IDiots

I think it's delightully apt to identify intelligent design proponents as "IDiots." It fits on just so many levels. Yes, there are certainly questions of "How did the universe get here?" and "Where is 'here', anyway?" and other measures of the vastness of it all, but intelligent design is just fundamentalist Christian drivel wrapped up in a wrapper of pseudo-science. I'm reminded of the last verse of "Have a Nice Day" by Mark Graham, one of the two kings of Mongrolia (the Land of Mongrel Folk).

We believe in the creation, evolution is a sham,
And for you awful humanists we do not give a damn,
‘Cause we believe in science when the word of God agrees,

And we believe in science that destroys our enemies.

There's a great article in Scientific American that addresses 15 of the popular arguments of creationists and other IDiots. I've always loved the basic concept that IDiots usually don't understand what a "theory" is in scientific terms. You can tell that they're going off-tangent at that point and headed for the horizon. The article also had the results of a survey that correlated the belief in intelligent design with lack of education: in other words, the more ignorant you are in general, the more likely you are to believe this twaddle.

Mind you, all this does give us some guidelines for society in general. Someone suggested (purportedly in a letter to a San Luis Obispo newspaper, although I've not been able to find the provenance for this) that we don't need to vaccinate absolutely everyone against the next possible flu pandemic.

SOME DON'T NEED VACCINE

Recent news about the avian flu virus has raised concerns from main street to the White House. There is the possibility, even likelihood, that the virus will mutate into a form that can more easily infect humans. As the president pointed out, a vaccine cannot be made until this evolution occurs. This raises the concern that it may be impossible to create enough vaccine fast enough to protect all our citizens.

But there is hope. Gallup polls tell us that up to 45 percent of Americans don't believe in evolution. Since random mutation is the engine of evolution, these same people must believe that the virus cannot mutate.

Therefore, there is no need to waste vaccine on folks who believe there is no possible threat to themselves--thus leaving a sufficient supply for the rest of us.

Perhaps the president, given his doubts about evolution, may wish to demonstrate his leadership by foregoing vaccination. This approach has added benefits. Polls also tell us that disbelief in evolution is more pronounced among the less educated, the poor and conservatives. If the anti-evolutionists among these groups were to opt out of vaccination then, through immediate deaths and natural selection, we would reduce poverty, raise educational attainment, and become a more progressive society.

(One secondhand online source lists a name and address for the writer, but I am omitting it intentionally.)

IDiots: can't live with 'em, can't live... uh... with 'em.

IDiots