Science of Watchmen : Pharyngula


Remember this?

I mentioned this on an old thread that was on of the precursors to the immortal thread. Now there’s another twist: that video is up for a Webby Award. Go sign up and vote! We need to send Jim Kakalios to New York to accept his prize!

I looked at the other four competitors in this category: boring. No science anywhere.

Comments

  1. MoonShark says

    Nice video. I’m not familiar with Watchmen in particular, so that part could have been left out and I still would have liked it. Maybe I’m a nerd.

    Now if he covered Star Wars, then maybe I’d geek out ;)

  2. Brian says

    I can’t believe you posted that video again with such nonchalance. Have you no fear of the eternal thread bifurcating? And then once there’s two of them, what’s to stop them from breeding?

  3. Etruscan says

    Carl Sagan – A Glorious Dawn is running in the “Video Remixes/Mashups” section. It was in the lead, but has fallen just behind Auto-Tune the News.

    I really think it would have been more appropriate for P.Z. to bump that video rather than this silly Watchmen one.

  4. says

    I just got the Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray. I’m thinking I should watch it sometime.

    Then again, I’d probably have to watch it alone, as none of my friends are particularly willing to be exposed to the GIANT GLOWING BLUE PENIS!

  5. Shala says

    I just got the Director’s Cut on Blu-Ray. I’m thinking I should watch it sometime.

    Then again, I’d probably have to watch it alone, as none of my friends are particularly willing to be exposed to the GIANT GLOWING BLUE PENIS!

    I’ve always found the sex scene a lot more awkward, especially because of the horrid choice of music for just that scene alone.

  6. csreid says

    SCIENCE FICTION & SCIENCE
    ————————–
    Aliens finally reach Earth in 8600 A.D.. Unfortunately, man annihilated himself in 2050 A.D. and no record of his existence remains except for the presidents on Mt. Rushmore. The challenge for the aliens is to explain how the heads were formed in the mountain using only naturalistic causes. Any attempt to attribute their origin to fairies, gods, humans, etc. will not be accepted as science. The aliens define “science” by those things which are observed or have naturalistic explanations, thus, fairies, gods, and humans have been discounted. The aliens believe themselves to be unique and more complex than anything they have observed in the universe. The president’s heads are admittedly complex in appearance but are not understood since the aliens have no similar appendages or sensory organs. The aliens decide to perform a surface scan of the presidents’ heads and perform a computer analysis. In-depth mathematical computations are performed using integral calculus, frequency probability, and Bayesian probability. The conclusion is thus: The stone faces are less complex than the aliens by many orders of magnitude. The faces were likely formed by wind and rain erosion. This deduction seems reasonable since the aliens have adopted “naturalistic science” to explain their own origins. Some aliens have disagreed with the conclusion realizing that their opponents are threatened by the idea of fairies, gods, or humans supplanting their uniqueness and intelligence. Also, they realize that even though the faces are less complex than themselves, they are sufficiently complex to discount mechanisms of random rain and wind erosion. Attributing the stone faces to fairies, gods, or humans seems more reasonable but this opposing theory is soon quenched since it incorporates non-scientific “mythical” entities. Besides, the dissenters are ignorant of the finer nuances of true naturalistic science.

  7. RijkswaanVijanD says

    What a complete farce..
    There would be no dr manhattan left if all of his molecules fell apart! Is this man in the video a scientist or a mental patient??

  8. RijkswaanVijanD says

    to csreid; You suggest they know about humans, then how are these humans in any way mythical entities?
    U a cre azionist btw?

  9. Rey Fox says

    “Then again, I’d probably have to watch it alone, as none of my friends are particularly willing to be exposed to the GIANT GLOWING BLUE PENIS!”

    Ah, tell your friends to grow up.

  10. csreid says

    @11:

    No, I’m no creationist. That was my attempt at making Teh. Funneh.

    Last time this video was posted here, a fellow called Alan Clarke showed up, posted exactly what I just posted, then argued for several thousand posts spanning multiple thread. Eventually, he was banned, or left, or something. However, his legacy remains! The Endless Thread that we all know and love today is a direct result of Mr. Clarke’s inanity.

    I believe (though I can’t find a citation) that The Endless Thread is widely regarded as the biggest contribution by a creationist to the scientific community in history.

  11. Joanna Pool says

    Jim Kakalios is one of the Nifty Fifty Speakers for the USA Science and Engineering Festival. I actually just posted about him last week, but forgot to go vote for his video for the Webby award. Thanks for the reminder!

    I have to agree with Etruscan, that the Carl Sagan piece by symphony of science in the Video Mashup shouldn’t be in second.

  12. RijkswaanVijanD says

    Good thing it’s not your own delusion..
    But what a waste mr. Clark got banned!:P

  13. zayzayem says

    There is an interesting bit in the subtitles which suggests all his students are going to get jobs that require spandex – but it is missing from the audio.

    Anyone else notice that?