SBOE Chair Don McLeroy expounds on his view of Evolution

[ekorre33]

Wow.........wow.........what can one say? Good for you Texas for abandoning reason and reality in favor of fairytales! McElroy obviously forgot to bring his shotgun to the meeting.

[claudiaquat]

We don't want creationism in the science classroom for the same reason we don't want pig manure served in the school cafeteria. Instead of talking about creationism in schools we should be talking about getting evolution taught in churches. That's where the ignorance is.

[hedleypanama]

He was right until 1:00. He promised 2 "arguments": he explained the "Cambrian explosion" argument and I was not able to listen the second one...

BTW how can the deluge explain it?

[WinterWeaver]

Everything is bigger in Texas. Yeah, even the Bullshit is bigger... XD

[nola70126]

I say to hell with them...let them do what they wish. just don't send your kids there...LOL! I know I haven't lost anything there

[drfoxcourt]

Clearly McLeroy is getting his information and talking points from creationist (religious) institutes. If he got his information un-cherry-picked from reputable scientists he'd have realized that the Cambrian explosion supports evolution, and not his belief that the earth is 6000 years old (as he has testified many times).

McLeroy is being willfully deceptive for his religious purposes.

[mikeeboy1000]

BRAVO!!

[Ematched]

God!!! He is an absolute moron. He's arguing with Gould's The Structure of Evolutionary Theory as his evidence, but he clearly has never even read the first fucking chapter.

Clue: evolution is marked by periods of STASIS and SPECIATION, the latter coming as a result of punctuated equilibrium.

I'm as furious as the "Chairman." Gould wrote in English, and this buffoon hasn't understood a single complete thought in the mammoth of a text.

Sometimes, it's embarrassing to be American.

[crabbit101]

Fuck me, this is painful to watch. He's a disgrace to the human race and is going to fail millions of children. What a twat.

[miniontemple]

It's offensive that no one there knew enough about evolution and the cambrian explosion to point out how stupid he is being.

[MediaCritic92]

2 Words: Punctuated Equilibrium.

What an Idiot. Any knowledge about Evolution would explain the phenomenon that he talks 1 minute in.

[Carpathia25]

Yep, an event that took 70 million years and happened between about 590 and 520 million years ago is evidence that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Fuck off, dentist!

[cjcscuba1984]

Come on guys... listen to the dentist! He knows way more about evolution than those baby-eating liberal evolutionary biologists!

[cjcscuba1984]

Come on guys... listen to the dentist! He knows way more than those baby-eating, liberal evolutionary biologists!

[wolfman49er]

time magazine is not evidence.

[christmaspoo911]

Texas never seems to stop surprising me with its stuidity

[bonangusacdc]

This guy was sacked this morning.

[caribian]

too much stupidity in 1 head

[Hellcat040369]

What a moron this guy is. He says that species suddenly appeared in the cambrian explosion, but neglects to say that the cambrian explosion was a period of 30-40 million years. I wouldn't say that was very sudden. Yes lets be honest with our kids and leave religious story telling in the church. Schools are for furthering knowledge about the real world. There's no problem with evolution. He's a fraud.

[Thess2]

"I saw a chart once. And a cover of Time magazine. That makes me smarter than all the scientists on Earth combined!"

There's dumb, and then there's fucktard dumb.

[toysouldier]

LOL! This guy is such an idiot! The Cambrian Explosion and Stasis are not weaknesses, he just doesn't understand what they mean and how/why those events occur in evolutionary and population biology. Plus "somebody's gotta stand up to experts?" HAHAHAHA! And seriously, can we please have SCIENTISTS making decisions about what is taught in SCIENCE classes? Not the religious right who don't even read up enough on the subject to have the authority to decide what to include in a child's education!

[majorvoltage]

Rapid diversification over several million years during the Cambrian = magic?

Stasis? Things don't change after the Cambrian? Perhaps in McLeroy's case, I would agree. His lineage hasn't advanced much beyond basal chordates like pikaia.

"Somebody's gotta stand up to experts"

Yeah, damn those experts and their expertise in their respective fields!

Why is this douchebag involved in making decisions more important than how much McSauce to put on my big mac?

