Friday, May 25, 2007

Creationism And Science


Kentucky's Creation Museum is two days away from opening. The museum claims to tell the full story of the Bible, but oddly includes animatronic displays of humans and dinosaurs living together. Using the same designers from Universal Studios, the museum offers opposing views to science. I think "Shrek in 4-D" at Universal Studios Hollywood does the same thing.
I wish religion didn't have such a problem with science. It's been going on for hundreds of years, and I don't get it. Any well rounded person should have room for both in their life. One is about faith, the other is about stuff you have to prove. I can accept that.
There's a name for this movement against science - it's called fundamentalism. Unchecked fundamentalism is what turned a place like Baghdad from the most advanced city in the world into the harrowing dust bowl of violence it is today. It's good to believe in God, but we better be careful with those who want to use Him for their own purposes.
Here's an excerpt from an article about how it may be human nature to resist science because of our childhood experiences:

"One intuition that causes trouble for science is "promiscuous teleology," a natural tendency in children to see a purpose and design in everything, part of normal development in making sense of the world. For this reason, children in studies prefer creationist explanations for animals and people."

The full piece here is pretty interesting.