Ouch, this is painful to watch. It starts with pictures of kittens and Bambi and bagpipers (bagpipers?), and then this 12 year old kid comes on to declare evolution invalid. He throws up a list of objections to evolution culled from some creationist website somewhere—among them, for instance, is that there is no inheritance of acquired characters—and then he spends most of his time babbling incoherently about how evolution is impossible.
Warning: it also ends with a bagpiper.
The 8 year old atheist sounded much more intelligent.
(via DoubleViking)
He doesn’t even speak with a British accent!
I imagine the idea that “Darwinism” is still a valid theory doesn’t help much, either. This idea that we evolved from monkeys needs to be put to rest, once and for all.
The poor wee laddie doesna know that bagpipes evolved from the haggis. The haggis is an animal that inhabits only the Scottish highlands. It has its legs on one side longer than the legs on the other side, having evolved to run around the mountains about halfway up. Male and female haggis have opposite parity, so that one sex runs around the mountain in a clockwise direction, while the opposite sex goes anticlockwise. Since the mountains are large and the haggis slow, the two sexes rarely meet, which is why haggis and consequently bagpipes, are endangered species, thank goodness.
Hey! I object to your bigotry and intolerance against bagpipes, PZ.
They can be quite beautiful, if played correctly.
A man who loves cephalopods ought to love bagpipes. Come on, aren’t the similarities obvious?
Just because it makes no sense for bagpipes to be there doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome that they are. Bagpipes rule!
A man has a set of bagpipes in his backseat. He parks his car and walks off to do whatever it is he’s doing, when he realizes that he accidentally left his rear windows rolled down. He runs back to his car, but he’s too late: there’s a second set of bagpipes in there.
Researchers predict that the type of tree used to make bagpipes will go extinct in 30 years. Scientists are working around the clock to speed up the process.
Oh, and I also kind of like haggis.
My Scottish roots are showing in this thread, I think.
Yet, regardless of the merits of their ideas, both the free-thinking child and creationist child are unwieldly totems, almost certainly props for the beliefs of adults.
Thus, distasteful.
A guy goes into a bar with his pet octopus and says “I bet $50 that no one here has a musical instrument that this octopus can’t play.”
The people in the bar look around and someone fetches an old guitar.
The octopus has a look, picks it up, tunes up the strings and starts playing the guitar. The octopus’s owner pockets the fifty bucks.
Next guy comes up with a harp. The octopus flexes its arms and plays it.
The bar owner has been watching all this and disappears out back, coming back in a few moments later with a set of bagpipes under his arm. He puts them on the bar and says to the guy and his octopus, “Now, if your octopus can play that I’ll give you a hundred dollars.”
The octopus takes a look at the bagpipes, lifts it up, turns it over, has another look from another angle. Puzzled, the octopus’s owner comes up and says “What are you fooling around for? Hurry up and play the damn thing!”
The octopus says “Play it? If I can figure out how to get its pyjamas off I’m gonna make love to it!”
The term for some who plays (or in my view, tortures) bagpipes in called a piper if I recall.
From where the term “He who pays the piper calls the tune” comes from no doubt. It used to be a custom for Scottish landowners to pay a piper to wander around outside the room where they had breakfast. I cannot think of anything more likely to put me off my porridge and kippers.
I don’t know if he is more under the influence of creationism or weed. How many 12-year-old boys have done this same rant in their parent’s basement contemplating the universe with his stoner friends?
“But where did that first little speck of dust come from? It had to do with that time continuum thing. But where did time come from? Nothing plus nothing makes nothing to the second power makes something plus time equals evolution. Nothing to the second power is still nothing! But where did the nothing come from?”
“Wow, you just totally blew my mind! Are you trying to freak me out? Take another hit…”
What do you mean? Surely not “descent with modification by mutation and selection”?
That depends on your definition of “monkeys”. If you accept both Old World monkeys and New World monkeys as “monkeys”, then of course we have monkeys among our ancestors — apes and Old World monkeys are more closely related to each other than to the New World monkeys.
What do you mean? Surely not “descent with modification by mutation and selection”?
That depends on your definition of “monkeys”. If you accept both Old World monkeys and New World monkeys as “monkeys”, then of course we have monkeys among our ancestors — apes and Old World monkeys are more closely related to each other than to the New World monkeys.
“Armed and Dangerous Productions”? Why do these people always have to act like they are tougher than anyone else? I suspect that this kid’s brain isn’t the only thing that is small and underdeveloped. I’m betting that in 30 years we will be seeing him in a polyester suit with a wife with way too much make-up and huge hair fleecing the sheep.
Well, those are certainly bagpipes at the end of it, but there aren’t any to be heard at the beginning. That was an excruciating nine minutes of listening to one person repeat the same argument from personal incredulity over and over again, though. I find it to be one of the world’s oddest paradoxes that people who can be so credulous, can also be so incredulous, all at the same time. It’s impossible to argue with someone like that because whatever you say, they won’t recognise the deficiencies of their own arguments.
The definition of a gentleman in Scotland is “A man who can play the bagpipes – but doesn’t”
Ahh, the “no true scotsboy” fallacy.
And they’re Peruvian nose flutes playing on the soundtrack.
The planets’ satellites and the Sun’s tidal force on Jupiter have something to do with evolution? Who knew?
I kept listening for the bagpipes as I do enjoy them when well played. All I heard was a rather nicely played flute with a bit of guitar chording as backup. It was nice – but my video had no bagpipes playing.
Granted, you didn’t specifically say they were “playing”. But your last sentence does create that impression as there is no “picture” of a bagpiper toward the end.
I had not realized the natural history of the haggis was so similar to that of the sidehill hoofer, a beast once endemic to the Ozarks. According to the noted folklorist Vance Randolph, sidehill hoofers were unable to right themselves if they fell over. They just lay on their backs and moaned until they starved to death. What with that and the difficulty of getting together with the opposite sex, the species seems to have died out some time ago.
What’s this about languages devolving? Spanish has more verb forms than latin did. Non verbal language forms, i.e. punctuation didn’t exist but now have complex rules. Some current or recently extinct native american languages are so complex that the native speakers needed fourteen years or so to get down the basics.
Ah, the hubris of prepubescence.
And, yeah – numbers eight and nine, about language acquisition, and languages “only devolving,” bwah ha ha ha. Ah bwah ha ah ha hah hee. Hoo. (Wipes tears away)
What is the purpose of point #13? Or the whole video, for that matter :D
Have you seen this kid’s website? It really tells you all you need to know.
http://www.knightstavern.com/
Well, with some digging, I suppose.
