Posted on 11/28/2005 6:54:46 AM PST by Right Wing Professor
Intelligent design — already the planned subject of a controversial Kansas University seminar this spring — will make its way into a second KU classroom in the fall, this time labeled as a “pseudoscience.”
In addition to intelligent design, the class Archaeological Myths and Realities will cover such topics as UFOs, crop circles, extrasensory perception and the ancient pyramids.
John Hoopes, associate professor of anthropology, said the course focused on critical thinking and taught how to differentiate science and “pseudoscience.” Intelligent design belongs in the second category, he said, because it cannot be tested and proven false.
“I think this is very important for students to be articulate about — they need to be able to define and recognize pseudoscience,” Hoopes said.
News of the new class provided fresh fuel to conservatives already angered that KU planned to offer a religious studies class this spring on intelligent design as “mythology.”
“The two areas that KU is trying to box this issue into are completely inappropriate,” said Brian Sandefur, a mechanical engineer in Lawrence who has been a vocal proponent of intelligent design.
Intelligent design is the idea that life is too complex to have evolved without a “designer,” presumably a god or other supernatural being. That concept is at the heart of Kansas’ new public school science standards — greatly ridiculed by the mainstream science community but lauded by religious conservatives — that critique the theory of evolution.
Hoopes said his class would be a version of another course, titled Fantastic Archaeology, which he helped develop as a graduate student at Harvard University.
The course will look at the myths people have created to explain mysterious occurrences, such as crop circles, which some speculate were caused by extraterrestrials.
The course will explore how myth can be created to negative effects, as in the case of the “myth of the moundbuilders.” In early American history, some people believed the earthen mounds found primarily in the area of the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys were the works of an ancient civilization destroyed by American Indians. The myth contributed to the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which relocated American Indians east of the Mississippi to lands in the west, Hoopes said.
“It was that popular explanation that then became a cause for genocide,” Hoopes said.
That example shows the need to identify pseudoscience, he said.
“What I’m trying to do is deal with pseudoscience regardless of where it’s coming from,” he said.
But Sandefur said intelligent design was rooted in chemistry and molecular biology, not religion, and it should be discussed in science courses.
“The way KU is addressing it I think is completely inadequate,” he said.
Hoopes said he hoped his class stirs controversy. He said students liked to discuss topics that are current and relevant to their lives.
“Controversy makes people think,” he said. “The more controversy, the stronger the course is.”
The question that I've been wondering about is, what flood inspired the flood stories that we find in the world's major religions? A flood in Idaho is very interesting, but it would have been the tree that fell in the forest that no one heard. What flood's echo is found in the Book of Genesis? Was it a particular flood? If so, there was apparently a major flood about 7,500 years ago when the Mediterranean broke through the Straits of Bosphorous into the Black Sea. That's the one the settlements were found in, not the Mediterranean, BTW (my mistake, sorry).
It doesn't have to be one single flood. You would expect flood stories to figure large in ancient hydraulic civilisations.
by Unknown
Who's watching
Tell me who's watching
Who's watching me
I'm just an average man with an average life
I work from 9 to 5, hey hell, I pay the price
All I want is to be left alone, in my average home
But why do I always feel
Like I'm in the Twilight Zone? and...
I always feel like somebody's watching me
And I have no privacy, whoa-oa-oa
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Tell me, is it just a dream
When I come home at night
I bang the door real tight
People call me on the phone I'm trying to avoid
Or can the people on TV see me, or am I just paranoid?
When I'm in the shower, I'm afraid to wash my hair
Cause I might open my eyes and find someone standing there!
People say I'm crazy, just a little touch
But maybe showers remind me of "Psycho" too much
That's why...
I always feel like somebody's watching me
And I have no privacy, whoa-oa-oa
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Who's playing tricks on me?
Who's watching me
I don't know anymore!
Are the neighbours watching me?
Who's watching
Well is the mailman watching me?
Tell me who's watching
And I don't feel safe anymore, oh what a mess
I wonder who's watching me now
Who?
The IRS?!
I always feel like somebody's watching me
And I have no privacy, whoa-oa-oa
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Tell me is it just a dream
I always feel like somebody's watching me
And I have no privacy, whoa-oa-oa
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Who's playing tricks on me?
Who's watching me?
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Oooh, whoa-oa-oa
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Tell me, can it be?
Who's watching me?
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Whoa-oa-oa
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Who's playing tricks on me?
Who's watching me?
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Can I have my privacy
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Who's playing tricks on me?
