Threat Assessment » « Zach Weiner(smith) is doing an IAmA right now

The next Pharyngula podcast…

I’m going to try it again. I’m scheduling it for 10am Central time on Saturday, 30 June, in the usual place, Google+. I think that works for a large part of the world; west coasters will have to be up early at 8am, it’s late afternoon/early evening in Europe, and evening for Australia (you can check your time with this Time Zone Converter.)

I’m experimenting with the format still. I’d like to have some regulars confirm that they’ll be available then, so I know we’ll have a core of people to chat, but I’m also going to make it public, so anyone can join in, up to the limit of 10 participants. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get a creationist trolling through.

Which would be appropriate. The theme will be “Creationists say the silliest things” — come prepared with your favorite/goofiest creationist arguments, and tear it apart in a few minutes on air.

Threat Assessment » « Zach Weiner(smith) is doing an IAmA right now

Comments

  1. reynoldhall says

    Mind if I pop in? I might to able to contribute a bit to “creationists say the silliest things” if I can dig up some stuff.

  4. A. R says

    Kat: you can turn off your camera or put some tape over it. I’ve done that in the past and it works quite well.

  7. says

    Great subject. My all time favourite creationist gem is an oldie, Hovind’s T-Rex and the Pumpkins:

    In spite of their ferocious look, many people would probably argue the T-Rex was a vegetarian. The ferocious teeth would have been great for, you know, crushing stuffed pumpkins or something, you know. I don’t know if it has ever been proven they were meat eaters. There is plenty of evidence from cracks in the enamel with chlorophyll stains in them indicating they were certainly eating plants.

    I just can’t get past the stuffed pumpkins.

  8. says

    @Caine:

    What’s weird about stuffed pumpkins? T-Rex was a gourmand. Some nights he would eat a stuffed pepper filled with a little risotto. I’m sure that Mister Rex and I would get along swimmingly.

    “Please pass the pepper, this pasta is scrumptious.”
    “Oh yes, here you go, my good man. I like the carrots and celery, you don’t even need to add in any meat.”

  10. says

    I suppose if people are shy about appearing on Google+, they could leave their silly creationist tales here, and I could read the best of them on-cam.

  11. says

    Kat Lorraine:

    What’s weird about stuffed pumpkins?

    Yabbut, who was stuffing the pumpkins? I don’t recall anything in the bible about Adam & Eve running a dino diner.

  12. chigau (違う) says

    Kitty

    Or use some kind of stand-in.
    Why yes, in real life I am a Cthulhu plushie.

    What a great idea!
    Everyone could do that!
    Esme could stand-in for Caine.
    Josh could use a package of KraftDinner.

  13. says

    @PZ:

    Oh it has nothing to do with being shy. It just has to do with posting my face to one of the most read blogs on the subject of atheism ever, possibly outing myself to a possibly unwelcoming family. Heck, I am a great public speaker, I just don’t wanna get all outed.

  18. thunk = ∫ SQRRAWK! d(MQG) says

    10am Central time

    That’s just before I wake up.

    Too early.

  19. A. R says

    Hmm I do have an Ebola plushie I could use. (Why yes,I do have a collection of GiantMicrobes)

  20. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    I got past the pumpkins to the chlorophyll-stained 70 million year old fossils, and then I died.

    Hovind’s steamed broccoli is freshly verdent every time. The secret is in the *magic*.

  21. 'Tis Himself says

    I won’t be able to join in this podcast because of a prior commitment.

  22. ButchKitties says

    I wish I could find the pamphlets I picked up from the Creation Museum (they had a booth at a Cincinnati Reds game).

    My favorite was their explanation of how we know the Flood was a global flood. It had to be a global flood, because local flooding just doesn’t make any sense. To demonstrate why it doesn’t make sense, the pamphlet showed an illustration of a giant cube of water sitting on a featureless plain. Water doesn’t just form a giant cube unless it’s inside a giant cube container, hence global flood!

    It doesn’t explain how my car was destroyed in a flash flood at the southwest side of my apartment complex while cars parked in the northeast lot were perfectly fine, but I’m sure that’s just because I don’t have enough faith. Or something.

  24. Rawnaeris says

    I’m going to be at work then darn.

    Hmmm I’ll see if I can write up some of the stuff I listened to today, and post that.

  26. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    I’d love to do one of these except I’m lousy at conversing with people in real time*.

    Fur realzies, though, the most wildly wrong creationist of all times is Carl Baugh, director of The Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Texas.