If you go the Armed and Dangerous thingermajiggerbob, it’s pretty clear that what we have here is a case of Creationism defying parody, rather than actual Creationism.
Aaaaand a triple post – reading the YouTube comments, it looks like he’s all too serious, after all. And I had such hopes.
There’s a first. Not long into that I found myself actually looking forward to the bagpipes.
Some teenage creationists here. Ken Ham’s people picked them as the cream of the creationist crop, I chastize them as mildly as I can.
There’s a first. Not long into that I found myself actually looking forward to the bagpipes.
Sorry for double comment, each time I got a javascript error and the browser seemed to just hang.
Do yourselves a favor and DO NOT read the comments. The willful stupidity and ignorance displayed there is painful.
This is why we do not allow children to vote.
As for disturbing … to me, the most disturbing part was the pre-opening, the tag for “Armed and Dangerous” productions, complete with gunshots.
The message is very clear: Believe us or we’ll kill you.
“They can be quite beautiful, if played correctly”
And as soon as anyone finds out how to do that, well we’re set.
George Bush at 12.
I wonder how many times a day Sal Cordova masturbates to this video?
I… I think I’m stoned, now. The shaky camera work is helping.
The proper use of bagpipes.
That has got to be the longest video rant that I have ever seen from a child trying to get out of doing his homework. If he had just done it, it would have taken less effort than learning the bagpipes and researching drivel.
The great classical music satirist Anna Russell has a wonderful skit called “How to Enjoy Your Bagpipes.” Other classics include her deconstruction of Wagner’s Ring Cycle and “How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sulllivan Opera.” A lot of her stuff made the transition to CD from LPs and should be easy to find.
Wow, I was just kidding (see my previous post above), but it really is weed…
Here’s something to wash away the taste of that video.
That video doesn’t have any bagpipes in it!! Bagpipes have a low continous drone. Sounds more like some sort of flute or pan pipe type instrument.
If we have haggis and bagpipes, how come there’s still PYGMIES AND DWARVES!!
sorry, just had to.
Skeptical Chymist: And here I thought that a haggis was a small creature, something like a tribble. (My sister has/had a Scottish Hairy Haggis that she bought in Scotland when we were there as kids many years ago.)
Daughter #1’s sweetie is one of the better pipers in North America – he’s piped with the Dropkick Murphys in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day.
A poor player is torture, I admit, but a good one is ambrosia. Try listening to some Tannahill Weavers or Battlefield Band cuts.
Theo background music on that video was either a flute or tinwhistle.
fusilier, who likes the Breton smallpipes, too
James 2:24
There ya go Mr./Ms. smarty pants sciencey community. Until you Darwinistic Frenchists with all your high and mighty arch materialism can explain where time came from using the fossil record and Inter-Galactic Moon Theory there’ll be no peace.
Public service announcement: It was valid then and remains valid today, stay away from the brown acid!
What is the purpose of point #13? Or the whole video, for that matter :D
Posted by: A Teapot
I suspect that he’s just honing his chops looking forward to the day he can make a special pleading for contributions to his church for his new luxury jet.
What those commenters at YouTube also don’t realize is that there is a God, he plays for the Chicago Bears, and his name is Brian Urlacher. In His greatness He intelligently designs the holiest of smitings of offensive lines and has done so for some six thousand years now.
I was actually hoping that I would find this video under “Comedy” on their website…Hopes dashed again…
Apparently the Bears clinched last weekend. I’m not up into football terms but I would think that excessive clinching contributes to irregularity.
“George Bush at 12.” Posted by: jeffw
You got that right – they sound just about the same and make just as much sense as each other. Though to be honest I could not make it to the end of this video – but then I can rarely make it to the end of GW utterance either.
As for bagpipes – you are are not supposed to like them – were they not designed as the most exruciating sound they could think of to put fear into the hearts of the enemies of Scotland?
Oh, wow. The boy’s list includes the long-discredited canard about the mingling of human and dinosaur footprints in the fossil record and the notion that an old moon (billions of years old) must have a deep dust mantle.
I like the bit about “nothing to the second power”. It’s always important to shoot down arguments that no one actually uses.
A striking example of the abuse of children by religion, I’d say.
But then the same would be true of the little girl talking about atheism, wouldn’t it…?
They did clinch last weekend. I’d say the fact that they have one of the best records in the NFC and one of the worst quarterbacks in football (Rex Grossman) is further proof that God exists, and is a Bears fan. Good QBs win without divine intervention. Rex Grossman needs all the providence he can get.
Daughter #1’s sweetie is one of the better pipers in North America – he’s piped with the Dropkick Murphys in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day.
Yes, yes, but there are pipes, and there are pipes. Irish (Uilleann) pipes are sweet and lilting. Scots pipes are strident and militaristic, and inspire either valor or abhorrence, and not much in between. :-)
Human footprints with dinosaurs? Moon dust? Phhhht! Check this out:
“30. Theory and experiment indicate that nuclear reactions are not the predominant energy source of the sun [!!!!!!!!!!!]. If nonnuclear energy sources are producing much of the sun’s energy, then the sun should deplete this energy supply in much less than ten million years. Our star, the sun, should therefore be young. If the sun is young, then so is the Earth.”
Ouch.
No more PS3 for you, mister- until you give me “I won’t pull made up ‘facts’ out of my a$$” 500 times. In Calligraphy.
` I have much to say, but this is the best flash of insight so far:
` Okay, so the theory of evolution is wrong because it can’t explain how it began. This is exactly the same thing has saying that since the theory of gravity can’t explalin why there is gravity, it must be wrong.
` OH NO! ALL SCIENTIFIC THEORIES ARE WRONG BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW HOW THE UNIVERSE CAN EXIST!!!
Hey, I’m Sean, the “12-year-old” who made this film, and I just wanted to clear up some things. First of all, this video is only an experiment. I created it to see how people would react to it, so then I could film another video to counter whatever they had to say against it. Secondly, a lot of the information I used in it I discovered later on to be from between thirty and twenty years ago (OOPS!). So yea, most of the information here was probably discredited long ago, and I apologize for destroying nigh ten minutes of your lives. But I still will stick to several of the perspectives within this video, namely that evolution (not just the Theory), or any other naturalistic ideas, do not explain and cannot explain how the vast ordered universe we live in came from absolute nothing. And if that cannot be explained naturally, then the explanation must be unnatural (supernatural). That’s how I look at it. I’m sorry if you disagree, but why make such a big deal out of it?
