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Author Topic:   Infuriating arguments
herebedragons
Member (Idle past 887 days)
Posts: 1517
From: Michigan
Joined: 11-22-2009


(2)
Message 28 of 56 (665933)
06-19-2012 10:31 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by NoNukes
06-19-2012 1:51 PM


"solar energy"
I actually built a solar furnace for my inorganic chemistry final project using a 27 cm x 27 cm Fresnel lens (the kind used in overhead projectors). I focused the sunlight to about a 2 cm circle and put a thermocoupler connected to a Microlab system directly into the beam. The temperature went to 915 deg C (1680 deg F) in about 1 minute! By heating a steel ball bearing with the beam, I was able to calculate that the furnace produced about 20 Watts of power (~270 watts / sq meter). And this was end of April / early May, so the sun wasn't even at its peak then.
But it didn't even occur to me to try it at night.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by NoNukes, posted 06-19-2012 1:51 PM NoNukes has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 29 by saab93f, posted 06-20-2012 5:43 AM herebedragons has not replied

  
herebedragons
Member (Idle past 887 days)
Posts: 1517
From: Michigan
Joined: 11-22-2009


Message 30 of 56 (665953)
06-20-2012 8:38 AM
Reply to: Message 25 by Trixie
06-19-2012 6:59 PM


Re: The stupid, it burns!
Trixie, the persons you cited in this post seem as if they are truly ignorant. They have little or no scientific knowledge and get their information from piecing together stuff posted on creationist websites. In many ways, they are to be forgiven and patiently corrected. For the most part, I don't believe they are actually interested in the science behind what they are discussing but instead they are victims of this false dichotomy that the radical fundies (redundant adjective?) are pushing. "If evolution is true then the entire Bible is false" or "Since the Bible is true, then evolution is false and the Earth was created in 6 literal days" is the mentality that drives most people to defend creationism - not the science behind it.
While many on this forum would ridicule that type of thinking, I understand it and don't necessarily think it is something to be criticized. What is to be criticized is those behind this false information; people such as this admin you mentioned. They are arrogant, self-righteous, condescending as well as ignorant - traits that are the exact opposite of what a Christian should be. I am not clear what truly motivates this group; it is not the love of science, neither is it the quest for truth, and I would think that defending the Christian faith would require a different approach (ie. not telling lies, not being arrogant and self-righteous).
As a fellow Christian who accepts evolution, I believe what we need to fight against is this false dichotomy that is pushed by the fundies. The trouble is that we are passionate about the science, while most of those in the creo camp are not; science is merely the medium. Thus much of the frustration ... some arguments are so fundamentally flawed it would take semesters of lecture to explain the reasons why the argument is flawed. And then they need the ability to understand and process that information (science is not everyone's forte).
So, I believe the real problem with the average creationist is not ignorance, but the belief in an either/or situation. This results in an infuriating attempt to defend the "either" because the "or" is so wrong. As long as people fear that acceptance of "the other side" eliminates or challenges their belief, they will remain ignorant. Remove that fear, and it allows them to open their minds to the truth. Try approaching things in that way (at least mentally, the science is still the evidence) and see if it is less frustrating.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 25 by Trixie, posted 06-19-2012 6:59 PM Trixie has not replied

  
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