Well, as far as I am concerned it is a simple matter of people not being intellectually prepared to understand the theory. I am not saying this to be elitist. Not at all.
I had a conversation with a guy at a xmas party last year. I don't have a clue how we went where we went but we ended up talking about how "human wizards" can figure out the position of the moon every day and write an app to show you. To this guy this was no different from magic. There is no way in the universe that anyone is going to make a good case in favor of the theory of evolution to this person until he elevates himself a few rungs in the educational ladder. That's just a fact.
What about scientists who claim to believe in creationism? For the most part I see it this way: If you are a nobody scientist with no hopes of becoming anyone at all, what is the easiest way to become someone? Thank you Jesus! I've met and have spoken to a few such "scientists" who, for example, teach at religious schools. You can see right through them. They are virtual gods within those organizations. They are elevated to prestigious standings within that community. They are held as proof that someone crossed the proverbial isle and, by the way, he is a honest-to-god scientist. No, they are not. They are business men. And quite smart if you ask me. If you don't see an upshot to your scientific career, go to a religious university and proclaim you've seen the light. They'll have you writing books in short order.
Then there are guys like Ben Carson, the ex-Johns Hopkins surgeon republicans are parading around. The guy is obviously very smart yet he is religious to a ridiculous degree. I like a lot of his ideas. The problem is that every third sentence is about religion. I don't know much about him so can't really opine beyond saying that people who are constantly praising god and talking about how everything is preordained and that they are god's tools, etc. scare the crap out of me. Not a huge step from there to Iran. Is he playing a mental game because of his political aspirations? Maybe. Republicans need to realize they are loosing a huge chunk of the population for putting the bible in front of everything they say and do. I digress.
I am looking forward to the lecture [0] at Caltech on the 20th given by Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer. Should be interesting. Anyone going?
I had a conversation with a guy at a xmas party last year. I don't have a clue how we went where we went but we ended up talking about how "human wizards" can figure out the position of the moon every day and write an app to show you. To this guy this was no different from magic. There is no way in the universe that anyone is going to make a good case in favor of the theory of evolution to this person until he elevates himself a few rungs in the educational ladder. That's just a fact.
What about scientists who claim to believe in creationism? For the most part I see it this way: If you are a nobody scientist with no hopes of becoming anyone at all, what is the easiest way to become someone? Thank you Jesus! I've met and have spoken to a few such "scientists" who, for example, teach at religious schools. You can see right through them. They are virtual gods within those organizations. They are elevated to prestigious standings within that community. They are held as proof that someone crossed the proverbial isle and, by the way, he is a honest-to-god scientist. No, they are not. They are business men. And quite smart if you ask me. If you don't see an upshot to your scientific career, go to a religious university and proclaim you've seen the light. They'll have you writing books in short order.
Then there are guys like Ben Carson, the ex-Johns Hopkins surgeon republicans are parading around. The guy is obviously very smart yet he is religious to a ridiculous degree. I like a lot of his ideas. The problem is that every third sentence is about religion. I don't know much about him so can't really opine beyond saying that people who are constantly praising god and talking about how everything is preordained and that they are god's tools, etc. scare the crap out of me. Not a huge step from there to Iran. Is he playing a mental game because of his political aspirations? Maybe. Republicans need to realize they are loosing a huge chunk of the population for putting the bible in front of everything they say and do. I digress.
I am looking forward to the lecture [0] at Caltech on the 20th given by Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer. Should be interesting. Anyone going?
[0] http://www.richarddawkins.net/events/2013/10/21/fall-book-to...