Creationism Is 'Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think'

[Valley Oak]

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Bill Nye: Creationism "Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think"
The Huffington Post, 12.13.2014.

The biggest danger creationism plays, according to Bill Nye the "Science Guy," is that it is raising a generation of children who "can't think" and who "will not be able to participate in the future in same way" as those who are taught evolution.
Speaking on MidPoint, Nye said he blames an older generation of evangelicals "who have very strong conservative views" and who are "reluctant to let kids learn about evolution." Their presence on school boards leads to debates over curriculum, Nye argued, which further inhibits schools' ability to teach facts.

"Religion is one thing. People get tremendous comfort and community with their religions," Nye said. "But whatever you believe, whatever deity or higher power you might believe in, the Earth is not 6,000 years old."

Nye, who has a new book out titled "Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation," recently participated in a debate with creationist Ken Ham, which some argued was a moment of embarrassment for the science community.

University of Chicago evolution professor Jerry A. Coyne called the debate "pointless and counterproductive." The Guardian's Pete Etchells wrote:

Scientific literacy is crucial for society to function effectively, which means that we can’t afford to be messing around with the way that it’s taught in the classroom or wasting our time with fruitless public debates.

Nye stood by the debate, however, saying he "stepped into the lion's den" in order to spread awareness about the academic opportunities children are denied by being creationism.

"They will not have this fundamental idea that you can question things, that you can think critically, that you can use skeptical thought to learn about nature," Nye told MidPoint. "These children have to suppress everything that they can see in nature to try to get a world view that's compatible with the adults in who they trust and rely on for sustenance."

[Thad]

I spent some time once reading Chaim Potok and I can't remember which book this came from but there was one part where the father was grilling the son in his understanding of the Torah and there was effort to be able to argue all sides of an argument to understand, and I found that commendable and so missing in the Christian Way that one should even question the words of an inerrant God /meaning book/meaning bible that the movement towards a sensible and logical hold on the understanding of the world and history was diverted in the inquiring minds.

Maybe if the words common sense and logic where to be seen as one and the same we could move forward and end this bickering of who's god is God

But you see the persuasions that exist are in the hands of those who collect the dues be it tithing or taxes and this is the highest truth

[theindependenteye]

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Bill Nye: Creationism "Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think"

Hmm. I'm no friend of Creationism, but I'm wondering exactly when we ever raised a generation of young people who COULD think. Presumably the evangelicals who promote Creationism were young people once, but they seemed to have bypassed the process that made the rest of us Thinkers.

And perhaps I'm mistaken, but I had the impression that Creationists aren't necessarily the same as the "Earth is 6,000 years old and Satan planted dinosaur bones to deceive us" people. Is it not the case that many of them accept the idea of evolution but ascribe it to a Higher Power? Please enlighten.

Cheers—
Conrad

[Valley Oak]

Good observation on asking, "when exactly we ever raised a generation of young people who COULD think"! I too am as skeptical about that as well; no intent on dissing Bill Nye.

I have debated many creationist people and as it turns out, there are many different creationist folks. The most "enlightened" believe in evolution but still believe in god. Regarding all of the other religious people, it is a mish mosh of different sub-theologies. Some will say that the earth is 6000 years old while others do not believe this nonsense at all (but they still believe in god). Others believe in creationism (and not evolution) but do NOT believe the earth is 6000 years old, etc, etc, etc. That has been my observation. So there are MANY interpretations and "mixes" regarding which religious details people choose to delude themselves with. Each person has designed their own individual patchwork of theological absurdity.

But the single most important, overarching theme is the belief in a deity, usually pretty close to the bible or some loose interpretation of it. The "Higher Power" (HP) folks, on the other hand, are far more versatile and open minded. For the HP people, it is possible for many of them to accept that there was a Big Bang and evolution while at the same time believing that there is some (very vague) greater or divine force that created it all. Some HP followers (very few) have the attitude of, "Yes, 'god' exists, but we are VERY alone. When the HP started the ball rolling (billions or trillions of years ago?), It then left and never looked back."

Did I answer your questions to your satisfaction?

Hmm. I'm no friend of Creationism, but I'm wondering exactly when we ever raised a generation of young people who COULD think. Presumably the evangelicals who promote Creationism were young people once, but they seemed to have bypassed the process that made the rest of us Thinkers.

And perhaps I'm mistaken, but I had the impression that Creationists aren't necessarily the same as the "Earth is 6,000 years old and Satan planted dinosaur bones to deceive us" people. Is it not the case that many of them accept the idea of evolution but ascribe it to a Higher Power? Please enlighten.

Cheers—
Conrad

[Glia]

Television seems to have done a dandy job of that for several generations now.

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Bill Nye: Creationism "Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think"
The Huffington Post, 12.13.2014.