On the Shoulders of Giants; in the Shadow of Ignorance

Many thanks to Thunderf00t, Don Exodus, cdk007, dprjones, AronRa, ExtantDodo, Potholer54, Jaguar Jones, and many more for your hard work and excellent videos.

I think the title of this video speaks for itself. It is a commentary on the state of American society, as viewed from an outside perspective. As a Canadian, I essentially have a front-row seat for the science vs. religion fiasco that is taking place south of the border, and as a member of a country that considers the USA extremely valuable as an economic and social partner, I am quite disturbed by the sheer amount of ignorance that is displayed by many Americans regarding these issues, particulary those belonging to the fundamentalist right wing. Clearly America needs a wake up call before China and India take their place as the scientific superpower in the world.

If you consider this video a deviation from my usual topic of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I assure you that, while my name is Pastafarian4Life, and I am a Pastafarian, the FSM is only a small part of what needs to be done to address the proponents of "Intelligent" Design/creationism (they're the same thing). I think it has helped spred the message to a part of the population that otherwise might not have heard it. However, in order to ensure that I do my part in defending free speech, education, and the separation of church and state, I must deviate from my usual FSM-related materials and broaden my horizons, so to speak.

If you have any questions regarding the evolution/creation "controversy," "Intelligent" Design in schools, "Teach the Controversy," education, or about evolution in general, feel free to drop me a line. In the interest of free speech, the comments are always enabled on my videos, and you are free to say whatever you like about them. As well, you are welcome to use any portion of my videos you need to for critique or commentary in your own videos, so long as your use is governed by fair use.

Please rate and favorite if you agree with the message of the video.

Category:

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[TheKilgoretrout]

From what I have heard and read, your map of the United States of Canada has one major fault--it includes Alberta instead of putting it in jesusland. Otherwise your video was right on. This from an American who grew up near Ontario and has traveled through your great country.

[Pastafarian4Life]

@TheKilgoretrout - Unfortunately you are very much correct, and I can tell you from experience: I live in Alberta. If I had made the map I definitely would have followed your suggestion.

[saintluciferisgod]

im not sure ive ever heard of canada were is that again?

[yobtya]

Well done.

[CamW30]

@gerontodon "but I can see the glaring inconsistency."

What you would wish to be true is not necessarily so. I wish it were, it would make my job much easier. You have to live with the facts; evolution is true. Having a feeling without being able to justify said feeling is not reality. I really do feel for you, as I have had hypotheses that I really wanted confirmed; they weren't, and I had to change my understanding of the concept.

Cheers, mate.

[CamW30]

@gerontodon - " but I can see the glaring inconsistency."

Sorry, facts are facts, I cannot change that. The empirical evidence is much more technical than what I am stating, but you would have to understand the science behind this evidence. Numerous disciplines in science arrive at the same conclusions using many levels of empirical evidence. I really wish that ID "researchers" would come up with something that could be tested, but to date ID has proved to be an invalid hypothesis. Want ≠ real

[CamW30]

@gerontodon - "I can see that a thing is constrained by what it's arisen from, but those constraints can't explain what is new in the novel feature, only what is old."

When the novel structure is beneficial enough to leave more offspring, then the change becomes part of the species. Successive small changes result in different advantages that do add up (eg the flagella from a secretory system). The final function of the structure is arrived at serendipitously; there is no forethought involved.

[gerontodon]

@CamW30

Yes well thanks, you've confirmed that there's no point discussing the legitimacy of ID because it's like discussing it with a computer. The responses are pre-programed. Those that like your view and share your self-congratulatory stance of hard-headed honesty will see your argument as perfectly reasonable, but I can see the glaring inconsistency.

[CamW30]

@gerontodon - "So it's ok to infer a philosophical conclusion from empirical findings if it's a materialist one, but not otherwise."

No, I know of no empirical evidence of the supernatural. Science cannot test an hypothesis if there is nothing to test. One can pose the question of a designer philosophically, but it is not a scientific question. If the hypothesis of a designer could be tested, science would look at it and test it to either confirm or reject the hypothesis.

[gerontodon]

@CamW30

The authors of that book didn't think it was viable to say that unaided natural selection could explain how one complex structure could emerge from another. But they wanted to keep their view in a secular humanist and darwinian framework, so they suggested that mutations are somehow constrained to functionality. I can see that a thing is constrained by what it's arisen from, but those constraints can't explain what is new in the novel feature, only what is old.