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Originally Posted by docbungle
Ah, the old "people are too stupid to understand" excuse. Blaming Chrichton for other's stupidity is just, well, stupid.
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I'm not blaming Chrichton - if you'll read carefully, you'll see that I exempt Chrichton from blame for anything other than being a self-important ass. I blame people for being stupid.
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And blaming scientists for being too smart for the general population to understand seems to underline the general public's laziness, imo, and not the scientist's lack of baby-talking abilities.
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I'm not blaming scientists for being too smart for the general population, I'm blaming them for refusing to speak to the general population. I work with well-respected, credible researchers for a living, and they're terrified of talking to the public because they're afraid their work will be misconstrued. They need to be proactive in communicating and controlling how their work is likely to be interpreted and provide interpretations that are warranted, rather than just being silent.
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Semms to imply the science community should dumb itself down so normal people can understand them a bit more. I say the normal person should smarten up, and stop blaming their ignorance on whatever new scapegoat happens to come through town.
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Um...that's kind of exactly what I said. People are dumb, but scientists don't help the situation by ensuring that the only voices out there are the quacks.
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Nice little jab at Christians there, though. Nice and subtle. Religious beliefs imply scientific illiteracy? Pray tell.
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Not what I said. Religious beliefs are not inherently at odds with science. However, there is a substantial proportion of people (45%) who believe, and I quote, that "God created humans in present form"
http://www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/cu.../evol-poll.htm, meaning that humans are not the product of evolution but of divine creation. Despite all scientific evidence to the contrary. So no, religious beliefs do not imply scientific illiteracy. Religous beliefs that ignore all scientific evidence that contradicts their literal interpretation of biblical mythos DOES, imho.
Nice try at starting a fight, though.