Real Sceptic

Anti-evolution And Anti-climate Science Bills Laid Bare

Before I became active on YouTube I wasn’t aware of the NCSE, but I’ve become a big supporter of this organisation in the past few years, as they provide a very valuable service:

NCSE is a not-for-profit membership organization that defends the teaching of evolution and climate change in the public schools. NCSE provides information, resources, and advice to schools, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens defending science education.

And one of their activities are presentations about these issues. Of which the following video is a good example. It is a long video but well worth the time as it provides some insight in the language used and positions held by creationists. Especially in the context of laws they are attempting to pass to enable the teaching of it in schools:

Policy director Steve Newton dissects the recently passed Tennessee “monkey bill”, its cohorts, and the chilling effects on American science education. When: 4/15/2012. Where: Berkeley Public Library

Update 25 April 2012:

The Q&A section for this talk is now available.

Teaching Evolution In A Climate Of Science Denial

I’ve written before on how the creationism and intelligent design movement, and the discussions surrounding it in the United States, is quite the alien concept to me. With the very few things that I do know about biology, evolution and the scientific method that these proposed “theories” have absolutely no scientific merit whatsoever.

So I’m still amazed at how effective they have been, and still are, at spreading their disinformation. They have been especially effective with creating arguments that sound convincing, but when you take a closer look you find out that it’s just not supported by anything in science. In almost every single case it’s an argument/question that has already been dealt with by scientists.

This is the reason the following post on SkepticTV caught my attention. It also shows why it is important that organisations like the NCSE exist, and how important they are with helping teachers and schools in countering the nonsense: Read more