On Monday, December 1, 2014 1:45:57 AM UTC, Liz R wrote: > > For some reason a lot of religious people attempt to argue that Darwin was > wrong, just as a lot of people seem to have always wanted to show that > Einstein was wrong. There appears to be something about these targets that > attracts a certain type of person, even though there might be better > pickings to be had objecting to the big bang or quantum theory from the > point of view of scoring points for the worldview being pushed. After all, > the Bible (for example) says that God made the Heavens and the Earth (and > the rest of the universe gets a throwaway line), so why object specifically > to evolution rather than, say, theories of planetary formation? > > I'd guess because... > > 1. people take it personally that their ancestors were simpler creatures. > 2. it's a target they can sort of, more or less, understand, even if they > can't really. > > (I have a feeling people object to Einstein's theories because they don't > like the idea of being browbeaten by Jewish intellectuals...) >
I can't disagree for the simple reason creationist nut over-representation on Darwin and anti-Semite over representation on Einstein is fait accompli pretty much the same regardess which one of us is right. If you are right, then ....well you say they are over-represented, and this is the case you are right, so...there they are! On the other hand if I'm right and these are two areas that have seen periods of large discouragement and disincentive to 'look there'. Well then, by consequence of that, all the genuine truth seekers never showed up at all. And the consequence of that is that the people that did show up are going to be religious nut and anti-Semite over-represented. So we have to go to the details Liz, and bring in other exhibits supporting our case. My Exhibit A is: Richard Feynman hasn't received anti-semitically motivated criticism at anything like the levels you imply for Einstein. Yet for a large number of people he's up there at the very top table of great scientific genius. He has also received a huge amount of dissent and criticism. No one says that is anti-Semitic. And by and large (I think) it's been dispelled. Exhibit B is hugely disproportionate 25% of Nobels. A lot of big names there and all have received criticism yet none apparent involving dramatical levels of anti-Semitism. Exhibit C: It's not about the theories with Einstein. It's about whether he took other peoples ideas. You are aware Hilbert published the complete field equations 5 days before Einstein? You are aware every single character of the 1905 paper bar one, appears in papers in 1904, 1903 and further back. Einstein claimed he never read them. Late in life he tacitly conceded he did. And his two close friends later went on record they all been there and they pored over those papers for weeks. Those are legitimate reasons to doubt Einstein. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
