Can Someone Really Be This Willfully Stupid?

I know it’s easy to pick on certain people in general, and popular in certain circles to pick on this person in particular, but come on, when someone goes on TV and is this belligerently and willfully ignorant, a few comments (even if they are negative) seem necessary.

Do you know what’s really important for a “fully functioning” human brain? The fact that our skulls aren’t fused at birth (a genetic ‘defect’) that allows our brains to get nice and big, and allows us to be ‘smart’. A mouse brain is not large enough to house all the complexities of the human animal. Sorry. (And no, that episode of Pinky and the Brain was not on the history channel Christine!)

If anyone cares, she’s probably referencing a study from National Geographic from Dec 2005. To say she has misunderstood it, and misrepresented it would be a small understatement.

Another gem:

First off, evolution is not a ‘myth’… at least, I assume, if Christine actually knew how the word ‘myth’ was properly used, she would not use it in this sense. Myths, in the academic sense, are a reflection of a society’s understanding of reality, proper behaviour, and a mirror of their own perception of themselves (insiders) or others (outsiders).

She most likely meant ‘Evolution is a fiction’ in the sense that it is a fabrication that is outright false. Very likely, this is not an issue that she has pursued in any serious way, and is actually one of the silly myths propagated in ignorant conservative evangelical circles. The actual goal of such rhetoric is to make it unnecessary to investigate any scientific evidence. It is not a scientific rebuttal to evolution, but rather, an apologetic argument designed to keep people ignorant.

As opposed to Christine’s view, I thought the words of an actual scientist might be useful (again). What’s more, he’s a creationist, but Todd C. Wood is a trained scientist. And as such, he recognizes that the scientific basis of evolution is strong:

Evolution is not a theory in crisis. It is not teetering on the verge of collapse. It has not failed as a scientific explanation. There is evidence for evolution, gobs and gobs of it. It is not just speculation or a faith choice or an assumption or a religion. It is a productive framework for lots of biological research, and it has amazing explanatory power. There is no conspiracy to hide the truth about the failure of evolution. There has really been no failure of evolution as a scientific theory. It works, and it works well.

Or you could believe Christine… cause clearly, she’s a genius.

Advertisement