And another thing. Some people have posted comments against me based on my company’s name. The title was invented by one of my friends (WHO’S AN ATHIEST), and it was not supposed to be serious. One of our slogans is: “We’re armed and undangerous.” Most of our movies are comedies (this was an exception that was filmed without the rest of the company’s backing). Also, some people claimed there are no bagpipes in this, but if you wait till the ending credits (I commend any who do so) there you will see me playing bagpipes. Due to a combination of me not playing my best, my pipes being somewhat out of tune, and a poor quality recording, it doesn’t sound too great. I assure you though, I can play exceptionally if I try.
And I’m not twelve…I’m 16. Yea, I’m a short leprechaun, but what are you gonna do about it?
But what is truly scary is, this kid is not just sharing more than just his opinion…he is letting you see his passion…his anger.
Is this they type of “God Warrior” that Ham and his ilk are programming??? I can see this kid, in a few years, outside an abortion clinic…armed to the teeth.
All in God’s name.
That’s an argument from ignorance. The fact that we don’t know how a process operates doesn’t prove that it’s supernatural. There was a time when people didn’t understand chemical reactions. Sure, they could have given a supernatural explanation for why iron rusts (without evidence, much like your explanation), but they would have been wrong.
To whoever posted this blog:
I demand a written apology for your insulting headline. I can take being insulted, but not publicly and for reasons of your hatred toward my beliefs and misinformation. If you do not apologize, then you are more immature and arrogant than I expected of even an athiest.
To whoever posted this blog:
I demand a written apology for your insulting headline. I can take being insulted, but not publicly and for reasons of your hatred toward my beliefs and misinformation. If you do not apologize, then you are more immature and arrogant than I expected of even an athiest.
If your feelings get hurt when people attack you, maybe you shouldn’t make ridiculous statements that you haven’t fact checked in public.
You posted on youtube or your pa did. Talk to him. And tell him to quit filling your head with junk. You’re too young to be mentally abused in this way.
Sean,
Given your argument from willful ignorance, I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with the title. Evolution is about how life adapted after it existed. The question of how life originated on the planet is a different subject.
Sean, if this really you, perhaps you should research your 40 points before you post your “facts” in a public forum.
Without exception, all of those points are either canards or misinformation that has all been addressed and debunked in the past.
You really hung your ass out there…it’s a shame you didn’t take the time time to do you homework.
I admitted that a lot of my information has probably been discredited, and I apologize for being ignorant in matters of delicate knowledge. Having said that, there is nothing more to discuss. Making a big deal out of this means you’re only stooping yourself down to foolishness.
People should be prepared for the consequences of their actions. Posting blatant bullshit is bound to get a lot of negative attention.
Sean,
I haven’t watched the video, but I would suggest you visit the TalkOrigins website and see if anything in your video hasn’t been debunked already. Then, if you have something intelligent to discuss after doing some actual research, feel free to visit here again. There are plenty of posts on this blog that would actually enlighten you about the subject that you claim is false.
Additionally, it is rather pointless to complain when you record something foolish, post it on the net, and get called on it. At least you haven’t gained the notoriety of the Star Wars Kid.
Creationists and bagpipes? That is grotesque, truly it is a most dreadful crime to associate such loonies with an instrument that bears a vague resemblance to a cephalopod or the FSM…
No true Scotsman…!!!
And… is that bagpiper at the end wearing long baggy shorts? How dare he not wear a kilt… And I’m sure he’s wearing underwear too.
No true Scotsman…!!!
I’m not convinced this is Sean. I’ve read his comments on Utube, and he does not back down this easily.
BUT, if it is….if you are sincere about learning, talkorigins.org does a great job of documenting both sides of the argument and then presenting the evidence.
Every One,
Jeez! What a bunch of brutes picking on an adoloscent trying out his intellectual wings. Give the kid a break. Are you all too old to recall what it felt like to think things through with all your heart, ideals, dreams, and faith still intact? It was a wonderful thing that every one deserves to experience. If you want to impress the impressionable, why don’t you question his ideas… challenge him…. why attack with sarcasm and “I’m smarter than you” kindergarten antics.
Sean,
Next time do your research. Part of that should be anticipating reactions. Hold on to your perfectly clear ideas because as you grow they will blur. And that is a good thing just as it is a good thing that at your age, they are clear.
Good luck and keep thinking.
rena
Sean,
Next time do your research. Part of that should be anticipating reactions. Hold on to your perfectly clear ideas because as you grow older they will blur. And that will be a good thing just as it is a good thing that at your age, they are still clear.
Good luck and keep thinking.
Every One Else,
Jeez! What a bunch of brutes picking on an adoloscent trying out his intellectual wings. Give the kid a break. Are you all too old to recall what it felt like to think things through with all your heart, ideals, dreams, and faith still intact? It was a wonderful thing that every one deserves to experience. If you want to impress the impressionable, why don’t you question his ideas… challenge him…. why attack with sarcasm and “I’m smarter than you” kindergarten antics.
I just watched this through with my 11-year-old. It was a wonderful bonding activity, during which I discovered her already impressive bs-detecting abilities and scientific knowledge, and was able to fill in a few gaps of God (pun intended) for her. We were quite amused in particular at the “facts” that first claimed that the continents are eroding away and not depositing anywhere else, and second, that space dust is piling up all over and not going anywhere.
Now, while the nothing to the second power was something to make your head hurt, I was much more amused at the question “where did evolution come from?” OMGWTFBBQ!!11oneoneone
BTW, that was flute at the beginning.
Thinking about it all day at work, I’ve realized how similar the evolution of biological beings and language (and therefore gender expression [for I’ve reasoned in a college paper how gender expression is identical to language]). When a language falls into a niche, i.e. limited to a small community, it can become arbitrarily complex, while those spred out over many lands and people may remain simpler. However, I wish I were an expert on linguistics and could cite examples better.
I know this kid is 12 and all but isn’t this statement in and off itself part of the problem. He clearly thinks poorly of ‘atheists’ and likely with no good reason whatsoever. Seeing that he is 12 and likely has had limited to no actual conversations/contact with atheists I think one can safely say he has been taught some bad ideas all the way around.
Don’t attack him, pity him and definetly educate him.
Some are saying I’m not really Sean…they say the real Sean would not back down so easily. Well, I’m not backing down. I’m admittng most of the information in my video is discredited, but I hold firm on my beliefs. I plan to make another video countering what people have said about my video. If you want proof that I’m Sean, I’m about to post a comment on my youtube channel to confirm that I am.
And thanks, Rena.
I’m the 12 year old in the video. Those blemishes on my face that look like zits are actually cigarette burns. My dad says that God caused them in my sleep because I question things sometime. That should give you atheists something to reflect on.
