Nota Bene: What the youtuber suspects is quote mining is in fact quote mining. Dawkins was asked what he thought the most plausible version of ID would be... he was asked to use his imagination, and he did, positing that aliens designed us. Stein then misrepresents the quote to fit his own purpose. Intellectual honesty, anyone? Oh wait, the makers of Expelled aren't the least bit concerned with that.
Link
Below the fold are a few youtube videos that I've come across that address the movie Expelled. I haven't yet seen the film, although there is a plan to see it later in the week. I'll be sure to write my own review after I've seen it. At any rate, though, the videos below argue (and, in my opinion, argue well, given the available evidence) that Stein and his movie demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of evolutionary theory, and are more than willing to lie in order to advance their agenda. Of special note is the last video in the series which details what actually happened to those who claim to have been "expelled" for their views on ID. Happy Watching!
Link
Link
Link
Link
Creationists often complain about the lack of transitional fossils. They claim that evolution has been disproven because we haven't found the fossils that would verify the theory. Blah, blah, blah. Well, since I'm so sick of hearing it... and since Ben Stein's IDiotic movie will be coming out soon, I thought I would compile some of my favorite youtube videos laying out the fossil record. Some are more science intensive than others, and there is some overlap between them. And, of course, there is no way the whole fossil record could be documented by a couple of youtube videos (as a matter of fact, I'm missing early mammal to our primate ancestors in this video compilation). But have fun... you're guaranteed to learn something watching these!
We have the fossils. We win!
In the beginning....
(The link to this video)
And then the earth was peopled with fish and reptiles and mammals and the great whale...
(link)
(link)
But where did we come from? Glad you asked....
(link)
(link)
Many thanks to somecomputergeek, KennyTew2 and DonExodus2 for these awesome videos!
So, this is definitely a bit of ID/Creationist material, and if you listen closely you can hear the bad arguments of the creationists and theists slipped coyly in. But it's still absolutely hilarious. Anything that has Dennett in a big pimp hat with a cane can't help but be funny.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Update 4/8/08: After significant discussion with other atheists who have seen the video, I have come to the conclusion that this is in fact not creationist propaganda, but rather satire. (Would a real creationist put a squid on PZ's hat? Highly improbable.)This is just an instantiation of Poe's Law - creationist beliefs are indistinguishable from parody of those beliefs.
Okay, okay, it’s just intellectual infatuation… with a youtuber named ProfMTH. If his videos are any indication, this guy gives great lecture. A taste of the sort of video he puts out below the fold, but I would suggest checking out his channel page and watching some more. The videos are so good I can even ignore the fact that he supports Obama!
So, while I was meandering around YouTube (rather than doing the grading I ought to be doing... I'll go back to it in a sec. Promise) I discovered this great video explaining why atheists care about religion (with Pantera playing in the background. Nice!) I thought I would share it. You can find it below the fold.
I often get asked why, as an atheist, I care about religion, or why I spend so much time talking about god. Well, I care about religion for much the same reasons the youtuber who made the video cares. Religion has a detrimental impact on my life and the lives of others. And I spend so much time talking about whether god exists or not because almost all religions (particularly the most harmful ones) are based around a deity. Do away with the deity, do away with the religion.
The number one reason that I spend so much time and effort talking about religion and god, though, is that religious belief and theism are based on the same thing - faith. Faith is a bad epistemic method. And continuing to accept it in our society is damaging in more ways than one. Not only does it breed religious belief, but it also leads people to accept spurious claims - to rely on woo, waste time searching for ghosts, and to reject the opponents of faith. Opponents that have brought us so much good (and, yes, in the wrong hands, some bad - but way more good). I talk about religion and god because I support reason and evidence. Because I support science, and because I see the foundation of religion and theism -faith - as antithetical to these pursuits.
I've just discovered that one of my favorite youtubers, TheAmazingAtheist - who is often vulgar, but always fun for the *ahem* choir to watch, has a blog! Go check it out, if you dare.
In a previous post, I mentioned some of the problems with legally defining a zygote as a person, as a bill before the Georgia state legislature proposes. George Carlin hits pretty much each and every point I made... with much better timing.
Warning: He uses explicit language and there are adult themes, so if you're seriously offended by that sort of thing...well, you're missing out.
