Errata 2

[spinization]

I've been enjoying these videos, and appreciate your openness to critique and your gleeful willingness to own up to your mistakes in these Errata videos. Thank you! I'm a few years late, but there's a major error in this video—the San are NOT, not not not, "the ancestors of humankind." All of humankind share their ancestors, but the San are modern people just like everyone else. It's a significant distinction. They've been culturally and genetically evolving since our last common ancestors, too.

[June28July]

Hey! Let's be fair here to Creationists! Okay, so they don't make 'correction' videos but if they did, YouTube's servers would get overwhelmed and crash hence why they don't!

[verysincere]

Thanks for illustrating science at its best: refining the descriptions and correcting even minor errors.

[Adnaana]

I really like the song. You have good taste in music along with the intellect given to you by FSM and the IPU. Keep up the good work. later dayz.

[MyThoughtsIhave]

KILL THE MUSIC...

[bagospannerz]

Much respect to you potholer!

[adtc]

You're so happy to admit your mistakes and correct yourself. Unlike creationists.

[Metalcultistmike]

Potholer54, this was an outstanding series and I truly learned a lot. I also appreciate your forthrightness in correcting your (very minor, IMHO) errors.

So in that vein, I have a (possible) small critique re: the San. I agree that the genetic evidence shows that the San and the Khoisan stock in general are genetically basal with respect to other extant populations and our shared ancestry; they are, apparently, the least derived of extant populations from our ancestral stock. cont'd...

[Metalcultistmike]

@Metalcultistmike, cont'd from below,

Thus, it seems to me that to say the San--who are, after all, a particular cultural group, and a remnant population of the ancient Khoisan stock found throughout Eastern-Southern Africa prior to the Bantu expansion--are ancestral to other human populations is slightly off-base. It doesn't really detract from your point that they are the genetically most-diverse and most basal, but I thought I'd mention it.

Best regards, looking forward to more vids!

[TheHomelessCripple]

Some of these "corrections" are not needed, as many points are explained prior while others are just a matter of simple (logical and rational) assumption that I would hope most people are capable of.

[KennyTew2]

Maybe you do welcome it, but it's still a pain in the ass.

[klnine]

very nice many thanks..

[FiverBeyond]

An excellent example of real science being open to correction. Keep 'em coming!

[OldSchoolSkill]

It is SO splendid to see honesty and willingness to admit a need for occasional correction!

That is a defining difference

between science and dogma...

between TRUTH and BULLSHIT.

[gamesbok]

I find potholer54's reputation unblemished.  A very creditable, relialble and trustworthy poster.

We need more from him.

[Metalcultistmike]

@gamesbok , Could not agree more!

[Rockster969]

Nice one Potholer,great video's and inserting your corrections show's honest integrity the opposing team probably can't fathom.

Mind you,fair play to Il Papa,der el popo for repealing limbo.

Now those ickle babies can go to the burns unit and get treated by magic nuns for their hell scorches,ya know,for being such fucking evil babies so you stick 'em on some corner of hell,their podgy flesh sizzling and spitting like hot bacon,oh yeah,gentle jesus meek and mild floating on a cloud.

FTP

[mancamiatipoola]

reply:

dude, what the HELL are u talking about?

[ngarbo00]

thanks for all the videos, potholer54. big fan.

[OriMeissa]

Now that's what I call real science!! :) Errata, correction and adaptation to new evidence. Thanks Potholer54. Great series.

[anonymous2635]

great video

[ErichoTTA]

I think "chromosome pairs" is a bit too nitpicky. I didn't see anything wrong with that you said.

[holydave]

Great little videos these, and the epitome of intellectual integrity and honesty; but also, I think it stands as a testament to the brilliance of the '... made easy' series that the mistakes made were, even at their most grave, rather minor.

I applaud you sah!

[sanity1001]

More responsible science.

Errm, if the first matriarchal human and first patriarchal human lived a few thousand years apart, how did that work and what were the San before then?

[potholer54]

=the first matriarchal human and first patriarchal human lived a few thousand years apart=

No, not matriarchal, matrilineal. Not patriarchal, patrilineal. Obviously our most recent common ancestors would be far more recent than that. But they would also be several thousand years apart, because men are more promiscuous than women.

[sanity1001]

Thank you potholer, obviously I need to do some boning up on this fascinating subject.

Probably at the expense of some promiscuity,

damn!

[gamesbok]

@sanity1001 Do not neglect the emperical experimentation required to substantiate the theritical work you propose.

[sanity1001]

@gamesbok Thanks for your warranted concern, the opportunities for empirical research in this field (patrilineal leg, over matrilineal) actually follow the inverse anniversary law..

