Ships Passing In the Night

Bill Nye, a well-known science educator, has just released a brief video entitled, "Bill Nye: Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children," which interested readers can view below.  In this video, Nye argues that parents should not teach creationism to their children even if they believe it themselves.  It is not fair to the kids and harmful to our national good as the world's leading technological society (along with Japan, he thinks) for creationist parents to impose their own world view on their children.  The youtube index in which his video is listed shows that his remarks have spawned quite a few creationist rebuttals, which is hardly surprising.

Nye advocates a standard pro-evolution, pro-science perspective, but there is one point at which I think he is off base.  Toward the end of his remarks, he says to creationists,

"Your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don't believe in evolution. I mean, here are these ancient dinosaur bones or fossils, here is radioactivity, here are distant stars that are just like our star but they're at a different point in their lifecycle. The idea of deep time, of this billions of years, explains so much of the world around us. If you try to ignore that, your world view just becomes crazy, just untenable, itself inconsistent."

It is common for partisans on both sides of the science vs. religion debate to describe their opponents' views as irrational because for them those opposing views literally do not make sense.  Nye is wrong when he calls creationist views "crazy" and "untenable".  Those who are convinced in the literal truth of the Bible find his views equally crazy and untenable—from their point of view.  They see Nye's views as being just as dangerous from a creationist perspective as he feels theirs are from his.  And while he is correct that creationism is inconsistent with the facts of science, which for him is reality, his views are inconsistent with the Bible from a literalist perspective, which for them is reality.  Social scientists have long pointed out that we create our realities socially, based on inherited worldviews.  The "real world" is what our social group says that it is.  Now, I personally am persuaded that  science represents reality, but I know reasonably intelligent, rational, and logical thinkers who believe that Genesis 1 defines reality.  They live in a social world of relationships, websites, books, and religious leaders who all support their view of reality and make it tenable.

I agree with Nye that their view of reality is wrong, but I disagree with him when he styles their views as being crazy or untenable.  Creationism is for biblical literalists entirely rational and consistent given their social and ideological world.  It serves no purpose for us to shout across the chasm that separates us, "You are stupid, crazy, and irrational!!!"  All that comes back is an echo.  It is exactly like  trying to "communicate" with a person who doesn't speak our language by shouting at him.  No matter how loudly we yell, she does not understand.

Note: according to a CNN news posting (here) Nye's video has "gone viral" and indeed sparked a backlash among creationists.