Re: Draft: "Why We Should Teach About Creationism in Science Classes"

From: jonathan (Write_at_Instead.com)
Date: 03/13/05 

Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 07:05:27 -0500

"Cygnus X-1" <cygnusx1@mac.com> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BE55303700A09208F02845B0@news.radix.net...
> Still trying to track down some references (and pointers from those in
> the group would be appreciated). References are linked on the web site
> version (see bottom of the main page).
>
> =======
> Why We Should Teach About Creationism in Science Classes
> W.T. Bridgman, Ph.D.
> cygnusx1@mac.com
> "Dealing with Creationism in Astronomy",
> http://homepage.mac.com/cygnusx1/
>
> Draft
>
> In recent years, the proponents of teaching "Intelligent Design" and
> it's precursor "Scientific Creationism" have redoubled their efforts to
> impose their pseudo-science in the classrooms of our public schools.
>
> Yet, in all the turmoil created by these battles in the school boards
> and courts, there is one solution that has been overlooked, or perhaps
> avoided. In the true spirit of turning a problem into an opportunity,
> if we wish to improve the critical thinking skills of our students,
> "Scientific Creationism" provides many examples of a pseudo-science
> that can be analyzed in detail to teach students why it just doesn't
> work.
>
> My particular field is astrophysics, and over the past ten years I've
> examined a number of claims by the "Young Earth Creationists" (YEC) who
> object to modern cosmology's evidence that the universe is on the order
> of 14 billion years old.

Of course they object to the current state of cosmology.
This is simply because even the leading cosmologists
understand there's a crisis in the current model that
needs a fundamental rewrite. Mr astrophysics, please
explain to me the 'cosmic coincidence' problem and
it's explanation within the standard model???

You can't.

Mr astrophysics, your big bang model is linear in
nature, with a beginning and a demand for a
specific ending. Well, everyone...everyone...everyone
in the world intuitively understands that everything
...everything in the universe is cyclic in nature.
So to must be the universe.

So your 'astrophysics' is missing something rather
basic. They are searching for the voids your ideas
leave in abundance. Before looking at them, look
in the mirror first.

NOTIFICATION AND CALL FOR PAPERS

1st Crisis In Cosmology Conference (CCC-I):
Challenging Observations and the Quest
for a New Picture of the Universe
http://www.cosmology.info/about.htm

> Creationist "theories" such as claims that
> the speed of light was significantly higher in the recent past

According to the Princeton Physics Dept, and one of the
founders of inflationary theory, all the fundamental constants
change/evolve over time. So yes the idea that the speed
of light has changed over time reflects the very latest
cosmology.
http://wwwphy.princeton.edu/~steinh/royalsoc/steinhardt.pdf

A Quintessential Introduction to Dark Energy

"Should we believe, as most cosmologists suggest, that this is the
last missing piece of the puzzle and our understanding of the universe
is virtually complete? Or have we just uncovered a deep dark secret
that will revolutionize our whole view of the universe and our place
in it? I must confess to my own prejudice that the latter seems
more likely."

Paul J Steinhardt
Dept of Physics, Princeton University
http://feynman.princeton.edu/~steinh/

  (to
> solve the light-travel time of seeing galaxies billions of light-years
> away in a less than ten-thousand year old universe) have errors so
> obvious that they can be addressed by students with a high school (or
> advanced middle school) understanding of physics or mathematics.

No serious theologian touts a ten thousand year old universe.
Pointing to the absurdities of one-off theories does nothing
at all to support the standard model. Your attempt to silence
different views by ridiculing the worst the other side has
to offer is a cheap-shot, and intellectually dishonest.

>The approach I propose gives
> the scientific community the chance to take control of the issue rather
> than continuing in this guerilla war strategy of the Creationists.
>
> The scientific community holds all the cards in this debate, it's time
> we play them.

The notions of intelligent design will not go away, but are quite
likely to grow into a chorus of ideas. All embracing what
objective science fails to grasp, that our existence and future
lies in the hands of something mysterious and wonderful.

Something your dated and myopic science cannot even fathom.

If mathematics can show that the creation of a cloud, a galaxy
a universe and even an emotion all owe their existence to
a single, common and universal self organizing force, wouldn't you
wonder if it were intelligent in nature?

An Introduction to Complex Systems
Torsten Reil, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
torsten.reil@zoology.oxford.ac.uk

"The study of complex systems has gained increasing attention in recent
years, in such diverse disciplines as economics, life science, sociology,
physics and chemistry. The multidisciplinary approach taken by its
students has revealed a surprisingly high degree of applicability of the
concepts to the different fields. Behaviour of biological systems seems
to be mirrored in that of economic ones; likewise, ideas gained from
studying physical systems were found to provide new insights
about social systems such as democracy."
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~quee0818/complexity/complexity.html

All of our basic views are about to change.
Your defense of the error-filled and grossly
incomplete status quo is the source of Dark-Age
thinking that needs to be attacked. Not those that
attempt to find solutions to the basic questions that
objective methods leave unanswered.

Jonathan

> ---
> Acknowledgements: The author would like to express appreciation to all
> those who reviewed drafts of this document and provided citations.
> ======
> Dealing with Creationism in Astronomy
> http://homepage.mac.com/cygnusx1
> cygnusx1@mac.com
> "They're trained to believe, not to know. Belief can be manipulated.
> Only knowledge is dangerous." --Frank Herbert, "Dune Messiah"
>

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