x
  • Bookmark and ShareShare
  • Earn Points
    What's this?
Bill Nye: Creationism not appropriate for children
The popular, bow tie-wearing science educator stumps for evolution in a new online video.

By

Melissa Breyer
Mon, Aug 27 2012 at 3:56 PM
 4

Related Topics:

Education
Bill Nye: Creationism not appropriate for children

Photo: YouTube

Bill Nye — scientist, engineer, comedian, author and inventor — is best known as the guy behind the television program "Bill Nye the Science Guy," though soon he may be better known for his new YouTube video. Posted on Aug. 23 for big think, “Bill Nye: Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children” has already attracted nearly 1.2 million viewers.
 
"Denial of evolution is unique to the United States," he begins in the video, "When you have a portion of the population that doesn't believe in that, it holds everybody back, really.”
 
“Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology,” he continues. “It's like, it's very much analogous to trying to do geology without believing in tectonic plates. You're just not going to get the right answer.”
 
So where does the United States, the “most advanced technological” country, stand when it comes to the theory that God created Adam and Eve, the world, and everything in it in six days? The Gallup Poll released its latest findings in June, which reveal that 46 percent of Americans believe in creationism, 32 percent believed in God-guided evolution, and 15 percent believe in atheistic evolution.
 
"The idea of deep time of billions of years explains so much of the world around us. If you try to ignore that, your worldview becomes crazy, untenable, itself inconsistent," Nye said in the video.
 
"I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, that's completely inconsistent with the world we observe, that's fine. But don't make your kids do it — because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems," he said.
 
As CNN notes, the tenets of creationism have been negated by the mainstream scientific community ever since Darwin’s "The Origin of Species" was published in 1859. By 1880, The American Naturalists, a science journal, reported nearly every major university in America was teaching evolution. Yet here we are.
 
“You know, in another couple of centuries that world view [creationism]… it just won't exist," he concludes,  "There's no evidence for it ..."
 
 
More evolution stories on MNN:
 

You might also like:

Join the conversation

Comments: 4
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
lwhenry85
Lance Henry Aug 28 2012 at 4:39 PM
Honestly, people. Religion and Evolution can go hand in hand. In fact, they do, if one can look at the evidence objectively. I suggest reading The Genesis Enigma by Andrew Parker. He is an internationall acclaimed scientist that discovered the reason for the explosion of life in the Cambrian period, and he argues that the bible (well, the first page of genesis, lets not get crazy here) is scientifically accurate. If people could look at the issues with an open mind, they would see that there are
.... More
correlations between evolution and religion. Evolution is real. It is factual. And it is not mutually exclusive with religion. Sadly, we are afflicted with ignorance and believe that everything is black and white. Did the Earth get created in 7 days? or billions of years? Obviously, it is the second answer. But that doesnt mean the Bible is incorrect; it just means it should not be taken literally in every case. Expand your horizons. Open your mind. You might be surprised. Disclaimer: Religion and Creationism are NOT the same thing. Creationists believe in the literal translation of the Bible, and are basically playing ostrich.
|
realitycheck
realitycheck Aug 28 2012 at 11:47 AM
For all non scientists who think theory means a non provable idea. The definition in science of a theory is as follows "a theory is an explanation or model based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning, especially one that has been tested and confirmed as a general principle helping to explain and predict natural phenomena." Geology shows that fossils are of different ages. Paleontology shows a fossil sequence, the list of representing changes through time, Taxonomy shows biological relationships
.... More
among species. Evolution is the explanation that threads it all together. Creationism is the practice of squeezing one's eyes shut and wailing "Does not!" Creationism and Intelligent Design are fake science. Anybody who believes otherwise is one reason this country is falling behind in science, math, and physics. Don't let the kids think for themselves, brain wash them with religion and false science so we can control them.
|
dregstudios_1's picture
dregstudios_1 Aug 27 2012 at 7:23 PM
Here in TN, they have taken steps though new legislation to allow creationism back into the classroom. This law turns the clock back nearly 100 years here in the seemingly unprogressive South and is simply embarrassing. There is no argument against the Theory of Evolution other than that of religious doctrine. The Monkey Law only opens the door for fanatic Christianity to creep its way back into our classrooms. You can see my visual response as a Tennessean to this absurd law on my artist’s blog
.... More
at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/04/pulpit-in-classroom-biblical-... with some evolutionary art and a little bit of simple logic.
|
foopee
foopee Aug 27 2012 at 6:46 PM
Bill Nye's Propaganda Nye presented no facts at all; he merely rehashed the same tired old Darwinist mantras that have been repeated for decades, along with scare tactics. He also admitted that he was a disciple of the late noted atheist/evolutionist Carl Sagan. When someone uses the kind of inflamatory and irresponsible rhetoric that we see in Nye's video, it represents the last, desperate attempt to prop up a failing theory after all of the scientific evidence has proven to be false and all the
.... More
other phoney arguments have been exhausted. Still, Nye plies the old tactics used by those long before him skilled in the art of evolutionist propaganda: If you just repeat a lie long enough it will eventually be believed. For a much better documented video on creation, see Lee Strobel's Well Researched Documentary on Creationism Versus Bill Nye's Propaganda @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41OctGhh3yQ&feature=related
|

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Log in or register to post comments

EDITORS' PICKS

tease weird things

line

tease cellars

line

tease fishing

Advertisement

NEWSLETTER

Mother Nature. Delivered
Advertisement