[vikeyev1]

@potholer54 *men are more promiscuous than women*

My love life would refute that claim, yes I do know you mean in general but my experience is that gender does not determine who is more promiscuous. Just wanted to state my opinion on the matter.

[ooglebydoogleby]

excelent for fessing up

[jstuttgart]

Much respect. That is what we call intellectual honesty. We are human and not infallible. I wouldn't say the same for a fundie.

[DidntKnowWhatToPut1]

its very honist of you to admit you made mistakes

[Immevu]

r u really saying we all came from 2* ppl? and not a grope of the same ppl living there at the tome????

[StevoDog21]

Yes. They didn't live at the same time; tens of thousands of years apart in fact, but mathematically there has to be a male and a female representative most recent common ancestor from whom all living people are descended.

[zippydebrain]

It might make more sense to say KNOWN ancestor. Based on the info in the video it is suggested that all or most humans contain markers found in these two.

[DaxxFinsta]

You friend, opitomize a great student AND teacher. Right on. I look forward to more of your work.

[BlodhArget]

What I like about you is the fact that you correct mistakes. On the other side of the spectrum, most creationists, when confronted with things they messed up on, just get pissed and yell about how God will send you to Hell, instead of actually addressing their mistakes.

[SenorEuphoria]

What is with you and the salsa?

Whatever, though, the science is what counts.

[earthbound01]

I think saying that the San are the ancestors of mankind is a little misleading- the San who currently live aren't our ancestors any more than the currently living great apes are ancestors of the human lineage.

They just happen to be the descendants of our common ancestor who stayed put.

[potholer54]

"thought maybe you'd like to add that the chromosome pair that fused from the great apes 24 pairs to homosapien's 23 pairs would be chromosome #2"

Thanks. Without checking, I think that in the original video I have a clip of Ken Miller saying that.

[SliceSupeRStaR]

Wow he corrects himself, pwn's himself and does it to carribean music... Your vids are awesome! Thank you!

[kameliumtube]

This the beauty of science... A religious person would never go back and correct themselves... they don't need to... whatever they say is written in a book... no subject to testing

[warren52nz]

"It's just gaming lingo. The 'p' is next to the 'o' on the keyboard so someone messed up and said "pwn" instad of "own" and it caught on for some odd reason"

Just like a genetic mutation hehe. I was wondering too.

This video is a great example of Good Science. Changing what you've said in order to get it right.

When the evidence is in conflict with your theory, modify your theory. When it is proved that the earth is around 4 billion years old, throw away the Old Testament.

[snakeguy76]

Little off topic but I see "pwn" or "pwned" often on these videos. Can someone explain the "pwn" instead of the "own" as i am assuming?

[KemaTheAtheist]

"Little off topic but I see "pwn" or "pwned" often on these videos. Can someone explain the "pwn" instead of the "own" as i am assuming?"

It's just gaming lingo. The 'p' is next to the 'o' on the keyboard so someone messed up and said "pwn" instad of "own" and it caught on for some odd reason...

[benatssu]

interesting.. i always assumed pwn comes from pawn in the game chess, so if u pawn someone is like capturing a more powerful piece with one of your army (eg. a pawn piece capturing the queen and you say "ahaaa pawned!")

lol.. i dunno.. either way

[r00tcause]

Interesting but no. The accepted pronunciation is "pone" because it is a derivative of "own". It is a accepted to mean "completely dominated" and is a stronger word than "owned".

[r00tcause]

I'd also like to note that I do not believe it was used properly in this video as the word is too "strong" for the situation IMHO. The word gets overused.

[KingofNH]

A meme, and an annoying one at that, in my opinion. But just because, I'll add the 'lol' and make my post thoroughly annoying. Ah! Discord and anger. My work here is done.

[mirt001]

The comment about the markers we share with the San struck me as odd (figured that it was an honest mistake), but I deeply respect your honesty & owning up to your errors. Love the series too! :)

tomdamho said.. "correcting their errors something creationists would NEVER do... "

True... they'd just accuse you of being closed minded for not accepting their "truth" and then censor your comments pointing them out! LOL!

[cedgray]

And so the series gets better and better. Even the supposed weaknesses of science are its strengths!

[tomdamho]

correcting their errors something creationists would NEVER do...

[pooboo1188]

maybe wat u meant to say at 1:43 is that instead of 'wat ever markers we have they have too' its more wat ever markers they have we have too' maby... just a thought it might be a bit off but yea...

[opinionhead444]

Thank you for this...you have my want to learn all the more enjoyable.

