
Talking past each other: Bill Nye vs. creationist Ken Ham on evolution - shawndumas
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/02/talking-past-each-other-bill-nye-vs-creationist-ken-ham-on-evolution/
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__pThrow
I am glad this debate took place though many people advise never to debate
Creationists.

Scientists that refuse to debate Creationists in front of a public audience
have no standing to rise in front of a city council or state committee and
demand Creationism not be taught.

We should not be afraid of debate. Is Science and reason and evidence that
weak?

And why on earth should we be in some sort of superior position where we
insist Creationism not be taught in schools but insist we will not debate the
issue?

So of course it is important that scientists and others that want to keep
Creationism out of schools publicly debate Creationists.

That said, it doesn’t mean we cannot discuss proper forums, admission
policies, moderation, voting, or format of the debate.

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bryanlarsen
If you take the existence of God as one of your foundational assumptions, then
evolution is a fairly reasonable theory.

Therefore any debate on creationism is really a debate on whether this
foundational assumption is valid. Otherwise you're just talking past each
other.

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joshfraser
Here's a link to the actual video:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI)

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SifJar
Why on earth did they not cut out the first 13 minutes of this video?

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shawndumas
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI&feature=share&t=1...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI&feature=share&t=12m3s)

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MichaelGG
I'm not sure "debating" such people is even worthwhile, as it lends some level
of credibility to them. Certainly you wouldn't invite someone to debate
TimeCube. I guess it could backfire, if enough people are buying into the
silly arguments that not debating is spun as a "aha, see they can' even face
us" deal.

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ulfw
Why this is even a matter of discussion is beyond me!

