http://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters/90009-james-veverka-11-4-360
To the Editor,
John Demakowski's creationist beliefs are just like those of anti-vaxxers and climate change deniers. Thick in the midst of these pseudo-scientific theories is the notion that there is some vast conspiracy to oppress the truth. Its the atheists, its the corporations, its the government, or maybe the illuminati. Break out the tinfoil for the chem-trails come. If you listen to the preachers of the anti-science crowd, you would think almost every expert in their field is part of a conspiracy. In a 2009 Pew survey, only 2% of scientists polled were Young Earth Creationists. Back in 1991, the number was 5% (Gallup). Nothing in the geological or fossil record supports a young Earth. Radiometric dating obliterates "creationist geology". The Earth is clearly around 4 billion years old and all the available data suggests that the universe we see is almost 14 billion years old. If you want to build a bridge, you hire an engineer, not a preacher.
The tactics are the same in all of the pseudo-scientific camps. Like anti-vaxxers and climate change deniers, they present a false narrative that there is still a big controversy within their respective scientific fields. There is no such grand debate. Cherry picking data, merchandising doubt, and magnifying minorities are popular science denial tactics. Anti-science outliers are amplified by dissenters in order to imply that the large consensus claimed by experts is a bogus claim. It is not. Almost all Earth and Life scientists vigorously support evolution from common descent. That's right; you are genetically related to almost everything that is alive or ever lived. It should not come as a surprise that it is the most religious of people who are the ones who fight evolutionary science the hardest. That should tell you something.
Mr Demakowski makes vague claims about evolution not being true but does he put forth any creationist claim? No. Why? Because every creationist idea fails miserably when examined thoroughly. Creationists actually believe things like the Earth is thousands of years old instead of billions. If you are interested in creationist claims versus the actual science of evolution, I highly recommend this site as a primer. www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs.html
No comments:
Post a Comment