Dumb Questions
PZ Myers has a brilliant takedown of Deepak Chopra’s retarded anti-evolution rant at The Huffington Post. This quote in particular is so mind-numbingly stupid that it deserves to be highlighted :
How does evolution know where to stop? The pressure to evolve is constant; therefore it is hard to understand why evolution isn’t a constant.
PZ points out that evolution is a slow, ongoing process that we’re in the middle of, but Chopra has a good point there. Along those same lines, here’s a few questions I’ve always wondered about :
If the Earth is really round, where does it start bending? It’s perfectly flat where I am. If people evolved from monkeys, why don’t humans sometimes give birth to monkeys? (I was actually asked this question by a creationist) Where does the Sun go at night? Don’t give me that crap about it being behind the Earth either. We all know that the sun is 4-5 times larger than the Earth. When did unicorns and dragons go extinct? If the planet is constantly rotating, why can’t we feel it move? Finally, why are life forms beautiful? Beauty is everywhere in Nature, yet it serves no obvious purpose.
By the way, that last one was Deepak Chopra again. There’s a reason why I try to avoid getting scientific information from people who specialize in New Age bullshit….
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As a part-time blogger I suffer from the curse of “too many blogs, too little time.” Thanks for directing me right to a sweet spot.
Some observations:
(1) “There’s a reason why I try to avoid getting scientific information from people who specialize in New Age bullshit….”
That’s because you are wise. Whatever tiny interest I had vanished in the little-lamented days of EST. (Depending on your age, you may have to look that up.)
(2) Beauty
Uh, “beauty” within a species? Peacocks are beautiful, but I have never gotten a woody. Squids? Don’t go there.
(3) Birthing monkeys
Occasionally humans do give birth to monkeys: Chopra, for example.
Comment by Glen — August 26, 2005 @ 2:28 am
On beauty…Isn’t beauty a subjective measure? (eye of the beholder and all that crap?). Such that we find things beautiful because they are the things that surround us and that we are used to? Whenever I hear something like this, I’m instantly reminded of the Twilight Zone episode where all of the “beautiful” people had pig faces and the woman who looked like “us” was considered deformed.
Comment by sam — August 26, 2005 @ 6:03 am
Dragons and unicorns are extinct?
No way!
Next, you’re going to tell me that the Loch Ness Monster can’t get a date, and that Yeti and Sasquatch are different species.
Comment by Ereshkigal — August 26, 2005 @ 9:22 am
Never…EVER get into any sort of discussion about evolution with any sort of Christian. It will never turn out well. Either they won’t listen to your part of the debate or they will continually ask for proof.
In turn they will give you none back aside from what they say they have read in the Bible. If that is the case then ask them what was the name of Adam’s first wife. Hint, it wasn’t Eve.
Comment by Kryten Syxx — August 26, 2005 @ 10:09 am
I once met Chopra — he was an idiot.
Comment by Joe — August 27, 2005 @ 12:32 am
I too have a few questions I wanted to share:
-Why do the beautiful and intelligent forest dwellers come in three varieties – elves, fairies and pixies?
-If gravity is what keeps us down, why is it always the “man” keeping us down? Is gravity a man?
-How long, how long must we sing this song?
Comment by Bob Davis — August 27, 2005 @ 1:05 pm
You forgot Billy Conolly’s impportant question about how pubic hair knows when to stop growing.
Comment by Avedon — August 29, 2005 @ 5:58 pm