    You should just see if he would be willing to do the pod-cast so you can get it all from the horse’s mouth. His schtick is a number-one-stunner, I shit you not.

    *Plus there are three of me.

  28. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    Serious. Hovind is the very picture of sober reflection next to the antics and shenanigans of Carl Baugh.

    There is a giant statue* of Tom Landry there. As he would have appeared in the antedeluvian great pressurized oxygen dome.

    *Like 9 feet tall. Depends on one’s interpretation of giant I guess. In my book, anyone who can dunk is a giant.

  29. mabell says

    @Caine:
    I refer you to the gospel of Peter Peter: “he put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well, until the T-Rex crushed her with his nasty chlorophyll-stained teeth”

  30. bortedwards says

    This has probably already been covered at length somewhere, so apologies if I’m reinventing the wheel. Is there any chance the audio could be posted on iTunes or similar? It’s something I’ love to listen to on the bus.
    Cheers all

  31. george3 says

    Now be fair. You all know the Flintstones was a documentary. Ouch! WHO threw that? I’m so going to enjoy this, ordering popcorn now.

  32. transcendentape says

    My favorite all time creationist saying has to be that evolution violates the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Anyone that repeats this idiocy demonstrates both an ignorance of evolution and basic physics, as well as a willingness to reject evidence based explanations of the world around them in favor of vapid statements that seem to support their belief in fairy tales. My brother-in-law, not two hours after throwing this nugget at me, proudly showed me how he had modified his truck to use its battery to generate Hydrogen through electrolysis and feed that Hydrogen into the carberator to increase his mileage. I finally got him to admit that he hadn’t noticed an increase in mileage, but he blamed insufficient Hydrogen production. I told him that perhaps he should ask god to evolve his engine, and the blank look on his face was priceless.

  33. Tony... therefore God says

    Katherine:
    Oh it has nothing to do with being shy. It just has to do with posting my face to one of the most read blogs on the subject of atheism ever, possibly outing myself to a possibly unwelcoming family.

    [emphasis mine]
    I did not know this. Wow.
    It sucks that you have that hanging over your head.

  34. Jessa says

    Antiochus Epiphanes:

    There is a giant statue of Tom Landry there.

    As in the former Dallas Cowboys coach? Really?

    Oh wait. Nevermind. I see that it’s in Texas. Of course Tom Landry would be revered as a god.

  35. Tony... therefore God says

    thunk:
    That’s just before I wake up.

    Too early.

    I think I’ll still be awake…

  36. DLC says

    I know! get PZ and the group to act out some Chick tracts!
    do they have one on Creation ?

  38. chigau (違う) says

    …get PZ and the group to act out some Chick tracts… using Plushie microbes!!!

  39. says

    I can do Saturday. It’s just that I have nothing interesting to say ! There was that one thing with the beating heart that I can’t quite remember…

  41. throwaway says

    There’s that one about bumblebee wings, therefore god holds them magically aloft. Or something. Not really a creationist claim but it’s biological nonsense. It’s usually trotted out to discredit science “knowing” everything.

    Anyway, looking forward to the discussion.

  42. says

    I am there. If I were any more there, I’d be there already. Count me in.

    And Antiochus Epiphanes, you’re right. Carl Baugh is the most spectacular of them all. I have some videos of his I downloaded that I’m planning to quote-mine for just this purpose.

    Unfortunately, I’ve already made most of the most hilarious Creationist arguments I know public on my blog, but I’m sure I’ll find more.

  43. petrander says

    I would like to join either this time or some future hangout, PZ, if you are interested in a Dutch/Danish perspective on creationism and/or religion.

    I am not sure what to talk about, however, because religion really does not pose a threat to secular society at all in these parts. I was very active battling Dutch creationism until a few years ago (link), and, living in Denmark now, it is really kind of boring on the frontline here. But I suppose that is the kind of boring that many American atheists long for.

    BTW you may not remember this, but together with you I was one of the contributing authors to an attempted collation of rebuttals against Wells’ “Icons of Evolution” some 10 years ago (link).

    Of course, I could talk about the earlier stirrings of creationists in the Low Countries, or the censoring of David Attenborough documentaries mentioning evolution by a public TV corporation, or the recent controversy on gay marriage in Denmark. Take your pick! :-)

    Cheers,
    Fedor Steeman

  44. Minnie The Finn, qui devient bientôt vierge says

    I’m in, if you need an extra voice. I don’t even need a plushie stand-by, I look like one already.

