On February 4th, Bill Nye the science guy will go to Ken Ham's creation museum to have an evolution/creation debate.
There are many that would advise against debating creationists at all with the argument that giving them a platform is giving them too much credibility. To paraphrase Richard Dawkins, "It would be good for your CV but not for mine". However, this raises a conundrum. Something around 45% of Americans believe in creationism. The numbers show that over the years, people in the USA have only become more unsure about evolution.
How, then, is this to be challenged? To leave creationists alone, they're free to spread their message in their own bubble without question, getting their view point into the textbooks of Texas, passing it onto their kids. To challenge them directly, you risk giving them an even bigger platform.
Ken Ham is, specifically, a young Earth creationist that believes the Earth to be 6000 years old and believes that humans have existed from the beginning as they are without the process of evolution. Creationism in the USA is well funded, with museums showing animatronic dinosaurs alongside human beings.
I would have thought the information age would be enough to tackle this sort of thing - people being more connected to an abundance of information than they've ever been, enough to dispel any myths, but perhaps this same information technology is what allows creationists to continue to spread.
Anyway, what say you? Will you be watching?
There are many that would advise against debating creationists at all with the argument that giving them a platform is giving them too much credibility. To paraphrase Richard Dawkins, "It would be good for your CV but not for mine". However, this raises a conundrum. Something around 45% of Americans believe in creationism. The numbers show that over the years, people in the USA have only become more unsure about evolution.
How, then, is this to be challenged? To leave creationists alone, they're free to spread their message in their own bubble without question, getting their view point into the textbooks of Texas, passing it onto their kids. To challenge them directly, you risk giving them an even bigger platform.
Ken Ham is, specifically, a young Earth creationist that believes the Earth to be 6000 years old and believes that humans have existed from the beginning as they are without the process of evolution. Creationism in the USA is well funded, with museums showing animatronic dinosaurs alongside human beings.
I would have thought the information age would be enough to tackle this sort of thing - people being more connected to an abundance of information than they've ever been, enough to dispel any myths, but perhaps this same information technology is what allows creationists to continue to spread.
Anyway, what say you? Will you be watching?
