Zygote Games
In Bone Wars, players become paleontologists trying to win prestige.
Posted on 12/27/2005 5:24:50 AM PST by Pharmboy
Zygote Games
In Bone Wars, players become paleontologists trying to win prestige.
The regular armies of science have long marshaled heavy intellectual weapons in their battle to keep creationism and its cousin, intelligent design, out of the nation's public schools. Among their big guns are philosophers of science, and even DNA.
snip...
But as many of the nation's science teachers know only too well, repeated declarations from the bench do not necessarily trump community pressure in a country where, surveys show, only a minority accepts Darwinian evolution.
So now guerrilla forces are joining the fray, with an unorthodox weapon: laughter.
snip...
"The scientific community just isn't touching John Q. Public," said Donald U. Wise, an emeritus professor of geology at the University of Massachusetts. "We just have to find a way of breaking through. The only way we will do that is with humor."
snip...
Another scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Diane Kelly, an adjunct professor of biology, is a founder of Zygote Games, a new company whose first product, "Bone Wars: The Game of Ruthless Paleontology," involves players who compete to reconstruct dinosaurs, learning as they go about how scientific theories are developed.
Because school officials in Kansas have redefined "science" so as to include intelligent design in the state's curriculum, the company offers the game at a 20 percent discount to residents of the state (zygotegames.com).
After the Kansas decision, Bobby Henderson, who variously describes himself as a concerned citizen, amateur pirate and a person of negligible education, created the on-line Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which holds that "an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
My bones proclaim a story of incompetent design
My back still hurts, my sinus clogs, my teeth just won't align
If I had drawn the blueprint I would certainly resign Incompetent Design!
Evo-Evo-Evolution. Design is but a mere illusion
Darwin sparked our revolution. Science shall prevail!
Pinging the evolution/sense-of-humor list...
See what kind of creatures you could produce if you introduced them to different environments.
Wow I better go patent that.
Patent Pending, Patent Pending, Patent Pending :)
That's pretty good...since my posting inspired you, do I get 10% of the profits?
It's probably been done, I'll let you know. lol
All is lost.
Arrogant scientists dig deeper culture's graves.
They lose soul and humanity in their cause.
Their cold, empty premises fill hearts and minds once brimming with hope.
All is lost.
The horrid spectacle of man over god prevails.
Avaricious minions consume what long was sacred.
Rear-guard protectors of goodness are slaughtered
As Darwin's distal drums encircle holy distaff homes.
All is lost.
How can we battle warriors that are not touched by aspirations higher than themselves?
They are to themselves rapacious gods.
Their plundered feasts were sacred offerings.
They trample precious icons.
All is lost.
Shall God not crush wild masters of the world?
Shall His authority not rein these stallions?
Shall we be subjugated to their wanton rants?
All is lost.
(next to last line)
Shall we be subjugated by their wanton rants?
I don't think anything is lost, we know exactly where it is
people have become to lazy and cowardly to get it back
can you imagine what it would have been like back in the old days of cattle drives?
with the first stampede the owners throw their arms up and say.. "well, they are all lost now" and then just go home to starve
hell no, they went after them and turned them back, maybe having to shoot some to help trip and create the turning
the only thing ever lost is the will to live, and what it takes to do it
Humour. The laughable side of creationism.
THE ANTI-EVOLUTION GAME. See how good you are at refuting evolution.
The reDiscovery Institute. Superb spoof of creationist tactics.
The Geocentric Bible web site. The Association for Biblical Astronomy.
TimeCube. An endless source of inspiration.
The Crackpot Index, by John Baez. See how high you can score.
The SKEPTIC annotated bibliography. Great pseudo-science meta- site!
Thought you might like the story in post 13 as well. :-)
O horrible man!
That's cute! Thanks.
(Sounds a little like an archaeology field trip. But until the statute of limitations runs out...)
Page 2 was the additional evidence I needed. I used to laugh at Gene, but no more. Now I will spread the word.
Fossil Feud
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