Dear Mike Fitzsimmons,
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help with any future videos. I have a great deal of experience in these areas and can help you achieve an exciting and satisfying conclusion.
Sincerely,
Sal
He brought it on himself. Perphaps if he had posted his utube from the position of….”I have questions about….”. Alas, he didn’t. He was quite “matter of fact” about the dishonesty of “evolutionist”. Too bad.
Don’t fvck with eagles unless you know how to fly.
Yeah…Sal will help you with misinformation…as a complete fountain of misinformation himself.
DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!
Sean:
Delete “discredited”. Insert “totally wrong and make me look like an asshat”.
You may continue.
Give him a break? Give him a break?!!!
He’s SIXTEEN for pete’s sake! I mean c’mon, he should have known some of the things he said were bullshit for a couple of years already! It is really scary that he DOESN’T know them. What kind of education is he getting? I mean really!
and like it was pointed out already, the manner in which he did his video was simply unexcusable. He’s sixteen. His brain may not be fully mature yet, but it is mature enough that he doesn’t us to give him a break. It’s his fault, but then he comes whining about an apology and wants us to give him a break just because he’s younger than most people here.
Don’t start the “his brain isn’t mature yet” garbage. Not being mature means his brain is still flexible – aging represents a drastic loss in adaptability. High school seniors cannot be distinguished from any population of ‘mature’ adults.
This brain, of course, is defective, and no amount of aging is likely to change that.
If we have haggis and bagpipes, how come there’s still PYGMIES AND DWARVES!!
Of course, it’s obvious now! These Evillusionists have had me tricked this whole time!
Sean: Evolution matters. It’s the most powerful idea we have in biology, because it does a better job of explaining and relating more phenomena within biology than any other idea.
Those of us who care about science think it’s a big deal when anyone brings misleading, long-discredited arguments against evolution. That includes those of us who happen to be believers, like me.
If you are sincere and interested in corresponding with a believer who is also an enthusiastic advocate for the teaching of evolution, you can write me at:
[email protected]
I also second the recommendation of talkorigins.net that another poster mentioned!
The brain comment is not garbage. It’s been shown, through MRI scans and stuff, that the brain doesn’t fully mature until about 21 (on average), and that it’s not mature in the areas involving decision making and the weighing of consequences and stuff.
If you are sincere and interested in corresponding with a believer who is also an enthusiastic advocate for the teaching of evolution, you can write me at:
[email protected]
Don’t do it, Sean. Scott is a mere high school teacher who will mislead you. I’ve been quoted in Science magazine and counsel Intelligent Design Awareness Clubs around the country.
Also, I know a lot more about making kids happy. We can be friends.
Wow, that was really dumb. Poorly done video, bad public speaking skills, and a thoroughly useless argument.
So the poor kid admits that his source of information was crap, but he’s still sticking by his false claims?
Excuse me if I fail to be impressed.
My sentiments exactly, Dr. M. He’s obviously starting with a conclusion he likes, then looking for reasoning to support it. And if he really believes that his arguments are lousy, why is the video still available on YouTube? His rejection of his own arguments is only a device to deflect criticism, it seems to me. Either he stands behind his words and defends them, or he renounces them and takes down the video.
Sean,
I’m glad that you have realized that most (actually, it’s ALL) of your arguments are either irrelevant, or discredited.
But I’m afraid there’s more.
Now that you know, take a look at all the books or sites where you first saw those “arguments, where they are still presented.
Are they displayed as “discredited”? Are there retractions? Or are they still being used as valid arguments?
And why do you think this is so?
And there’s more.
Think of some of those arguments. The human footprints next to dinosaurs, for instance- that was a deliberate hoax. it wasn’t a mistake; it was a LIE. Is still claiming that as a valid argument honest, in your opinion?
How about that story about the sun “burning out” its fuel? The foundations for that is an argument from [i]centuries[/i] ago, when scientists did not know of nuclear energy and fusion. So you can say that it’s a thoroughly discredited argument… But wait:
When someone brings that up today, what can we say about them?
Sure, we can say that they are so amazingly uneducated and ignorant, that have never heard of the source of the sun’s power- Fat chance, but still.
But when they KNOW about it, and KNOW that most of the world does, and try to work around that by [i]making stuff up[/i] (“Theory and experiment indicate that nuclear reactions are not the predominant energy source of the sun”), there’s just no way around it.
They are LIARS.
Sean, do you think it’s honest, or ethical, or Christian to lie? Why do these people in those books or sites you read did it? Who were they, again? [i]WHO were they claiming to stand for?[/i]
You seem to have a lot of anger… DO you see now [i]who you should be angry at?[/i]
Science will not lie to you, Sean. It has no [i]reason[/i] to. In spite of what all those people (people with clear motives and agendas) have been feeding you and others like you, young persons looking for knowledge and answers, the truth is that there is no “conspiracy against god”, no “evilutionist” Gestapo, no “naturalist elite” trying to indoctrinate anyone.
There are just people like you. People who were themselves looking for knowledge, and spent their lives struggling in all scientific fields to obtain it. Sometimes with success, sometimes not. And they’re still looking.
They won’t fill your head with preachings, they won’t try to twist words or facts to make it look like they support them. They are not interested in making people believe their lies; are interested in finding the truth- as much as you are.
That’s why they are not spending their time in PR and in the media, advertising themselves; They are too busy doing [i]science.[/i]
Try to think all this with a clear mind- then you might realize who the “good guy” and who the “villain” is in this showdown.
Hopefully.
To the person impersonating Sal… Shame, shame on you, mister. :)
I’m going to assume that the Sean who is posting here is who he claims to be…
I think there should be a different standard for a video made by a teen and a video made by an adult using a teen (or a pre-teen) to make statements that really reflect the ideas of the adult.
I think the 8 year old atheist falls into the latter category, and PZ rightly chastised the adults who made that video for putting words into the mouth of that child. Dawkins has it 100% correct on this issue – there are no Christian children, Muslim children, Sikh children…or atheist children. I think that the time when most people start to grope for the big picture ideas that they will believe is their teens – and it hopefully continues throughout their lives. I know I shifted to being an atheist as a teen – not a big shift since I wasn’t raised with any strong involvement in religion.
I think Sean made a mistake by putting together a film highlighting his ideas that cites a series of “facts” that are irrelevant and/or incorrect. He has actually owned up to this. I think Sean doesn’t fully appreciate the importance of carefully researching information for a documentary, and I wouldn’t accept the excuse “I admitted that a lot of my information has probably been discredited, and I apologize for being ignorant in matters of delicate knowledge” from a University student… but from a high school student who is experimenting with communicating his ideas in his spare time, I have to say I am more forgiving. I think his admission that he now know that used old and discredited information should be viewed in his favor.
