Dinosaurs and Biblical creationism

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Originally Posted by psychology student

How were (UM, Seismo and Mark) you all brought up, religiously or non religiously? Simple question.

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My father is an atheist, as far as I am concerned, but he calls himself an agnostic because he can't prove with complete certainty that God does not exist. I can think back on a few times when he mentioned that nobody really knows if God exists when I was about seven years old, but I just thought that meant nobody has ever met God. The upcoming years of my religious indoctrination distanced me from what my father said those few times. He did not reveal his lack of belief to me or even express a single word about what he thought about religion again until I was a teenager, which was after years and years of immersion in a religious culture and religious parts of my family. When I was fifteen, he blind-sided me out of the blue and tried to make me feel like a foolish retard for being a Christian. It was pretty shocking. However, my mother and my grandparents brought me up to be a Christian. That is the main reason why I was one until I was sixteen. My mother never forced me to go to Sunday school and church, but she taught me that it was the thing to do. She took me pretty much every Sunday for years. My grandparents were Presbyterian missionaries who were big time religious, and they took me to their church and sunday school every chance they got. They took me to Bible school at their church a whole bunch and gave a major effort at convincing me to go to their church's elementary school. I also grew up in Mississippi, so my teachers were pretty much all protestants who did not hesitate to throw their views at their students. My friends were Christians when we were kids, so I got a lot of teaching and discussion from them.

Christianity was all around me and very much in my face during my childhood. It ended up really wigging me out, and I feel like some of the brainwashing is still there. Something in me is still afraid of God and Satan. That is part of the reason I am so resentful. I don't like seeing kids taking that stuff seriously. If it weren't for the threats of eternal torture, I would not mind so much.

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Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Christianity was all around me and very much in my face during my childhood. It ended up really wigging me out, and I feel like some of the brainwashing is still there. Something in me is still afraid of God and Satan. That is part of the reason I am so resentful. I don't like seeing kids taking that stuff seriously. If it weren't for the threats of eternal torture, I would not mind so much.

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So you do think that it screwed you up. Correct me if im wrong.

you say you didn't like the threats of "eternal torture". Has you new found atheism been more positive?

Funny how you bring up positiveness and atheism.

I mean, all the atheists are the ones having a good laugh at it all, no? WHere the theist pores over the discussion, looking for a grammtical loophole.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

But people do believe them: 225 million people in your country alone. Now are you just smarter then all of them, or is there something more to these fairytales.

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Of course I am of superior intelligence to those fools.

The USA is the stupidest country on the planet! Look at the GDP per capita rates! It's pathetic!

There's nothing to those tales except that they are used to control and blind people!

In fact, as the rate of christians in the united states has gone up, our average IQ has dropped......Droppped......dropped.

So yes, I do consider myself more intelligent than any of those ignorant people!

"A lizard never stops growing its whole life...so if a lizard lived as long as people did (or the equivalent to living that much longer), then that would create the dinosaur creature."


Unfortunately since i am a member of a herpetological society i know this is not exactly true.:(

Lizards do continually grow by shedding skin their entire lives but there is a limit. The problem is that it is their skeleton growing not their organs. So in essence they outgrow themselves, i suppose in a way like how an obese persons heart fails because of the strain on it.

Also giant tortoises easily out life humans, often by double the age. Yet even large specimens generally only reach 1.2metres(roughly 4ft) long. Not the 3.2m you;d expect if say an average human height is 5.4ft then multiplied by 2.

But in reality as an intelligent person, wouldn't you acknowledge that there is a large statistical chance that many of them are smarter than you? Let alone one.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

So you do think that it screwed you up. Correct me if im wrong.

you say you didn't like the threats of "eternal torture". Has you new found atheism been more positive?

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It left me with a slight phobia of the afterlife and the consequences of lust and other things. It screwed me up in that way. I am pretty okay now, but I went through some freaky time periods over it in my teens. My head really started getting screwed with when I went through puberty and overwhelmingly lusted after women.

My atheism has been much more positive. My fear of Hell has been reduced to almost nothing, and I am not so spooked out that I am pissing off an egomaniacal ghost every time I break some irrational rule that makes no sense. The day I became an agnostic, which I was before I later became an atheist, was the day my philosophical side really came out in a major way. Suddenly the universe was a fascinating mystery to question and not an answer I needed to bow down to God about. The opening of that door made me more fascinated with life itself, and I got much more inquisitive and intellectual about all kinds of other things. Life got a great deal more interesting. I could sit there and look at everything around me and be blown away by the fact that it existed. I think Christianity really stifled my philosophical intuition for too long.

We are getting pretty far off topic. You should probably start a thread on this if you want to go further.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

But in reality as an intelligent person, wouldn't you acknowledge that there is a large statistical chance that many of them are smarter than you? Let alone one.

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If there are people in that statistic that are as smart or smarter then me, then they are most likely Agnostics voting for Christianity just because. I've been there.

Ooooooh, haven't been in here in a bit!

I'm excited!!!! Has anybody joined yet? If not, I'm joining now and you all should join also!