[Awetomatik]

"Yes, it supports it, but yes it doesn't support it."

Um, what?

[Nilopollis]

no one's ever seen evolution happen? moron. no god just creates similar organisms to replace old ones he drives extinct, constantly adapting and changing them. He gets tired of species easily so hes constantly making new ones and destroying old ones.

[Pavoreax]

This makes me sad.

[GrammarKing]

Sometimes I wonder if Steven J Gould hasn't done more damage than good. Punctuated equilibrium as to be one of the most misunderstood (and quotemined) piece of evolutionary theory. He's constantly trying to prove Darwin wrong even if he's miles away from doing so.

[werecow2003]

That may be true (I've wondered myself at times), but the theory has its merits. It's more the way Gould & Eldredge presented it as this huge revolution in evolutionary thought, which is an exaggeration to be sure. As we all should know, there is no incompatibility between gradualism and punctuated equilibrium.

And anyway, where would science be if we had to tiptoe around just because some scientific illiterates grasping at straws feel the need to attack concepts they do not understand?

[ahermit]

"Incoherent" doesn't begin to describe that stream of nonsense...

[DasHortH]

Hahahahahaha... oohh... Hahahahaha...

Jeez, you guys are screwed.. :)

[TheMonthlyDaily]

"Somebody's gotta stand up to experts"

[haz849]

Maybe he should talk to a Palaeontologist before he starts spouting off this crap, that would be assuming he could actually listen.

[tripwire667]

Damned experts, with their fancy knowledge and reason...

[doggie38]

'Somebody's gotta stand up to experts..' ROTFL

[lewisner]

He keeps calling people "defenders" of evolution.Defending it against what?

[WKClifford]

Just more lying for Jesus.

[Tervinger]

What a moron.

[hexkid]

Ok this guy is stupid, he has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. The 'sudden' Cambrian explosion occurred over 70-80 million years and the fossil record since then shows the gradual change (& disappearance) of many species as predicted by the theory of evolution.

Mind you even this muppet is not dumb enough to support Young Earth Creationism and a literal 6 day creation myth.

[WellConditioned]

Thank you very much!

Apparently tens of millions of years is just a blink of an eye to this profoundly ignorant christian.

[bitbutter]

"The 'sudden' Cambrian explosion occurred over 70-80 million years"

It's brilliant. Don McLero, who believes that the earth is 6000 years old, refers to a period of at least 5 million years (the most conservative estimate) as 'all of a sudden'.

[EmoKidsScott]

"Somebody's gotta stand up to experts!"

Yes, and this retarded dentist is the one with the credentials to deny 150 years of scientific facts just because his fairytale book doesn't agree with it.

Please fellow Texans, give this ass the boot.

[pete975]

what a dishonest person

he misquotes Gould which is a filthy way of lying

Texas- it is tempting to say, give it independence and ditch the stupid.

[bfirepllc]

All of the "best" defenses of creationism such as this SHOULD be presented to students...

as a comedy sketch during lunch hour. They're hilarious!

[exiteditor]

Dear God.  How do they fit so much stupid into just over six minutes of footage?

[GBart]

"that's the strongest evidence that evolution has occurred"

I disagree. I think genetic similarity and particularly ERVs are better.

"you have all these phyla that all of a sudden appear"

No, they didn't "appear," they descended from other, similar organisms.

This guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

"somebody's gotta stand up to experts"

hahahahahahahahahaha that was awesome.

[bitbutter]

"I disagree. I think genetic similarity and particularly ERVs are better." +1

[sydmil]

I am not sure if I should laugh or cry. Who is this dumbass ? Can anyone delete this meaningless babble ?

[FreePlay]

He's the chair of the Texas State Board of Education, an organization with a VASTLY INORDINATE amount of control over what ends up in textbooks all across the country (due to the size of the Texas textbook market).

[FreePlay]

And yes, his babble SHOULD be deleted. I can only hope reason wins out and his ass gets booted.

[TheSanityInspector]

It's like Groundhog Day, having to chase this kook away time after time.

[quammski]

Babble, this is scientific, Babble...

[macomoto]

After watching this, I feel like throwing up.