I hope Sean simply realizes that the sciences he dismisses in his video can be very interesting, and that much of what he cites is simply incorrect. I think you would have a lot of fun if you spend some time learning what the theory of evolution by natural selection actually says – go to a major museum and watch some of the excellent programs on the topic (the recent Nova on dogs actually had some interesting material relevant to evolutionary biology).
Finally, Sean, realize that people who work on a complex topic can be sensitive when they see their work being dismissed using reasons that are discredited – and read negative comments in that context. And also realize that anybody who communicates their ideas to a broader audience – like filmakers, writers, and scientists (who communicate their ideas through scientific journals) – often get negative feedback. You might find out that the feedback one can get on scientific papers can be brutal. The best thing to do is to look at the comments and ask what you can take from them to improve your own ideas, and ignore any aspects that you believe to be purely personal. If you continue making films you will doubtless get a lot of negative feedback – and some of it will actually help you.
On a side note – Beef, Balls and Babes?
I knew it! God created bagpipes. The sadistic old #$@%^&*
Pretty pictures which evoke fuzzy wuzzy feel good feelings are evidence of the existence of gawd, don’t ya know…
Someone should create a video with all these wonderful photographic techniques and images, accompanied with beautfiful music and then talk about how this diversity came about by natural selection. :)
Has anyone else not been able to view/find the video? The link does not work for me. I think Sean took it offline.
Nah, unfortunately it’s still there
I could view it just now.
And as for Sean, I love his claim that this was a test video and that he had always meant to do another one based on his findings from this one. I call BS. Oh, and I wonder what the atheist member of his “film co.” has to say about their imprint being used on garbage like this.
Wrong and proud of it, mmm? If that isn’t arrogance, I honestly don’t know what is.
Willful ignorance bordering on willful stupidity. It’s not a trait someone at your age should be proud of adopting.
That video and those comments were the equivalent of a troll. I suspect that even if that is the real kid who made it posting above he really doesn’t believe it but is making a stink about it in order to get attention. Isn’t that what trolls do?
This Sean is an arrogant idiot and thanks God for being an arrogant idiot.
Those parts of the brain don’t stop developing until the the early-to-middle twenties, but that doesn’t mean that they only become fully functional then. They are in fact fully functional long before that time – but that’s when they lose the ability to seriously alter their function, just as the parts of the brain that process language can acquire new languages easily before the onset of puberty and only with great difficulty after, as they lose the neural diversity that permits learning.
Maturation does not imply greater intellectual function – in fact, it generally implies a reduction in the ability to function. After one’s mid-twenties, no amount of experience will improve the frontal lobes: their maturation is a final loss of potential.
You are an ignorant fool.
oh shut up already. You’re just spewing BS.
Emphasis mine:
“In addition, cells that use the chemical messenger
dopamine–a neurotransmitter that, among
other things, increases one’s capacity to learn in
response to reward–increase the density of their
connections with the prefrontal cortex. Dopamine
inputs to the prefrontal cortex grow dramatically
during adolescence, probably representing one of
the neuronal mechanisms that INCREASE THE CAPACITY FOR MORE MATURE JUDGEMENT AND IMPULSE CONTROL.”
There’s more, but I don’t want to post the whole paper here:
http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/BRAIN.pdf
I’m willfully ignorant because I stick to my beliefs? No! I stick to my beliefs because of a lot more reasons than those listed in this documentary. As a matter of fact, I now actually agree with some parts of evolution, but a lot of it I still believe is just crap. The reasons and reasoning for this I will explain in my next video, which will not just be about evolution, but religion, philosophy, and history as well. I cannot yet say when the documentary will be completed, but probably not for some time (at latest, maybe a year).
Back to the bagpipes…
I highly recommend the Wicked Tinkers. Bagpipes + Digeridoo = teh kewl.
I’ve seen them play at several “Highland Games” here in Seattle.
http://www.wickedtinkers.com/
Hey Sean do you believe that the Adam and Eve story is fact or metaphor?
Sean, you made a very artful and sincere video. High marks for production quality. I’d give you a ‘D’ in content though; your research and rigor are below average for someone your age.
I dislike the way you’ve been treated by this group (including PZ who has teenage kids and knows better). You’re passionate about your ideas and you’re brave to put them out there – braver still to comment on this blog.
I know that your naive ideas about evolution and science will mature – you’re too smart and talented for it to be otherwise.
Keep up the good work, and ignore these impolite assholes.
Explain to me where the good work is? Pretty pictures?
That’s like saying Bush is a great president because he’s trying.
This kid was set on a false and uneducated path by the adults in his life.
Asking him to defend his beliefs is not mean… or impolite.
Wrong and proud of it, mmm? If that isn’t arrogance, I honestly don’t know what is.
Religious belief, obviously.
Isn’t that what trolls do?
If he were a troll, he wouldn’t be a very good one. No troll would admit so openly that his “facts” have been discredited. No, the kid really believes what he says, which is the saddest thing.
Having the courage of your convictions is not a virtue if your convictions are really dumb.
I’m wondering why people are suggesting that the commenters here be polite to the kid. Politeness would be more insulting and patronizing than even he deserves. He’s sixteen, not five, and that alone commands him some respect.
I actually don’t think the kid has been treated very impolitely. I think he put forth some ideas, people more educated than he responded with a critique of his work. That is fair. Then this:
He plans to spend a year of his life devoted to debunking something he doesn’t understand as well as other things he doesn’t understand or have adequate education on.
Is this how the Hovinds and other purveyors of pseudoscience start? And if so could the harm they have done been avoided by some useful discussion while younger?
Steve: In my opinion, the video was artfully done. You can disagree. I have no problem with asking him to defend his beliefs, but many of the comments have been rude and scornful. junk science: I disagree that politeness is insulting and patronizing. I keep imagining the kid in a room full of angry adults all trying to get in their licks. I can relate to Sean’s wondering why we’re all getting so heated up about this. He’s already down on the ground and yet we’re still kicking him.
I don’t agree with the strength of all the comments but the kid needs to be told he is embarrassing himself among people who know better.
I don’t think he does this just for shits and giggles, he actually thinks he is making some for of counter argument and presenting it publicly. On that angle he opens himself to being told his ideas are incorrect and he is making himself look silly.
GH: I agree with you. Hopefully Sean can learn a lot from constructive criticism he receives here, as opposed to the uncritical acceptance he’d likely get from a creationist/ID audience.
