Re: A word that sounds like it is pronounced

Django Cat wrote:
On 19 Aug, 15:03, "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
[...]
I think it's more sinister yet, which is why I actually _care_ about
creationism and Biblical literalism. Some of them don't really seem
to believe in facts at all: I can't get into the thought processes
involved, but their mental diagram of the universe is certainly very
different from the one I recognize. Similarly, they can't really get
into educated thought processes, as you said above. It may all seem
trivial, but I think active resistance is needed to limit their
influence in schools and in political discourse --even in the UK,
which may not be as immune as we tend to think.

--

I think you'd recognise a lot of the ideas in Francis Wheen's "How
Mumbo-jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions",
Mike. Not the hilarious romp described by the Paxman quote on the
blurb, but more a rather depressing and entirely convincing account
of... well, how mumbo-jumbo has conquered the world over the last 30
years. There's telling stuff about pseudo-science, creationism,
fundamenatlist islam and, I think, moon landing deniers.

Yes, I've got a copy. It is as you say. A real Vinny-style
enjoying-being-appalled trip at intervals, but mostly depressing.

That last
one makes me more angry than anything - I've just read Andrew
Chaikin's A Man on the Moon - if the landings were a conspiracy a hell
of a lot of people were in on it. More to the point, I just think
this particular conspiracy theory really denies humanity it's
fundamental brilliance. And while we're on the subject, why is it OK
to believe that little green men are capable of faster-than-light
travel across titanic distances of space to get to us, but humans
weren't actually capable of a hop to a small rock we can all see just
offshore?

Yes, very strange: setting up a fake would --unless I'm being
particularly naive --have been a lot more hassle than actually going
there. An impressive achievement in its own right. In fact, it would
have been a seriously impressive feat simply to silence the various
Russian spies NASA must always have been crawling with, and who would
have Known All.

It would be typical, though, if they really did go to the moon, but
screwed up some of the key photo-ops and therefore had to fake some of
it after all. That I'd willingly believe.

I'm also much tickled by the notion of interplanetary travellers who
bust the light-speed barrier to get all the way from Zeta Minestroni or
somewhere to make a soft landing on Earth in order to show off their
skills in stone-masonry.

--
Mike.



--
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.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A word that sounds like it is pronounced
    ... to believe in facts at all: I can't get into the thought processes ... There's telling stuff about pseudo-science, creationism, ... fundamenatlist islam and, I think, moon landing deniers. ... This means, for example, that if you set out to travel from the Earth ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: did man walk on the moon...and creationism.
    ... crazed fanatics who think there's a conspiracy to hide the fact man ... never walked on the moon. ... the parallels with creationism are striking: ... not ones that explain facts and makes predictions. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: did man walk on the moon...and creationism.
    ... never walked on the moon. ... the parallels with creationism are remarkable. ... not ones that explain facts and makes predictions. ... a place for intelligent design in the evolution of life. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: did man walk on the moon...and creationism.
    ... never walked on the moon. ... the parallels with creationism are remarkable. ... not ones that explain facts and makes predictions. ... a place for intelligent design in the evolution of life. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: did man walk on the moon...and creationism.
    ... never walked on the moon. ... the parallels with creationism are remarkable. ... not ones that explain facts and makes predictions. ... a place for intelligent design in the evolution of life. ...
    (talk.origins)
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