[tiberius6923]

Texans:

It requires just 11 senators to reject a confirmation. But we need your help to find 11 reasonable senators who believe education policy should not be held hostage to the personal and political agendas of extremists on the

This is the fool we have to get off the board. The man who declared, "Somebody's gotta stand up to experts".

Please, Texans, call your representative right away.

[grenangle]

Maybe he shouldn't be on the board of education as he obviously bored with it quite early.

[unquenchablefire]

gha! The strongest evidence is NOT the fossil record. It's DNA you raving ignoramus! Gha!!!

[deiloh]

Oy, one more reason I don't want to live in Texas.

[mattbudnick]

Texas, this is your Chair of the state board of education? The rest of the world is embracing science and the progress that it brings, meanwhile Texas is trying to teach students theories that have no actual support. If you want to reject evolution, you need to have something better to replace it with. Repeating the same claims over and over without evidence is not a good way to go about that.

Texas can teach bronze age mythology , but the rest of the world will leave you in the dust.

[calladus]

Oh Noes! It's the Cambrian Explosion when "Kaboom!" All the animals just suddenly appeared all at once!

heh. An explosion that lasted 70 million years long.

Someone get Mr. McLeroy a textbook, preferable not one made in Texas.

[dauntlessmath]

I wonder if Don McLeroy would check my teeth for me, I think I might have a cavity.

[RationalFuture]

It always strikes me as odd that Texans actually have a board of education.

[lordmilko]

LOL! He's just throwing out buzz words all over the place!

[yzScott]

@TomatoBreadOrgasm - Texans did not vote McLeroy into his position. He was appointed by Gov Perry. Feel free to bag on Texans for voting Perry into to office, though.

[sarah95pekoe]

It's so nauseating to hear him talk about how "nice" he thinks his opponents are. In public education policy debates, it doesn't matter how you FEEL in your heart about someone, it matters who supports the most scientifically accurate set of proposals. He seems to be trying to validate his argument against evolution by saying he is the bigger man because he "loves his enemies". Who cares? It's not a moral contest to see who's more self-righteous. It's about being scientifically accurate.

[sarah95pekoe]

LOLZ @ 1:36 to 1:58 !!

The first part of that time frame just encapsulates the sloppy nature of the argument of IDiots(ID idiots) like McLeroy: "Oh, maybe I can look up some information in this book here...NAH, I give up! I'll just talk about the Cambrian explosion instead, as though I'm the only one who's ever heard of it."

What a doofus.

[R062006]

Poor Stephen Jay Gould must be roto-tilling in his grave. Had he not passed away, he would have after hearing this man.

Texans, wake up. It's not too late.

[SMF314]

The man should have his high school diploma revoked!

[religionOFFENDSme]

You Mr. McLeroy are a miracle!!! Yes you are... A walking talking miracle!!! For someone as blatantly STUPID(and i mean stupid) as you are, respectivly, to be elected chairman of the Texas SBOE(yes that E stands for education, as in education of our children) is miraculous!!! Just goes to show that some miracles, we could do with out. Texas please, be serious... Do you really want this idiot having anything to do with the education of your children? Get rid of him!!!

[HalfDeath13]

The Cambrian Explosion occurred over 50 million years. So much for "suddenly." Does this ignoramus even know what a phyla is?

[TomatoBreadOrgasm]

Dear Texas,

Hi, it's me. I just wanted to let you know that until you can use it responsibly, we are taking away your right to vote for BoE members. A major reason for this is as follows: one BoE member, Don McLeroy, believes a change that took 70-80 million years to be "sudden" in anthropocentric terms and also uses the word "stasis" out of the context of Gould's theory of Punctuated Equilibrium and misrepresents Gould's views.

Love,

TomatoBreadOrgasm.

[tingtangs]

What was he saying again? I couldn't help being mesmerised by his shining bald head.

[soopahsoopah]

What a fool.

Fucknuggets like this dude make it hard to be proud of Texas.

[jrmsher33]

He is a liar. He said that the strongest evidence to evolution are fossil records.

The strongest evidence of evolution is survival of the fittest and the peppered moth.