The kid needs to realize that when you say stupid, uneducated things about subjects that are important to people, they’re going to get angry. That’s how life is. You can think less of them for getting angry if you like, but demanding that they stop insulting you to protect your feelings is unbelievably presumptuous and pathetic. He’s sixteen, so he has more of an excuse for his immaturity than most right-wing ignoramuses, but that’s no reason to treat him with the deference he thinks he’s entitled to.
I just think that something that’s artfully done yet is wrong is not worthy of appreciation.
“Birth of a Nation” anyone? Propaganda does not deserve respect.
Must I keep repeating myself? I admit most of the information I have given has been debunked. I admit I should have done further research on the subject than merely reading an old textbook from the basement. But there is more information I have realized that prevents me from believing every component of evolution. I stand firm upon my beliefs based on that information…information I have not yet revealed.
John
Steve: In my opinion, the video was artfully done.
You are an aesthetic retard if you find anything “artful” in that piece of trash. Are the obvious mid-sentence edits “artful” in your opinion? Give me a freaking break.
“Birth of a Nation” anyone? Propaganda does not deserve respect.
The ideas being promoted may not deserve respect but the art form and methods certainly do deserve respect if they are, in fact, exemplary and groundbreaking. Trashing DW Griffith or Leni Reifenstahl for their *artistic* contributions merely demonstrates cluelessness about the history of motion pictures.
Sean
But there is more information I have realized that prevents me from believing every component of evolution.
Guess what, Sean: nobody gives a shit about your “beliefs” about anything. It’s the lies you promote in your crap-ass video that are annoying to the honest educated people here.
Now run along and get back to your movie career or Sal Cordova will pull your little pants down and give you a spanking you won’t soon forget.
You can recognize artistic merit AND find something reprehensible.
…information I have not yet revealed.
…or even comprehend.
“I stand firm upon my beliefs based on that information…information I have not yet revealed.”
I think the suitable follow-up to this would be: “And with this information, I shall rule the world!”, followed by maniacal laughter.
Sean, ALL of the claims that you have mentioned have been debunked.
Personally, I find that you mistake your own arrogant ignorance as “faith” and are proud of it is sickening.
The only people I know of who believe in creation ex nihilo are Creationists. There’s no evidence there ever was an absolute nothing for anything to come from.
Sean also ignorantly believes that “evolution is just a theory,” and that evolutionary biology supposedly explains the creation of the Universe.
I bet he also thinks that the Tooth Fairy and Martin Luther King Jr are kept in jars in Area 51, too.
You can recognize artistic merit AND find something reprehensible.
Truly.
Except, at least, where there is no artistic merit to be fairly discovered, as in Zitface Sean’s miserable pile o’ crap.
Jon
I keep imagining the kid in a room full of angry adults all trying to get in their licks.
Wow. Kinky. Is Sal Cordova in that room?
Give him a break? Give him a break?!!!
He’s SIXTEEN for pete’s sake!
Think about it: you’re an ugly 16 year old religious freak and you want to get into some Christian chick’s pants. You can either star in your own “movie” on YouTube or start a Christian rock band. In this way, Sean’s “rebellious” attitude is easily understood.
My advice, Sean: if you want to avoid setting a bun in the bakery oven, get permission to use the rear entrance.
No one cares about my beliefs? I find that ironic, considering that someone made an entire blog about my video and people keep talking about it. The video is crap! I admit it! Is that not the response you want from me? So why do people keep insulting me like a bunch of annoying twelve-year-olds who just discovered porn and how to curse? Honestly, I could really care less what immature punks like yourselves have to say. Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you. You can go return to blowing your boyfriends, pansy-bitches, because I will not bow to you or your propaganda.
Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you.
ROFLMAO!
are you sure you’re not a sock puppet?
“The video is crap! I admit it! Is that not the response you want from me?”
You know, the problem isn’t that your video is crap- the problem is that the information presented in your video is crap- as you have admitted. An additional problem is that, after admitting your information is crap, you then assert that your original conclusion still holds, based on some secret information that you have not “revealed”. That isn’t how science works- you can’t just assert something, without proof, and expect not to get kicked around for it. Get some humility, do some reading (of real science, not the stuff you seem to have been reading), and you’ll do yourself a big favor.
As to the rest of your post- ignorance and bigotry is not a pretty combination. Hopefully you’ll grow out of it.
That is funny.
All I asked him was did he believe Adam was real or a metaphor?
Science=Propaganda. Hysterical.
But he wants a year to respond with another “documentary”.
The video is crap! I admit it! Is that not the response you want from me?
No, this is the response I wanted from you:
Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you. You can go return to blowing your boyfriends, pansy-bitches, because I will not bow to you or your propaganda.
Thank you for the laughs, trollboy.
To Great White Wonder:
You’re welcome, bastard!
And yes, Steve_C, I do believe in Adam and Eve.
Why? What did they look like? How old do you think the earth and the universe are?
So if you ever see any Christians posting insults to people on the internet and cursing them then you’ll renounce Christianity too? ‘Cause I’ve seen some pretty nasty Christians out there.
Why? Because of faith and hope. What did they look like? I don’t know, but once I find and ask someone who’s been around for 10,000 years, I’ll get back to you on that. But my religion should be of no concern to you.
But my religion should be of no concern to you.
didn’t you yourself make it a concern, given the content of your publicly displayed video?
are you sure you’re not a sock puppet?
But my religion should be of no concern to you.
That sounds like Peter’s denials on the day of Christ’s arrest, Sean.
Rey Fox, that’s a different matter. A Christian behaving nasty is not acting the way a Christian is supposed to act. A nasty Christian is only Christian in title, not spirit. On the other hand, an athiest, unlike a Christian, is not bound to moral guidelines or principles, thus an athiest can do anything and remain an athiest in spirit so long as he/she denies God. And 90% of the evolutionist athiests who have commented on my video have commented with impudent, arrogant, and insulting rudeness, proving my theory that people who do not follow moral guidelines are bound to end up as selfish, unkind brutes.
I never mentioned Adam and Eve in my video, nor that I’m Catholic, thus my religion should be of no concern to you.
Yeah, because spewing that crap all over the Internet doesn’t mean that he’s a fundamentalist Christian. He could be a fundamentalist Vedic, bowing down before a giant stone lingam to honor the divine truth that the cosmos is a hundred billion trillion billion years old in this one part of the megabillion-long cycle of being.
“And 90% of the evolutionist athiests who have commented on my video have commented with impudent, arrogant, and insulting rudeness, proving my theory that people who do not follow moral guidelines are bound to end up as selfish, unkind brutes.”