I'm going to make a thread right now!

I don't agree with this view that there is a negative correlation between the severity of ones belief in God and ones IQ. I think that this view creates unnecessary polarisation in the debate.
Some of the greatest Universities were built on religious principles and still have strong religious motives, while still housing the greatest thinkers.
I mean I believe in God and my IQ is like 132, apparently.

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Originally Posted by Seismosaur

If there are people in that statistic that are as smart or smarter then me, then they are most likely Agnostics voting for Christianity just because. I've been there.

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There are some very smart people who are Christians, but I think most of them lack philosophical intuition, which is very different from reasoning ability and memorization abilities alone. I know several high level scientists who do amazing things in their scientific areas, and some of those same people do not have it anywhere in them to look around at the world and say with any kind of fascination, "What the fuck IS this??????" But they can memorize facts and formulas and compute mathematical scenarios and learn procedure patterns like total masterminds.

Also, there is a major intellectual dishonesty factor to being religious in many cases.

@Psycho Student:
:rolllaugh:

What on the animal IQ scale?

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Originally Posted by Stephent91

Ooooooh, haven't been in here in a bit!

I'm excited!!!! Has anybody joined yet? If not, I'm joining now and you all should join also!

I'm going to make a thread right now!

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Please post a link to that thread here. I can't wait to read the responses. :D

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Originally Posted by Universal Mind

There are some very smart people who are Christians, but I think most of them lack philosophical intuition, which is very different from reasoning ability and memorization abilities alone. I know several high level scientists who do amazing things in their scientific areas, and some of those same people do not have it anywhere in them to look around at the world and say with any kind of fascination, "What the fuck IS this??????" But they can memorize facts and formulas and compute mathematical scenarios and learn procedure patterns like total masterminds.

Also, there is a major intellectual dishonesty factor to being religious in many cases.

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That's not intellignece, that's THINtelligence. Doesn't really count ;).

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Originally Posted by Universal Mind

There are some very smart people who are Christians, but I think most of them lack philosophical intuition, which is very different from reasoning ability and memorization abilities alone. I know several high level scientists who do amazing things in their scientific areas, and some of those same people do not have it anywhere in them to look around at the world and say with any kind of fascination, "What the fuck IS this??????" But they can memorize facts and formulas and compute mathematical scenarios and learn procedure patterns like total masterminds.

Also, there is a major intellectual dishonesty factor to being religious in many cases.

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I see what your saying, but it still comes down to the same thing. Doesn't it?

No, it doesn't. Which is why thintelligence doesn't count, the religious folk have no logical sense, and you are digging a deeper hole for yourself.

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Originally Posted by Seismosaur

@Psycho Student:
:rolllaugh:

What on the animal IQ scale?

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They have an animal IQ scale? No honestly, I was interviewed at Oxford, and im state schooled (the less optimum version)

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Originally Posted by psychology student

I see what your saying, but it still comes down to the same thing. Doesn't it?

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No. Philosophical intelligence involves the left side of the brain AND the right side of the brain. Robotic scientist types don't have much use of the latter. The best theoretical scientists use both.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

They have an animal IQ scale? No honestly, I was interviewed at Oxford, and im state schooled (the less optimum version)

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What should we teach kids about dinosaurs?

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Originally Posted by Seismosaur

No, it doesn't. Which is why thintelligence doesn't count, the religious folk have no logical sense, and you are digging a deeper hole for yourself.

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You should run for president, you know it all!
Screw Hilary Clinton

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Originally Posted by psychology student

You should run for president, you know it all!
Screw Hilary Clinton

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But you were interviewed at Oxford even though you are less optimum state schooled. Now tell us about how to answer kids' questions about dinosaurs.

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Originally Posted by Universal Mind

No. Philosophical intelligence involves the left side of the brain AND the right side of the brain. Robotic scientist types don't have much use of the latter. The best theoretical scientists use both.



What should we teach kids about dinosaurs?

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Nothing. Dinosaurs are a waste of time!
There all in hell.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

Nothing. Dinosaurs are a waste of time!

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:?

Then you need to start your own thread.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

They have an animal IQ scale? No honestly, I was interviewed at Oxford, and im state schooled (the less optimum version)

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And you're supposed to be so smart? :roll:

I see. Never taken an IQ test, though. It doesn't give an accurate representation of actual intelligence. Moreso of thintelligence. It's flawed in the same way the school systems are.

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Originally Posted by psychology student

Nothing. Dinosaurs are a waste of time!
There all in hell.

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TAKE THAT BACK!

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Originally Posted by psychology student

You should run for president, you know it all!
Screw Hilary Clinton

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I'll never run for president. No self-respecting intellect would.

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Originally Posted by Seismosaur

And you're supposed to be so smart? :roll:

I see. Never taken an IQ test, though. It doesn't give an accurate representation of actual intelligence. Moreso of thintelligence. It's flawed in the same way the school systems are.

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is this like the intelligence, cleverness distinction?
The school systems aren't flawed unless your dumb. The school systems can be countered by hard work.