[goodbryan]

I wonder how many vids vfx would have to make to be as honest as you...

Good stuff!

[liddlefeesh]

Excellent video and good points made. I don't think I've ever seen a creationist or christian put out a video like this.

[doloafing]

I think these two videos make as strong a point about the scientific process as the made easy series itself.

[thesouthparkguy]

"I don't want to suffer under delusion a day longer than necessary." Good quote. :D

[Martinger2775]

lol

I like that you used the term "pwn myself" xD

And thanks for the corrections.

[TomSFox]

HA! YOU ADMIT THAT YOU ARE WRONG SO EVERYTHING YOU SAY IS WORHTLESS! GOD'S WORD NEVER CHANGES! PRAISE GOD!!!111!1

Nah, just kidding!

Good work.

[Rfive]

Thank you for the corrections.

[Xenoce]

I believe that, rather then being our ancestors, the San could more correctly be described as the oldest still-living population.

[andytoz]

Well, those still living would of course not be our ancestors.

[Theoriginal8ball]

This is what seperates science from uncorrected dogam of the willingly ignorant. To err is human, to learn from and correct our mistakes by impirical evidence and reason is the only way we progress; the alternative is a return to the Dark Ages.

[Theoriginal8ball]

Oops! I meant "dogma".

[kshackleton]

Excellent video, however, you are still incorrect on one point. The San are a modern people, and therefore cannot be ancestral to other living human populations.

The San of today have ancestors in common with me, and while the San [and their ancestors] may [have] live[d] in the same region where that common ancestor once did, the fact remains that the San [who are alive today] are not the ancestors of humanity.

The San are our cousins, not our ancestors.

[incrediblemulk42]

I wondered about the marker thing. Good to see you corrected it.

[grassfell]

If only you said God told these things to you your followers would be saying you weren't wrong! It was just our fault for misunderstanding. You're a scientist; if anyone's to blame for misunderstanding, it's US, not you- scientists can never be wrong, because scientists are perfect. We just have to look to the root word of each word you said, and we'll see that everything makes perfect sense.

[potholer54]

Get a good night's rest.

[glubboy08]

amen. ;-)

[BreadWinner06]

beautiful , i love that you can correct yourself and be glad that you're doing it (which should be excpected ofcourse) but wish more people would do that ....even me

sometimes its very hard for me to correct myself when im wrong

someti

[confluential]

Your educational video are both entertaining and informative.Just the mere fact of you admitting what was erroneous proves you're intellectually honest, and in pursuit of truth.I have witnessed firsthand that many Christians are NOT the above.I haven't seen a creationist yet recant their ideas when they are shown to be flawed or incorrect.Good work, and praise science!

[grambottle033]

You'd never see a creationist admit their claims were wrong.

That's because they make it up every time...lol

[ghgt123]

The inherent impossibiltity of the impossible leaves christians only circular logic to defend their impossible claims, such as "you can't disprove it--->you can't prove it--->you can't prove it" arguments. Reality is not arguable; it simply is. Scientific evidence, or evidence observed from observing reality, disproves Biblical Myths, and yet many people still believe them to be true. Poor, deluded souls.

[stupidbrain1]

i meant..is this haitian or french music??

[potholer54]

It's "Paris Paris" by Compagnie Creole. They're from various francophone islands in the Caribbean.

[stupidbrain1]

is this hairian or french music?

[jc333jc]

Goodness! You made a few errors But no real substantial ones. At least you have admitted to possibly being in error; then have made the required adjustments! I would just like to say that I have found all of your videos a source of great joy/ education/ entertainment. What a thoroughly good job you are doing. You (and to be fair, a few others) could have a very successful TV career.

[Kergillian]

A brilliant series! Well done!

[direstr8ts]

Wow and imagine all this on the internet. I feel this is probably better learning than my children receive in public schools. For one what I have learned and experienced in my short life is that rarely are things black and white. Usually some shade of gray and unlike most mediums you have provided clarification rather than deniel. That my friend is a breath of fresh air. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

[hornetobiker]

More clarificatons that corrections.

Excellent and informative stuff you produce btw.

Congrats

[Shadrach76]

thank you for letting us know.

[Eyedunno]

Yeah, I figured the San thing was weird. I would think they should have mainly only the earliest markers.

[ReaperFerril]

Acknowledging an error in "theory" then making the appropriate change is why science works. We postulate, we accumulate evidence, we experiment, and we discard that which is wrong and keep that which is right--unless and until we are shown that we made a mistake somewhere. Intellectual honesty is NOT being 100% correct; its the willingness to admit when we make a mistake and then accept the correction. Good for you, poholer54, in demonstrating that you can do just that!