From your earlier quote: “Honestly, I could really care less what immature punks like yourselves have to say. Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you. You can go return to blowing your boyfriends, pansy-bitches”
You know, I’d say your moral guidelines aren’t doing you much good, Sean. Or are you a Catholic in title only?
Sean, when I was your age I was shocked to find out that people still believed in Genesis being literal. I had no idea (and still don’t) how this was possible in the modern world. If you are a real kid, go and take a look at the sites that people here have recommended. Let’s face it, your video had some facts which were not only far fetched but utterly irrelevant. Would it be so awful if you were to learn stuff that you didn’t agree with?
In the mean time though, I’m not your mother so I’m under no obligation to pay any attention to you. I’m out of here…
Sean,
I think what most people on here have an issue with is your dismissal of evolution without having made any visible effort to have become educated about the subject. It is quite simple to parrot what other have told you to believe about evolution because it is easy or comfortable, but it is more time consuming and difficult to actually gain some knowledge of the subject. And I must admit, your earlier reference to some sort of ground breaking argument against that will be revealed to all in the future sounds suspiciously like the DI’s claims, and we are still waiting with baited breath on the production of those.
Yes, the folks here are pretty blunt, but the production that you created was basically vacuous. I don’t care about the production values of it, I care about the fact that the information that you put into it was crap. There was more useful information in the YouTube video of the kid placing the bottle rocket up his posterior and lighting it than your video contained. At least the latter could serve as a useful public service announcement.
I don’t really care about your religion either. It has nothing to do with biology or evolution. The idea of evolution is the glue that holds modern biology together, and I don’t care to see people try to place religious constraints on science. Religion has nothing to do with science, and is useless when it comes to understanding the universe.
You can believe in the IPU, FSM, or YHWH. Just don’t try to use your beliefs to stop the rest of us from gaining a better understanding of how nature works.
Oh, and incidentally, you are aware that the Catholic Church accepts evolution, right?
MJ Memphis, I said what I said because it is true (I never even cursed), and because you people started it. I’m fed up with you people bashing on my beliefs as if they were dirt to be spat on and considering yourselves fountains of knowledge and me but a jerky youth. I know I should have been more patient, but I’m a stubborn Irish kid, and therefore not perfectly Catholic. Perfection does not exist at all in this world of selfish and arrogant ways, but I’ll try hard to be perfect anyway. If you do not agree with my beliefs, can you at least be a bit more respectful toward them? I’d appreciate that.
“Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you. You can go return to blowing your boyfriends, pansy-bitches, because I will not bow to you or your propaganda.”
Geez, Sean, now I’m sorry I butted in.
-Jon
Blowing my pansy-bitch boyfriend
Sean: How about this. First off, prove you’re really the guy who made that video. You said you were going to post something in your channel. I may be going to the wrong place, but I haven’t seen anything indicating that you are indeed the guy in the video.
Also, if you really are honest about realizing the video is crap, you should take it down and put up a video admitting you were wrong.
And you might try changing your attitude: Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you.
When you say things like that, people will think it’s childish… because it IS childish. By saying that you are attacking the messenger. what WE say has no relevance whatsoever in how nature works, and to refuse to believe something because you don’t like the people who told you about it is ridiculous.
And for everyone else: I told you about the age thing
and me but a jerky youth.
Stop acting like he’s 5 years old. He’s not. He’s 16. He’s not a kid, and I think the most offensive things have come from people acting like he is.
He even seems to think that we’re looking for converts and will do whatever it takes (including treating him with “respect”) to get more.
He’s dangling the prospect of his “conversion” to get us to bite. It’s so… pathetically transparent. Not to mention completely misguided.
Oh, and your homophobic name calling is just plain childish. If you act like an ignorant, arrogant, and stubborn, and people will treat you that way.
Sean, that is an extremely legalistic version of “rudeness” you have there. Try walking into a bar somewhere and calling a few people “pansy-bitches” and see how many teeth you have left at the end of the night; do you really think it’s only the number of F-bombs you drop that matters? Not that I much care- I enjoy a good spittle-flecked rant as much as the next person- but it did seem odd how you downshifted from “go blow your boyfriends, pansy-bitches” to “you people are soooo rude” within the space of an hour and a half or so.
As for “bashing on [your] beliefs”, you certainly didn’t mind spitting on the work of thousands of scientists who have dedicated their life’s work to the study of biology, on the basis of a pack of bogus “facts” that you didn’t even bother to research. So I wouldn’t play that victim card too much. If you don’t respect your beliefs enough to back them up with something substantial, then don’t expect anyone else to respect them either.
Correction- that should read:
Oh, and your homophobic name calling is just plain childish. If you act like an ignorant, arrogant, and stubborn child, people will treat you that way.
I’ve discovered the source of my problem: my new leather underwear. I bought them a size too big and they were chafing my scrote. Now that I’ve taken them off, I feel a lot better. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Is anyone here into U2?
You know, this kid is certainly a lot calmer and more mature than the majority of religious cretins out there. Unfortunately, I’ve never met anyone who was this stupid at sixteen and became significantly less so as they got older, so I don’t have very high hopes for him.
Sean: Look up the “No True Scotsman” fallacy to see why your argument doesn’t hold water to me.
A nasty Christian is only Christian in title, not spirit.
Is Ted Haggard a Xian, Sean?
I called you pansy-bitches because a lot of you have said a lot worse things to me. Here’s a list from this blog alone:
“I don’t know if he is more under the influence of creationism or weed.”
“I suspect that this kid’s brain isn’t the only thing that is small and underdeveloped.”
“George Bush at 12.”
“I can see this kid, in a few years, outside an abortion clinic…armed to the teeth.”
“This brain, of course, is defective, and no amount of aging is likely to change that.”
“You are an ignorant fool.”
“Guess what, Sean: nobody gives a shit about your “beliefs” about anything. It’s the lies you promote in your crap-ass video that are annoying to the honest educated people here.
Now run along and get back to your movie career or Sal Cordova will pull your little pants down and give you a spanking you won’t soon forget.”
“Having the courage of your convictions is not a virtue if your convictions are really dumb.”
“Personally, I find that you mistake your own arrogant ignorance as “faith” and are proud of it is sickening.”
“you’re an ugly 16 year old religious freak and you want to get into some Christian chick’s pants.”
“I’ve never met anyone who was this stupid at sixteen and became significantly less so as they got older, so I don’t have very high hopes for him.”
Now, if you think being called pansy-bitches is more insulting than all that, you people are sad. If there’s anything you people have taught me it is that I have every right and reason to think of you as the immature, liberal, tradition-hating bastards you are. You have insulted my looks, my intelligence, my beliefs, my culture…I apologize for showing the public debunked information, and yet still you bash on me for not entirely accepting your evolution beliefs. You’ve done little to instruct my ignorance, but rather have evoked in me every reason under heaven to hate you.
