What do you think Dr. Novella?

Thanks,

Bill

“What transitional fossils? I’ve not seen any – and one cannot attempt to link one group of animals to another group on the other side of the world.

Where are the transitional animals from rats to horses? In my estimation, whether the horse has three toes or a hoof, it is still a horse based on appearances only. So far, how many animals can we … Read Moreactually link with DNA tests? I dont think there are too many, if any, that that can be done with – thus, again in my estimation we have a lot of conjecture here and no hard science like DNA comparisons to cinch the deal.”

What should I say to a guy like this, if anything?

Great post. Ironically I was just talking about this subject with my wife yesterday since my daughter is now obsessed with walruses.

NOOOO!!!!! Stop her, stop here before it’s too late. I had a friend in high school was obsessed with walruses. Believe me, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. Get her off that track now or you are DOOOOOMED!!!

Ah, I see.

In my opinion, many of them do have cognitive dissonance in the sense that many know full well the problem evolution poses for their religion, but they bluster on anyway under the rubric of ends justifying means. They only pretend at an intellectual exercise in debating evolution vs. creationism, but in actuality, theirs is a political battle.

Just as many people continue to attend church through cultural inertia, without much genuine belief in the Bible as written, I suspect many of the creationist leaders accept evolution to a far greater degree than they’d ever admit publicly.

Yes, Harun Yahya, Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort, and many others use this argument all the time. And many of them just add more fuel to the cognitive dissonance by agreeing that “adaptation” is possible – that a lizard can “adapt” webbed feet or new organs, little by little, but can’t transform into another “kind” without going through this impossible state of being where they are “covered inside and out with useless growths and have parts under construction.”

It’s like suggesting that when a baby grows into an adult, first the right arm grows to full size, then the left foot, then the nose, and so on. Of course, that’s nonsense. In fact, the transformation is gradual and happens over the entire person. The intermediate forms are all perfectly viable, and we can even name them: “toddler”, “child”, “teenager”, etc.

In the evolution-denialist world, there are two types of people: those that openly lie and spend their time finding soundbites to make their lies sound better, and those who repeat the lies out of ignorance. If you educate the second group, eventually the first group gets marginalized like the Flat Earthers. But sadly, they never go extinct.

Couple of typos:

‘webbed feat’

‘utter failure’ (is that ‘udder failure’? In the context of the pun).

See my comment on “doublethink” above. Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort about the contradictory beliefs. My point was that creationist do not have cognitive dissonance, they have mastered “doublethink”.

Cognitive dissonance is just a term to describe when a person simultaneously holds contradictory beliefs. Obviously it’s a real thing and is very common. For psychology to have a term for it is hardly just a marketing strategy. The research on it is weak? ‘Research’ need go no further than the nearest church to confirm it.

Where did you get that idea?