[chango369yt]

Great job Potholer54. Question for you:  Have you ever visited richarddawkins . net?

[potholer54]

"Have you ever visited richarddawkins . net?"

Yes, I have. Why do you ask?

[chango369yt]

I ask because the subject matter of your videos are very much in the same vein as those discussed on RDN. It's a great forum and had you not ever been there, I would have followed up with an invitation to visit.

If you're not a member there already, please consider joining. I'm sure you'd make a great addition to the community.

Thanks for all the great work you do.

[stjohntheblasphemist]

I like rational minds for this reason (among others). IDers follow an unswaying rule that thou shalt not deviate from, & if science proves without a doubt otherwise, they just make shit up (Jesus riding a dinosaur, kangaroos floating on grass mats, etc) to fit in with their belief system (BS).

Thanks for your entertaining & insightful vids, potholer54. I've taken way more of an interest in science from stuff like this than I ever did in school. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[SpiralingOut23]

U rule potholer!

[tom64bombadil]

Agree totally with samsullithegenius' comment. Also, nice choice of music.

[dyerasyd]

Well played Sir!

[samsullithegenius]

I'm clapping for you here, because by accepting mistakes and correcting them, you have demonstrated the scientific method PERFECTLY. Congratulations to you, sir.

[ikanaide]

samsullithegenius

Exactly! Its so rare to find a subject where you actually are glad that someone corrects you! Because eveyrtime we find a mistake and admit it and correct it SCIENCE HAS WON AGAIN! The best part is wether a hypothesis was proven wrong or right! SCIENCE always WINS!

[calamariaxo]

Hehe, this is part of the reason why science always wins. When was the last time you saw errata released by some bible-bashing fundamentalist?

[baconeater]

Exactly.  It rarely happens. When cornered with fact, Christ punchers usually just turn the page.

[potholer54]

"...if T were to try and bond with another T"

T couldn't form a bond with another T, because the chemical makeup wouldn't allow it. So the repair mechanism would have to put something in there that WOULD bond. If it's the wrong pair it wouldn't necessarily give rise to a birth defect. It could be on a dormant part of DNA. Or it could just produce a barely noticeable effect in one part of the body. If that effect confers an advantage you get a tiny step in evolution.

[potholer54]

"it could be that men are simply more polygamous"

That's the thinking. There are probably hundreds of people in their 30s who are the offspring of John Lennon, but only a couple who are the offspring of Cynthia Lennon. It's not just the fault of the men. Women will choose nice guys for husbands, but they want to procreate with the alpha males. I hadn't thought about the different mortality rates between men and women, which might indeed be a factor.

[potholer54]

"what are the two possible options..."

T always pairs with A (T-A). Let's say A is wrongly replaced by a G (T..G). The repair machinery will see a broken bond. But it doesn't know which is the correct nucleotide and which is the substitute. If it swaps the G for an A (T-A) then things are back to normal. But if it swaps the T for a C then you have a new base pair (C-G).

[potholer54]

Actually, it's the latter, sort of. Although geneticists know more recent common ancestors must exist, they haven't 'discovered' them. You and your father's brother's son share a matrilineal ancestor way back in the past, through your respective mothers, and that ancestor can be traced though mtDNA. But you also share a much more recent female ancestor -- your grandmother. And a common ancestor is literally someone we are directly descended from, not just closely related to.

[messiahjonz]

Stand up guy to provide these errors.

KUDOS!

[bu1ckgnx]

You won't see a creationist ever do this to one of their videos.

[MostDisgust]

Because they get their information from god, and He never makes mistakes. That's what makes Him god.

[ace625]

Not that I understand most of the concepts in great enough detail to even point out errors but it's precisely this that gives potholer54 so much credibility-that he goes back and corrects his errors. Where most people would recognize them and just hope nobody noticed them.

[BobTKaye]

It takes a child to make a mistake and an adult to admit that he/she's made a mistake. Thank goodness science is replete with adults.

[BobTKaye]

Oh, and can you please leave a note in your comments as to who wrote the music and the song title whenever possible please?

[potholer54]

Thanks, Bob. I'm going to make a video called "About the Made Easy Series" which will wrap everything up, and I'll included a page listing the music tracks from each video. This one is "Paris, Paris" by the Caribbean band La Compagnie Créole. I'm glad some people share my eclectic musical taste!

[BobTKaye]

I recommend listening to the Afro-Celt Sound System for great energetic spiritual music as well as Pro Cantione Antiqua for meditative music.

