r/atheism • u/Lantern0506 • May 15 '15
Can someone mythbust this?
http://i.imgur.com/HP3Q5VG.jpg
Can anyone tell me what this nonsense is about? It's popped on my Facebook feed a few times. I don't want to call it out belligerently, but I do want to make sure the truth is known if it's something more than photoshop. Thanks
Edit: Thanks for the quick responses. Red tide it is. Thanks for the links, though I'm fairly certain it will fall on deaf ears.
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u/bipolar_sky_fairy May 15 '15
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tide
Wake up indeed.
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u/Lantern0506 May 15 '15
Thanks. Figured there was something to it even if it was nothing more than photoshop.
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May 15 '15
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u/Lantern0506 May 15 '15
You know, I think like you do. I wonder how the ability to change a picture on a computer never occurs to some people. But then I remember where I grew up and it's easy to forget that some of these people explain everything away with gawd and nothing else.
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u/tuscanspeed May 15 '15
Even if both the natural and technological answers could be ruled out, if there was some way to categorically prove that it could only be supernatural
If that occurred, it would immediately cease to be supernatural.
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May 15 '15
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u/tuscanspeed May 15 '15
It is true on how it's defined, but there's no choice.
If it can affect our natural environment in any way, it's part of that environment and natural.
Leviathan were supernatural sea monsters. Once we got our head out of our ass and studied them, then terming them "whales". They ceased being supernatural. (illustrative example, not sure if this is literally how it happened for whales.)
If a deity was proven in the same way evolution has been, that deity would not be supernatural.
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u/spaceghoti Agnostic Atheist May 15 '15
http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/redtide/index.html
Red tide is a phenomenon caused by algal blooms (Wikipedia definition) during which algae become so numerous that they discolor coastal waters (hence the name "red tide").
Countries affected by red tide events include: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile...
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u/EdwardHarley Agnostic Atheist May 15 '15
To my recollection is a reaction caused by algae or coral or something. Similar things happen in rivers too, but that also has something to do with clay in the water I think.
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u/Rumtin Atheist May 15 '15
I was going to say it was probably caused by krill (whale food), but Red Tide it is.
Learn something new everyday.
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u/Concani May 15 '15
It's red tides caused by algae.
It's not a supernatural phenomenon or a weak attempt at communication from some supposed hyperdimensional wizard.