[WeedGreenPowerRanger]

"He is a liar. He said that the strongest evidence to evolution are fossil records.

The strongest evidence of evolution is survival of the fittest and the peppered moth. "

I'd actually have to say that genomics brought more scientific understanding to evolution than any other method, as well as providing more evidence for it than darwin could have possibly dreamed of.

[jrmsher33]

The "cambrian explosion" he has no idea what this is. lol

umm, you put five white rabbits and 5 black rabbits in the snow, which will be eaten? which will survive to breed? Damn is that hard to understand.

evolution is a fact = survival of the fittest

[oneguycoding]

To quote a great american rabbit, "What a maroon".

[Wwallace67]

Since this man exposes the lies of the atheist evolanders, they loathe him.

[tingtangs]

How does one "expose lies" by spreading misinformation exactly?

[Wwallace67]

Comes now a communist propagandist with snide snipes.

[intelligentfalling]

No this guy exposes his own monumental lack of knowledge on the subject. For instance calling phylum a distinct group? Phylum is quite literally the broadest grouping in the animal kingdom (excluding subkingdom technically)

For instance starfish are of the phylum cordata... AND SO ARE WE!

[Wwallace67]

Big whoop. Not being an expert at the biological equivalent of the Dewey decimal system does not distract from his point.

[intelligentfalling]

what? he thinks that all species arrived in the cambrian when it was only the phyla of which we still are. this is EXACTLY what evolution predicts. This guy knows NOTHING about the subject. Also a geological instant can be as long as 15 million years. He doesnt understand that either.

[TomatoBreadOrgasm]

@Wwallace67:

Yes it does. If he is going to use a word, he must understand its meaning. He seems to think that the idea of a phylum is intrinsic in nature rather than a broad category to be used as a tool for the discussion of evolution. He does not seem to understand that the fact that we still see carids (shrimp) today (not a phylum, but I'm sure he meant "kind") is not in any way a refutation of the modern evolutionary synthesis.

[Revyloution]

Cambrian explosion. Where over the course of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS we see the appearance of many new phyla. Jez, what is it about the time line he doesn't understand?

Oh ya, he thinks the earth is less than 10k years old.

[tingtangs]

Try "tens of millions of years".

[omgstuckinthe60s]

I can't watch anymore of this. Listening to a dentist professing his expertise on evolution makes about as much sense as listening to a biologist explaining dentistry. What is it about our country that we find it necessary to let idiots decide what our kids are taught in school! AHHH!

[Wwallace67]

Or as much sense as listening to a biologist talk about man made global warming?

[omgstuckinthe60s]

And while we're on the subject of the price of tea in China, ...

[BenjaminFranklin2u]

I guess you might as well throw out the theory of gravity, friction, and relativity (just to name a few),

based on this idiots logic.

What a complete douchebag.

[RichieW]

what a fucking donkey...

[captncork]

LOL! "There's a picture!  With vertical lines!"

How soon before all those tech companies start leaving Texas? Maybe as soon as talented people start refusing to bring their families there.

[YuriVolteHyuga]

Does this man ride a tiny car filled with 20 other similarly stupid people? Is his best friend a bearded woman? Please send the clowns to the circus from whence they came.

[bobx2x2]

Why does this stupid asshole think he's qualified to talk about science?

[uhlume]

"If I'd'a known I'd have to debate this even more today, I would have BROUGHT all my evidence! I have the -- TIME Magazine cover..."

...Where on earth did he think he was going with that?

It amazes me that anyone so willfully ignorant of science or scientific debate could be elected to the Board of Education in any state, let alone become its chair.

[VfletchS]

What an idiot. Keep Sunday school in Sunday school. Fucking nutbars.

[DarianGTR06]

This guy is so dumb... I am so tired of people using magic and witchcraft as a basis of "science". Saying all creatures magically appeared doesn't get you anywhere scientifically, and isn't going to help you create a flu vaccine that works...

There will be more misled kids in Texas which is probably how these people like it, but they won't be able to compete in the world tech market, especially biotech. Very sad.

[hadakushal]

I heard him say "550 million years ago". I may not agree with everything he has to say but at least he is willing to engage in a dialog (unless its a facade).