I agree with you to an extent. There are some who use their belief for nefarious purposes. I see it here in some politics and with politicians. I'm glad my congregation stays out of politics except for some moral matters. I go to church to learn about God, not to listen to political matters.
I do think that some people get so wrapped up in their "cause" that that in effect becomes their religion. I see it with some people here who seem to be never satisfied with what they have. When their neighbor gets something, they've got to get that too.
Being a Christian is about living it too. It's not just going to church one day a week. One should live it every day.
Yes, the Jim Jones type examples are always given. I think they speak for themself and it is my belief they will get their due.
I for one, think that we as Christians should be "in the world" but not "of the world." In other words, we have to live and deal with those who do not share our beliefs, but that doesn't mean that I have to do things that some people do. It doesn't mean I withdraw from the world at all in my own little enclave or corner, but that I do try to be a good person and to strive to be a good influence/example in my own little corner of the world, striving to make it a better place for others.
Like I mentioned before, look on any religion thread and you can see just how virulent and contentious people can become towards one another on religion. For me, I have my own faith and beliefs and I can respect others.
I can sit here and complain about stuff or I can try to be an influence for good and serve others. I choose the latter.
Been there, done that, got the baptism. But eventually I discovered that many things in life can give you many different types of feelings. That's all a conversion experience is, a feeling. Christianity is a benign place for people to wrap their feelings and lives into. It has a good philosophy, and I recommend it for many. My children and grandchildren go to church regularly, and I do not bring up my ideas about faith to them. But exploiting feelings via religion can be a dangerous thing. Remember the folks who thought there was a spaceship behind the Hale-Bopp comet and committed suicide? And Jim Jones, wow. And all those terrorists out there, all of them motivated by their feelings manipulated by skillful people. Many of those skillful manipulators certainly believed in their faith 100%. But since the first prerequisite of a faith is the ability to be dishonest with yourself about what is reality, and what is not, religion has the ability to attract some very dishonest people on occasion. Religion is like fire. It can be a wonderful servant, or an evil master.
I agree with you to an extent. There are some who use their belief for nefarious purposes. I see it here in some politics and with politicians. I'm glad my congregation stays out of politics except for some moral matters. I go to church to learn about God, not to listen to political matters.
I do think that some people get so wrapped up in their "cause" that that in effect becomes their religion. I see it with some people here who seem to be never satisfied with what they have. When their neighbor gets something, they've got to get that too.
Being a Christian is about living it too. It's not just going to church one day a week. One should live it every day.
Yes, the Jim Jones type examples are always given. I think they speak for themself and it is my belief they will get their due.
I for one, think that we as Christians should be "in the world" but not "of the world." In other words, we have to live and deal with those who do not share our beliefs, but that doesn't mean that I have to do things that some people do. It doesn't mean I withdraw from the world at all in my own little enclave or corner, but that I do try to be a good person and to strive to be a good influence/example in my own little corner of the world, striving to make it a better place for others.
Like I mentioned before, look on any religion thread and you can see just how virulent and contentious people can become towards one another on religion. For me, I have my own faith and beliefs and I can respect others.
I can sit here and complain about stuff or I can try to be an influence for good and serve others. I choose the latter.
They are interesting to read about sometimes. Maybe those dry and high civilizations had better forms of diapers.
Mamzelle needs to be nominated for "Currently unbanned Freeper most out of touch with reality".
Now, if only "The Galapagos Finch" would serve Caffreys too... Perhaps there is a suggestion for (solemn hushed tones) the Grand Master.
I wouldn't be so sure, it is a packed field with awesome competition.
And you created matter in the same slam?
Who?
Sorry, you are probably referring to an entity that has crossed my VI event horizon and is now irrevocably disconnected from my universe. I have no knowledge of this creature; is it French?
Geez, did you get out from under the wrong side of the rock this morning?
And you created matter in the same slam?
When I was a kid, I sure did. I created the matter that I was in deep doodoo with my mom and dad for doing it.
I actually have competition???? Oh fiddlesticks!!! I turned around a thread yesterday from being about a politician to being about giant rats and giant cats. The day before that I got into a competition with another person on who could make the most puns with the word moog.
You might enjoy this edifying essay on gravity.
http://www.re-discovery.org/gravity_1.html
I won't argue with you about the honest part, but the coherency I will. You obviously haven't read some of my posts:) (e.g. #247 here). Some of them make me wonder. I just can't help it sometimes. When I do a good BS paragraph, then I REALLY am out of touch with reality, though I do those on purpose (haven't done any for a while though).
Hehe
Yeah, it's right down my alley, that's for sure. I can appreciate it in more ways than one.
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