[ikanaide]

A scientist used 28 years to try and prove his hypothesis, one day a young man came in and said i have something to show you, the 2 sat down along with other scientist, the young man presented his material, and showed the old man that even after all these years his hypothesis was wrong, the old man rised from his chair, went over to the young man and hugged him while saying! What a wonderful day, because today science has advanced!

[BernierCR42]

there is nothing wrong with being wrong in science. That what we do, try to prove everything wrong. there is a problem with doing bad science, as the creationists do. even though that guys hypothesis wasn't correct, he contributed with all those experiments. he can reformulate a new one, and keep on going to advance science. that is why science isn't a religion, scientists admit when they are wrong and welcome it.

[ikanaide]

BernierCR42

Thats the whole point of my reply! :)

You know the best part? its a true story! This is what science is! The search for truth! If we are wrong we correct ourselves, or our fellow sciencebuffs do it! My little story was to support potholer54 way of presenting science and his arguments! This Errata series along with his other vids is the PERFECT way of presenting our views! admitting our mistakes (something IDs wont do) is part of what TRUE science is!

[Bueller007]

Yet again proving the bankruptcy of creationism.

Has there EVER been a creationism errata video? (Ignoring the fact that all creationism videos are in fact collections of erratum.)

[fryingpanjoe]

why aren't these videos featured on youtube instead of the crap up there now?

[jitterstlongpaw]

your videos have a lot of insite keep up the great work and before i forget "huray for evolution"

[Dividedbymyself]

Don't worry, even god makes mistakes ;)

[spotteri01]

Don't worry about the mistakes. This is still best stuff on youtube.

[azfarmb]

Self critique, always a sign of intelligence, and most importantly... an atheist... every had a religious person say "oh this fact is wrong in the bible/quran... let me fix it."

Great job.

[demitrieaux]

Being able to admit and correct one's own mistakes is a virtue. To the creationists, it's a vice - they see it as flip-flopping of the like and continue to push their ignorance regardless of how many times it's been discredited.

[666daedsidog]

Minor errors

Not really worth mentioning

But thats why i like your vids

Nice one!!!

[Falling100]

Are you going to do anything special for the one year anniversary of "God and DNA made easy," on March 8?

[potholer54]

"Are you going to do anything special for the one year anniversary of "God and DNA made easy," on March 8?"

Wow, has it been a year? Maybe I'll celebrate by uploading the Scientific Method Made Easy.

[dogg724]

Please do, I'm arguing with this dolt of a man who can't understand how the scientific method differs from the brain teams behind biblical interpretation

[Falling100]

Why don't the creationists ever make these sort of videos? I mean, the mistakes correcter here are minor, and none of them detract from the main points you were making, but you corrected them anyway. Very diligent.

[SanzSolo]

As always, following scientific method and peer review, you don't cease to amaze me, I even wish not only all creationists but all scientists were that able of correcting their own work (only great scientists do that often, so I can assume you belong to that group). Thank you very much, I learned a lot, as usual.

[adolfthejew]

Potholer your such a nooob for making these mistakes

LOLOLOLOLOL!!

[Cacovangor]

I was not expecting such a swift correction. Once again you show your intelligence which I must admit in the face of I was prepared to assume I was wrong even on that fact.

I hope that you've ideas already brewing for the mechanisms made easy serious you proposed in #9, I eagerly await it.

[xander55577]

You honor the importance of truth when subjecting your own work to peer review. That is the way of science. Thank you a thousand times over for doing what you do. Please continue to keep us informed.

[BrachioInGen]

I remember thinking "How do the San have all the markers we have?" but I brushed it off and kept going. I'm glad to see that it was simply a mistake. Oopsey lol... great vids though

[CadicusTheDamned]

"A bigger man corrects his mistakes while the smaller one wallows in his errors."

-A Cadism

[carnut666]

yup, it would be pretty funny if creationists were this honest and admitted when they made mistakes. Keep up the good work =)

[mattb521]

The amount of correction videos made in that situation would be overwhelming for Youtube, and it would crash.

[eragon19]

haha! no kidding, mattb!

[jxcole]

I love you.

[sweatytoothmadman]

I'll repeat my comment.

I wish creationists were this honest.

[SSEDummyPlug]

Thx for correcting your videos. That makes me like them even more. Keep up the good work. =P

[Hooya2]

Lol the errata's errata!

[crixus]

Hats off, deep bows for the correction of even these (and indeed minor) mistakes in the fine series of video's.

[dancingnature]

well you sure arent a creationist ministry organization like AiG or ICR...they keep making their errors for decades;)

[Sefearion]

Ah cheers :)