[EikC]

He could have substituted the verses and all that, for "the gnomes in my shoes."

[schrowa]

CRAAAZZZYYY!!!! Don't you know this guy whacks it to a picture of Adam and Eve?

It is this same kind of bone headed thinking that pushed for abstinence education as opposed to talking about the benefits of contraception. All of this has lead to a greater than 32% pregnancy rate in public schools and putting more strain on social service systems that are already strained.

[GeneralBolas]

Here's the stupid part; he's right in some respect. We know that common decent isn't everything about how life diversified, because we know that a lot of horizontal gene transfer went on, particularly in the pre-Cambrian days. However, his understanding of what is currently known is so lacking that he's unable to make an intelligent claim. And even if Evolution were revised, it still happens; it's just that there are *more* forces at work.

[ladyhrist]

UGH. As someone hoping to become a teacher in the state of Texas I DO NOT understand why this ignoramus is allowed to make any decisions regarding the validity of science textbooks when he believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

[y0ssar1an]

The Cambrian Explosion was only "sudden" in the sense of geologic time. It actually occurred over tens of millions of years.

[sgfrontman1]

Is it me, or does he sound just like W?

[BrokenCurtain]

@sgfrontman1:

I thought the same thing.

[jvr2000]

I feel sad for the kids in Texas. How do stupid people like this guy get appointed to such important positions? Oh yeah by republicans...

[8e8d47]

god bless texas, McCain won by over 1 million votes

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-Thomas Jefferson

[baconeater]

Immediately over 10-20 million years.

What a moron.

[cmotdibbl3r]

Moron of the first order.

[aiapaec]

What a moron!

[brembs]

Let's be honest with our kids: "we built the largest and most complicated experiment on the planet (LHC) because we don't know how gravity works. Quite possibly, a magic man keeps us tethered to the ground. Let's be honest with our kids!"

[gucker07]

What a fucking moron. This ignorant dipshit is a disgrace. He has no business making any decisions over education. Evolution is fact.

[milo655321]

I tried to think of something nice to say ... but this guy is an idiot. He doesn't understand the theory of evolution, but he's sure all the experts are wrong.

[perute]

Someone needs to tell this guy about punctuated equilibrium.

[SSHitMan]

What a fucking idiot!

Oh yeah, he's a liar also. Is it OK to lie if you lie for Jesus?

[rickelmonoggin]

Perhaps the next time Mr McElroy requires dental surgery he will permit me to carry it out for him since he doesn't think it's necessary to be an 'expert' on things to know about them.

[FreePlay]

please, please, please get his last name right.

It's "McLeroy". Remember that. Because I sure as hell don't want him to be called "McElroy" and share my name.

[reallyordinary]

Send him back to his dental practice.

[blackwolf1272]

The experts are the people competing, doing the hard work, feeding their families just like everyone else. They're doing it because they like and understand science. They understand it well, that's why they're experts. What part of the meaning of EXPERT does McLeroy disagree with? Maybe the part that says 'when doctrine and reality disagree, reality wins'. I think I've never seen anyone in a position of responsibility reveal his own incompetence so thoroughly as he does here.

[blackwolf1272]

I can't rate this video. This poor, confused man producing a trainwreck of an argument, trying to argue against science while trying to pretend to argue in favor of it... what can we say?

It's indecent. It's like watching an injured bird in pain, without the ability to help it, poor thing.

[Hooya2]

I have no problem with introducing the idea of stasis and sudden appearances--so long as you explain HONESTLY why these things occur, and why it is NOT a problem for evolution. As Gould explained, stasis occurs because natural selection can favor remaining the same, and sudden appearances are caused when animals evolve in one place and then spread to others.

But creationists will never admit that the evidence fits evolution easily, which is why this clause is a terrible idea.

[NomadSoul76]

"sudden appearances are caused when animals evolve in one place and then spread to others"

It's worth noting that in this context, "sudden" means hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. A brief Google search suggests that Mr Mcleroy is a young earth creationist, meaning he doesn't think the entire universe has existed for hundreds of thousands of years.

But he thinks that the fact that something took a million years to occur is a problem for evolution.

