interpretation of a book written 5,000 years ago, 50 centuries ago, makes you think that when a man and a woman have sexual intercourse they always have a baby. That’s wrong, and so to pass laws based on that belief is inconsistent with nature. I mean it’s hard not to get frustrated with this, everybody.
Nye seriously said that. He said that all pro lifers believe that every time a man and woman have sex, they will have a baby. Huh? Walsh didn't address that. I believe that is the "straw man fallacy"--- where you claim your opposition believes something stupid, and then you "debunk it." Sorry, sweet Mr. Nye, but most of us actually do understand the human reproductive cycle. I assure you, I know that sex does not lead, 100% of the time, to a pregnancy. Honestly, dude. That's just dumb.
But let me address a more fundamental issue.
Nye doesn't say it straight out, but he implies it very heavily-- he, as a "scientist" is a logical, rational human being, as are all scientists. All rational scientists, of course, agree with him about everything. Those of us in the pro life camp are stupid religious zealots without 2 brain cells to rub together. Therefore, he is right and we are stupid (and wrong.)
Kevin and I looked up Bill Nye's credentials. He has a mechanical engineering degree, a bachelor's. So...yes, he studied some science, along with thousands of other engineers and scientists throughout the world.
News flash to Nye, and indeed everyone. Scientists are people.
Scientists are not all 100% rational all the time.
Scientists make mistakes.
Scientists are affected by their world view. This is to say that their beliefs about God, and humans, and the value of human life, WILL affect their scientific beliefs and the way they interpret data.
I find it very annoying that one of the favorite arguments of pro evolutionary, pro abortion, pro global warming advocates is that "all scientists" agree with them.
That is obviously not true. Kevin and I are PhD. level scientists, with 10 years of science training in college under each of our belts, and we don't believe in Darwinian macroevolution (though we believe in microevolution), we're pro life, and we're dubious about global manmade climate warming.
One of the current presidential candidates, Ben Carson, is a renowned neurosurgeon who spent years studying the human body, and has done some research along with separating conjoined twins and the like. I think you could successfully argue he is a bona fide scientist, and he is pro life, doesn't believe in macro evolution, and is dubious about global warming.
The reality is that not all scientists, and not all people, agree about everything. That is fine, that is normal. It is reasonable to come to different interpretations about data, and I have no problem with someone honestly coming to a particular viewpoint.
It does bother me a lot when someone pulls the "science card" and dishonestly uses it to try to beat someone over the head with their world view. Nye did that. He should be ashamed of himself, but I'm guessing he's carrying his smug superiority into the future and will "bless us" with something else idiotic in the not too distant future.
2 comments:
I agree Bill Nye drove me nuts way back before children and I don't let mine watch him but if we do we laugh our way through it all - it's true comedy, if he marketed himself as a comedian instead of a scientist he'd be telling the truth. Just like Dr. Phil isn't really a doctor. As much as I know about medical stuff - I don't claim to be a nurse. He has much disdain for anyone 'religious' including Christians who also happen to be scientists, it's sad. As for Ben Carson - he says he's pro-life but has admitted to sending patients to abortion providers and he also believes that parents should not have the right to chose whether to vaccinate and it should be required with no exceptions. He is not the ultra conservative many want him to be.
What are your Ph.D's in?
Thanks
Post a Comment