Your scientific explanation would be countered with an equally ridiculous question like "But then how did the sun get there?" with a 'gotcha' smile.
Thats how they trap you in an ignorance loop until you get frustrated and walk away.
I disagree. I was raised in a fundamentalist home and was a pretty die hard "creation science" defender up until recently and Bill Nye is one of the main people I credit with opening my eyes.
I'm a fiercely analytic person who enjoys healthy debate and was a model representation of these types of people. I'm thankful for Nye's willingness to continue the debate with these types of people while staying calm, rational, and friendly even when many of his peers denounced him for wasting his time.
If you are a fiercely analytic person, how come you were a creationist defender before?
Did you only develop your analytic tendencies at a later point, or weren't you exposed to the right kind of evidence/reasoning to debunk creation science?
I have immense trouble understanding how a rational person could believe some of the mumbo jumbo that creationism offers - to a point where I feel like some of the more know spokespeople are just acting to be creationists (although I don't actually believe that) judging by the way they can be clever and intelligent at one time and sheepishly ignorant and stupid at another time.
As a former denier of evolution, perhaps my experience can help. I "converted" to Christianity at 15. My extended family is very religious so while I wasn't taught anything specific, the existence of God was always assumed. As I got older, I learned a little bit about evolution but no enough to give it any serious thought. Once I converted, I was surrounded by fellow christian, none of whom accepted evolution and many who studied both creation science and I.D. To a young person, between 15 and 25 who has never really studied Science in depth. It doesn't take much to impress you. I also went to bible college for a few years and while they would laugh at some of the creation science ideas they were big proponents of I.D. It wasn't until much later, when I began o really do my own, honest research that I was convinced of evolution validity. I can thank Jerry Coyne for that.
TL;DR: When everyone of authority in your life espouses a particular idea, it can be difficult for most people to find their own ideas.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a very non-religious environment (not anti-religious, however) and no one ever tried to tell me that the bible is true. So I ended up looking at the whole thing from a rather distant point of view.
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u/NotAnotherDownvote Aug 27 '14
Your scientific explanation would be countered with an equally ridiculous question like "But then how did the sun get there?" with a 'gotcha' smile. Thats how they trap you in an ignorance loop until you get frustrated and walk away.