    Not many creationists here, but the ones we have sure are funny.

  46. theophontes (坏蛋) says

    @ chigau/A.R

    Is this not an opportunity to seize away the repressive state propoganda apparatus of Pharyngula on behalf of the TZT Politburo? We might have to shanghai Minnie into the avante guarde in order to storm the ramparts.

  47. Minnie The Finn, qui devient bientôt vierge says

    theophontes (坏蛋) @46:

    You make it sound as if you’re planning to use me as a battering ram. Or maybe ammo for the trebuchet.

    Either way, glad to be of assistance!

  48. theophontes (坏蛋) says

    @ Minnie

    Your commitment to The Cause is noted. Promotions are in order.

  49. chigau (違う) says

    theophontes
    What’s the plan?
    Keep in mind I won’t be photographed or audio recorded.
    or go outside without my tinfoil hat.

  50. says

    I’m really interested to see how this goes. I’m going to do a public hangout with members of my local community soon. I’d like to know how it goes adding new people to the hangout in succession. You know, how smoothly it goes letting one person in and letting another go. Also I’m not certain about the chat situation yet. I haven’t played much with this app.

    Be sure and go into “effects” and put pirate hats and beards on everyone, ok?

  51. Owlmirror says

    Say, PZ…

    Don’t you have an iPad Touch filled with Creation videos?

    Or did you nuke them all?

  52. Owlmirror says

    Hum, I have a copy of the original Titanoboa! on my drive.

    Alan Clarke-isms:

    This phenomena of gigantism was described in the Bible before actual fossil discoveries were made: Genesis 6:4 – “There were giants in the earth in those days…”

    The reference you gave about Job using a “potsherd to scrape himself” supports my argument even more. These sharp broken pieces of pottery (likely triangular in shape) are like the armor on a stegasaurus’ back.

    When one puts “flesh” on a fossil such as a coelacanth, the evolution argument dissolves.

    Without even knowing where you live, I bet you’re standing on top of water-laid sediments right now. Pretty strong evidence for a global flood, eh?

    Many “scientists” reject evolution theory. Einstein who was agnostic stated, “God doesn’t play dice.” Evolution can’t exist without “dice”. Presently, “science” is supported by the government, as are casinos. Since both are “fixed”, you’ll lose at either if you play long enough.

    But even if all of a cell’s atoms were properly in place, would it be living? I say “no”. I realize Darwin’s theory of evolution speaks nothing about this, but “evolutionism” picks up where Darwin leaves off. The followers are like the Trekkies that William Shatner could never rid himself of.

    Exactly, it’s in the “design” of the sieve. I once debated with a guy who claimed a computer program could randomly generate the sentence, “THIS IS REALLY REALLY SILLY BUT WTH LETS DO IT ANYWAY” in under 8000 iterations. But he placed the entire sentence in the program and whenever his “random” attempt didn’t achieve his goal, he discarded it. Try to generate it without placing the sentence in the program. Allow your “sieve” to create itself. Trying to achieve life without “life” as the goal is vanity. Achieving life accidentally is not possible.

    Evolution relies on random mutations. What is “random”? “Random” is where theories on life and planet/star formation cross paths.

    Planet “evolution” has an uncanny resemblance to the theory of how life evolved accidentally in the Earth’s primordial sea.
    1) Both are theoretical; neither were observed.
    2) Both infer that incomprehensible complexity originated from non-intelligent, random particle motion.
    3) Both overcame incomprehensible odds. The miniscule probabilities gave birth to theories of multiple universes.
    4) Both overcame the negative effects of entropy.
    5) Both theories were birthed from an a priori assumption that God does not exist.

    I suppose one could build their entire life upon randomness. Look how successful it was in creating life and building our universe. Gamble every day instead of getting a job. Pick a mate by tossing dice. Listen to white noise instead of music. Rig your alarm clock to activate when a dog barks. Blow yourself up when you tire of the alarm.

    (Whew, that’s only up to comment #198 out of 912… I could go on…)

  53. Minnie The Finn, qui devient bientôt vierge says

    I just realized I have a terribly slooooow internet connection here in the sticks. So I guess that kinda rules me out, doesn’t it? Unless there’s a way to drop the streaming rate for me without spoiling it for everyone else, or something.

    Nevermind, I’ll return back to the hyper-fast connection sometime in September, I’m sure there will be many many more podcasts =)