They see me thinkin'... they hatin'...

A good quote was linked on another journal I read, and I thought I would relay it here. It's good.

[M]y problem is with the all too common accusation of intellectual arrogance being hurled at myself and most of my colleagues who defend science from pseudoscience, be that creationism, intelligent design, UFO claims, psychic powers, astrology or "alternative" medicine. The reasoning, such as it is, goes like this: how dare you, Dr. X (put here any name of any scientist who dares to write for the public), claim that so many people are wrong and you and a small number of other egg-headed intellectuals are right? Who are you to declare the truth of evolution and the falsity of intelligent design? What makes you the arbiter in deciding what is science and what is bunk? ...

Intellectual arrogance, in the utmost degree, is being displayed by those who dismiss out of hand the considerate opinion of someone who has studied a field for 25 years only because they cherish a particular religious worldview that has no independent foundation in reality. Arrogance, according to my dictionary, is "having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities," and it seems to me to fit perfectly someone who has no technical background in a given field and yet pontificates endlessly about what is True and what is not.

-Massimo Pigliucci, "Intellectual arrogance" at Rationally Speaking

Here is where I assert what I know. I know some things about history, and the way cultures grow and develop. I know some things about religion, and what place it has for many people in their lives. I also know a couple of things about politics, particularly where it intersects with religion or culture (and in the latter case, this happens a lot). This isn't to say I'm actually an expert in any of these things. Sure, compared to someone without a degree in anthropology I've got decent credentials, but I have only a Bachelor of Arts, which in an academic subject means little. It means that most people I talk to with an education have a vastly higher amount of experience and expertise in the area they studied. It means that most people I talk to about anything important have at least studied something, and even if its only tangentially related they are coming to the discussion with a healthy respect for expertise, education, and fact.

Then there's the internet. The internet is where I find people who aren't college professors, or other folk who've proven themselves capable of studying various things. The internet is where I find people who glorify ignorance over education, and use anti-intellectualism as a shield and a mask for their own bitterness that they don't know jack, and for once they aren't getting away with pretending they do. The internet is where I find people who think that America will progress socially, economically, scientifically, and politically by being resentful of experts instead of being interested in what they have to say or how they came to their conclusions. The internet is where I find poor Republicans voting against their own interests, gay Republicans voting against their own interests, transsexual Republicans voting against their own interests, Pagan Republicans voting against their own interests, female Republicans voting against their own interests, and independents voting for whomever they can to avoid supporting "that popular guy."

The internet is where I'm reminded that even if the test scores are wrong and I am of average intelligence... that still means half the country is less intelligent than I am. And they'll never forgive me for it. These people are the same hateful brats I knew in grade school, the ones who encouraged smart kids to shut up, who still haven't forgiven kids like me who dared to get above ourselves and actually do our best. 

And this, my friends, is why I have not checked my friends page in days.

Nothing to kill or die for... and no religion too...

So the makers of Expelled! are including copyrighted material without permission and now, among other folk, Yoko Ono is "exploring" legal options over their unlicensed use of the song "Imagine."

I hope she sues, because that's going to be it for them. When Yoko Ono comes after you? The woman's dectructive without even trying (just doing an image search for her hat instantly crashed my browser; I'm not even kidding). She's like Kali. Tongue lolling out, dead babies hanging off her ears, blood everywhere, dancing on Ben Stein's chest.

I've been asked to create this image for the sake of great internet justice.



Yes, I know this is unkind and probably unfair to Mrs. Ono. But come on. Kali in a hat.

Creationist College Advances in Texas

Yeah, this is pretty special.

On Friday, an advisory committee to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recommended that the state allow the Institute for Creation Research to start offering online master’s degrees in science education. The institute, which has been based in California, where it operates a museum and many programs for people who don’t believe in evolution, is relocating to Dallas, where it hopes to expand its online education offerings.

In Texas, the institute needs either regional accreditation (for which is applying, but which will take some time) or state approval to offer degrees. Some science groups are aghast by the idea that Texas would authorize master’s degrees in science education that are based on complete opposition to evolution and literal acceptance of the Bible. And these groups are particularly concerned because the students in these programs would be people who are or want to be school teachers.

...

Paredes, the commissioner of higher education, said it was “way too early to get worked up” about the prospect of creationism degrees being awarded. He said he would be making a recommendation to the coordinating board based ultimately on “what is in the best interests of college students in Texas” and that since this program would train teachers, he would take an even broader perspective of what is best for all students.

Asked for his views on evolution, Paredes said “I accept the conventions of science’ and “I believe evolution has a legitimate place in the teaching of science.” But he declined to say that evolution should be taught as the science.

“A lot of people believe creationism is a legitimate point of view. I respect them,” Paredes said. “I’m an advocate of the principle that when there is a controversy and there are legitimate arguments on both sides of the conflict, my pedagogical principle is ‘teach the conflict.’ Maybe that’s a possibility here.”

More from News: Inside Higher Ed

I've heard comments that the consequences of this won't just be bad PR for a state famed for its fanatical idiocy and mistrust of anything not advertised on The 700 Club. Some people have worried that students from Texas will not have attended accredited schools by the standards of the rest of the nation. Can we just let them secede already?

But... for fuck's sake. There is no conflict in the scientific community over this. There isn't a controversy among people who actually understand evolution. This whole "teach them as equal theories" thing doesn't hold water because it makes it seem like there's any question to educated people as to which theory makes the most scientific sense.

The only hope I have here is that the program wouldn't be called "science education," because at that point it isn't. If you're not teaching what scientists believe based on evidence at their disposal and education not everyone has, you're not teaching science.

Blagh. I don't even know what to say. This is disgusting.