[Hooya2]

"...they stay the same!"

Are you retarded? Just in the few million years where trilobites lived, they evolved tremendously in body shape and size!

"Stasis is data..."

That wasn't Gould's intent; he was saying that animals frequently stayed the same for long periods of time, but he also said clearly and repeatedly that transitions happen as well. Why does this idiot think he was defending evolution in the first place?

[Hooya2]

"A phyla is a major distinct group."

No, you twat. A phyla is a major distinct group TODAY. They sure as hell weren't major and distinct back then. Look at the chordata phyla, for example. Today, this includes all fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, mammals, and birds. Back then, it was represented by nothing more than a bunch of jawless fish.

"...Times magazine cover..."

ROFL wow.

There are significant fossil precursors to the Cambrain. Idiot.

[Saukko31]

No plant life appear during "cambrian explosion", no land animals, and it took at minimum six million years. Might want to add that to your data, mr. McLeroy.

[NomadSoul76]

"it took at minimum six million years"

nono, it happened IMMEDIATELY. Didn't you hear the distinguished creationist dentist?

(just to be certain my intent is clear, yes, that's sarcasm)

[Saukko31]

"creationist dentist"

Ah, that does it, with those qualifications, I can't argue against him. :)

[bluesguy1977]

great display of cognitive dissonance

poor texas

[g12er]

What a moron. Evolution isn't "unguided" or a blind. That's a common creationist lie.

The mechanism for evolution is natural SELECTION. Does McLeroy understand what the word SELECTION means?

Well, selection isn't unguided. Selection is worked out naturally through enviromental factors.

Geez. This clown was reappointed by the governor too.

[bitbutter]

"Well, selection isn't unguided. Selection is worked out naturally through enviromental factors."

imo this means that selection is in fact unguided (unless the environmental factors are being manipulated by an intelligence), but it's certainly not random.

[g12er]

I disagree with these experts. Somebodys gotta stand up to experts that are I dont know why theyre doing it. Theyre wonderful people.

--McLeroy

OK, so the Texas Board wants to ignore the experts and just make stuff up?

Poor Texas.

[g12er]

5 stars for exposing McLeroy's stupidity.

More people need to see how ignorant McLeroy is.

[bsandersen]

As science continues to explain more and more, the "God of the gaps", those things still left unknown where claims of Providence can still be made, grows smaller and smaller. As the gaps narrow the opponents of Science will become more and more strident, perhaps even violent. We have many dark days ahead of us. Perhaps these are the very last days of the "Dark Ages" that began so long ago.

[TaylorX04]

Heh, so when Christians so desperately want to believe the endtimes are upon them, they may be right ...but it's just the endtimes of archaic, superstitious thinking! One can only hope. ;-)

[Mixophyrgian]

The US slides backwards, away from knowledge, logic, facts, and reasoning and head first into dogma, superstition and irrationality.

Who would have ever thought, that in the early days of the 21st century, we'd see more Americans deny science and embrace fundamentalism?

The churches have always feared and stifled science and progress, because the fundies are well aware the more people are educated with facts, the less likely they are to believe fairy tales and nonsense.

[TangerineTangerine]

i think there's still ALOT left to learn/find out about the beginning of the universe- when, how, why... but i dont understand why the evolution theory, as it is today- is seen by some religious ppl as in contrast to creationism? if there is an all-powerful mind that started it all, surely it/s/he can use evolution as a way to create? In theory, evolution can be the process of some sort of creationism. (regardless of who/what the creator is- god/mother nature/alien/scientist..)

[TaylorX04]

I'm so tired of arguments from ignorance about the Cambrian explosion. Even if we couldn't imagine a way life thrived so "suddenly", that doesn't mean evolution is false or that creationism is true. But the length of the explosion is not certain, there are transitional fossils found that date from the explosion era, oxygen-based life may have finally had the chance to thrive, etc. Does McLeroy want to teach these possible explanations to his objection too? I somehow doubt it.

[tingtangs]

The Cambrian Explosion lasted for, what, 40 or 50 million years? Not exactly a short period of time.

[FreePlay]

80 million. Yeah. This "explosion" thing is SUCH a misnomer.