And I never spat on evolution with cursing and hatred; I simply stated why I thought evolution was false. For that I have been degraded and spat upon.
“Whatever chance there was of me believing in evolution is now gone thanks to you.”
I have to say, I totally and completely disagree with this sort of mindset. As someone has already said, nothing that anyone simply says on the Internet has any bearing on the veracity of evolutionary theory. If you’re going to let anything change your mind, let it be evidence. As far as I’ve seen, though, your skills in interpreting evidence are severely lacking. Did you read Origin of Species before creating your video, or did you go straight to Answers in Genesis? Because the latter, at the very least, was a decidedly wrong thing to do.
And for your information, “The Explanation” has been removed and replaced with a video of apology.
“George Bush at 12.”
hey, there’s hope for you yet if you recognize that as an insult and not a compliment.
immature, liberal, tradition-hating bastards you are.
tradition hating?
You’ve done little to instruct my ignorance,
because you’ve done little to remedy it yourself, and have asked no questions related to remedying it here, either.
you’d be amazed what a different reaction those who actually start off by asking questions, instead of proclamations from ignorance, get.
for example, you could have said that you were unaware that your information was so horribly bogus, and asked for references to update your information, which would have been gladly provided.
you didn’t do that though, did you.
so stop pissing and whining like the “pansy bitch” you claim all of us here are, and either start asking questions, or go out and learn something on your own.
gees only 16 (I wonder, sock puppet) and already hard at work playing the victim.
“Unfortunately, I’ve never met anyone who was this stupid at sixteen and became significantly less so as they got older, so I don’t have very high hopes for him.”
Hey, cut him a little slack- he’s not stupid, just young. He *did* at least admit his information was flawed, which is more than most of the regular Scienceblogs/Panda’s Thumb trolls will do. Plenty of people say much dumber stuff at 16, then a few years down the road think “Damn, what was I thinking?”
immature, liberal, tradition-hating bastards
Well, I never.
He *did* at least admit his information was flawed
He also said that wouldn’t stop him believing what he wanted to believe. You still think that way at sixteen, it’s getting late for you.
You have insulted my looks, my intelligence, my beliefs, my culture…
But not your mama. Give us some credit for that, at least.
I simply stated why I thought evolution was false.
Yeah. In a long crappy sanctimonious video published on the Internet. And then you were mocked on a blog by people who recognized the bogus script you were reciting.
Live and learn, diptwit. Live and learn.
Mr Henry is requested to make his arguments here. There will be no abuse allowed on that thread.
Merciful Buddha on a pogo stick! Can’t you people get it through your heads that if you’re asked not to post on a particular thread until some creationist loon posts, you don’t post on that thread!
that’s not what was asked, so pipe down already.
It was asked in the previous thread, and no one paid any attention after about the first forty-five minutes.
This time, we were only asked to let Sean Henry present his case… and the first thing you do is post a link to TalkOrigins, which at the very least makes redundant almost any correction other posters might offer.
Your post also wasn’t a response to any points Henry made, since he hadn’t even posted in that thread yet, and that’s what you were asked to do: make gentle corrections to any points he made.
I apologize for adding a second post to Sean’s thread. I will admit to being curious to see what develops though.
Here’s my prediction of how that thread will work:
Sean: (rehashed creationist doo-doo)
Polite commenter: That’s a popular myth. In fact, blah blah blah
Sean: Yes, but it simply defies belief that organisms, much less an organism as intelligent as humans, arose by chance from random chemicals in a pond somewhere. Scientists have no evidence which shows that such a thing as possible.
(Repeat ad nauseum)
which at the very least makes redundant almost any correction other posters might offer.
that’s a pathetic argument, especially given the rest of the content of my post.
or do you think TO is so comprehensive that he would have no questions after going there?
do you REALLY want to spend time answering the kinds of questions addressed by a quick perusal of the IOCC?
why make a new thread, then?
besides which, obviously if Seanny boy actually had an argument, rather than a fictitious postion based on “super secret stuff I can’t tell you about”, he would have presented it here.
Moreover, if PZ found my post objectionable, he could of course, delete it in its entirety, with nary a complaint from me.
so don’t get yer panties in a bunch there, Cale.
“You are an ignorant fool.”
Actually that was aimed at me, not you.
just saying…
Wow! I love all the comments that 16 is so mature and that if a 16 year old still thinks like this, he has no hope. As brilliant as you all may think you were at 16, I can promise that you weren’t all that. At 16, you were still hanging on to your parents’ beliefs, but you were testing them with theories, questions… videos? At 16 you could barely be trusted with a car, not trusted at all with the vote and not tried as an adult. At 16 you believed in true love, in God, in miracles… maybe even Adam and Eve although you weren’t quite sure why. 16 is a wonderful time to get your ideas out in the world, to get them crushed along with your ego, to get you thinking, to get you angry. What business do adults have getting their intelligence insulted by 16 year old? And Sean is right, you guys have been cruel. You haven’t just called him out on his mistakes. Should he have asked for information to the person who claimed his brain was in hopeless state, or the one who accused him of being arrogant and ignorant. Oh, by the way, who the hell wasn’t arrogant and ignorant at 16???? Grow up folks! Don’t take yourselves oh so seriously…. leave that to the teens.
And maths. Don’t forget maths. You might want to correct that “nothing to the power of nothing equals nothing” mistake.
At 16 you believed in true love, in God, in miracles… maybe even Adam and Eve although you weren’t quite sure why.
Wasn’t I? Did I also believe in fairies? When did I stop believing in the Easter Bunny? I must know.
The point is to get him to present a series of invalid arguments, in plain view of everyone and in an easily accessible place/manner, where we can then point out the gross errors in his thinking in a clear and unmistakable way.
You helped screw that up.
The video doesn’t seem to be available at the link given above. Bummer. I really wanted to see it.
Sean took it down last night:
I wish I’d seen it too, but I got here too late. If I had an idea how much was “faith” and how much claimed to be “science,” I’d be better equipped to answer it (in both aspects).
p.s. I like bagpipes. Must be the “True Scotswoman” in me. OTOH, you can have my share of the haggis. Can’t win ’em all, I guess.
You helped screw that up.
as you can clearly see by looking at the thread, your statement here is entirely BS.
oh no… wait, you even spouted off in the thread itself.
get off yourself, already.
you’re starting to sound more and more like a concern troll on this matter.
GWW was, obviously, correct in his predictions of how the thread would go.
shocker.