It would seem thar Elon Musk also believes we had an intelligent designer.
we live in a simulation of our ancestors
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Originally Posted by peter12
So you should have the right to limit their Charter-guaranteed rights because... why?
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It isn't a guaranteed right to teach such ideas in public school. If they want to disadvantage their community by teaching things that allow them to aspire to stone age living standards in their churches and private schools then so be it. Heck, establish a class on mythology and teach all of the world's creation myths, the importance to the numerous cultures that sprouted them, how they've influenced art and storytelling and so on... but never, ever pretend that creationism holds equivalence to any sort of evidence based theory until there is proper evidence to support it. It is irresponsible and even dangerous to teach children creationism on the same level as evolution.
Science isn't a collection of subjects like chemistry and biology, it is a way of thinking. Teaching our children to be curious, to challenge established authority in a healthy fashion, thinking logically but also being able to make leaps of intuitive creativity to break barriers, communicating challenging concepts effectively, bearing the burden of repeatability, being able to change one's mind (or indeed, very many minds) in the face of strong evidence, and giving them the tools to do all of these wonderful things is the very basis of every significant piece of progress in our culture and standard of living in the modern Era. Take that away, risk that, and we regress.
Carl Sagan said it far better than I ever could:
When people are allowed to influence public health and well being with phrases like "the science isn't settled" and then point to narrow data sets that obfuscate opinion, and worse, action, on critical issues you can be assured that it isn't the data sets or the theories that aren't settled, it is the very way the public grasps the scientific method. It is no longer acceptable to lack an understanding of science, based on the technological capabilities of our civilization. Those aren't slowing down.
This isn't a statement about ignorance. Indeed, for every question science answers, many more get created. Therfore science actually is better at growing the amount of things we do not know. So it is true, science expands our collective ignorance. However, it also expands out awareness.
To not accept basic fact and join the rest of cultured civilization eventually will result in a scenario which could ruin us. And frankly, I don't trust that those who would lead us down this path wouldn't welcome it as an inevitable judgement of their God. Sorry, but f that. You see this time and again with folks who refuse medical treatments for themselves or their children as a means to put up collateral on their beliefs that they won't get into Heaven without following the rules. Great... do that to yourself but the second that starts to extend beyond that tiny circle it is a problem that needs to be discussed.
This sacred cow of believing faith and theocratic teachings of faith to be forever static and unwavering on the extreme right, and the subsequent sacred cow of political correctness to defend the right to do so on the extreme left has got to be one of the greatest risks to our society and frankly it comes down to poor thinking. It's not because we aren't capable of thinking clearly either, it is becuase we are taught or lead to think otherwise.
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Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos
I don't know about "normally".
You can be two out of three, and that ain't bad, but you can be prosperous, and you can be industrious, but you can't believe in creationist nonsense and be "rational" all at the same time.
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Not true. It's perfectly rational provided you have the requisite beliefs. If you BELIEVE that you cannot get into Heaven if you challenge the idea that God created all of the Universe as prescribed in the text, then it is perfectly rational to be a creationist. So in my mind there is a 4th character trait on top of industrious, rational and prosperous for these folks - AFRAID.