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| Sermon VIThe Third CultureIn 1959 a man named Charles Percy Snow published a book titled The Two Cultures.The "cultures" to which he referred were the sciences and the humanities.He noted with incredulity that during the 1930s the literary intellectuals, while no one was looking, took to referring to themselves as "the intellectuals," as though there were no others.This new definition by the "men of letters" excluded scientists such as Edwin Hubble, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Werner Heisenberg.In a second edition of The Two Cultures, published in 1963, Snow added a new essay, "The Two Cultures: A Second Look," in which he optimistically suggested that a new culture, a "third culture," would emerge and close the communications gap between the literary intellectuals and the scientists.So, which are you?Snow seems to have been one of the "intellectual elite"; one of those "eggheads" upon whom many people look with disdain and at whom some may hurl 1 Corinthians 1:19.He could see a "third culture" only as a merging of the "men of letters" with the scientists.Verily, I say unto you: The "third culture" is us; the vast majority of people in the world who are neither Shakespeare's nor Einstein's; neither Beethoven's nor Hawking's.While there is truth in Ecclesiastes 1:18, I submit that we - ALL of us - nonetheless, owe it to ourselves, indeed to all life, to acquire and put to use all the knowledge and wisdom that we possibly can.Ignorance is in the news a lot lately with proponents of "Intelligent Design" literally attempting to legally FORCE that religious propaganda into public school curriculums, just as though the "Monkey Trial" never happened; in fact it is often still in the courts - only the players have changed.I am very troubled by the ignorance itself, as well as by the numbers of people, and the social status to whom it applies."Studies show that decapitation, in most instances, corresponds to a decline in IQ."You may be aware of Sherri Shepherd's ignorance on The View.Here's one example:no evolution/flat earth (1:06)And one more example:Jesus came before everything!(1:29)Okay, so The View is more a fluff show; not exactly a beacon of intellectual discourse.Still... this woman is paid huge amounts of money to "opine" daily on a national television show.Why? |
| Why?But it isn't just evolution vs ID. And it isn't just the Sherri Shepherds of the world or the "southern redneck Christians" who seem so ignorant.Consider the following blog I copied from here.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The failure of the Copernican Revolution The Earth goes round the Sun...right?Everyone knows this don't they?That's where the concept of "year", comes from, doesn't it?Well, not everyone knows this.In fact, in a recent survey ONE FIFTH OF AMERICANS THOUGHT THAT THE SUN GOES AROUND THE EARTH.I read it with less shock than others might feel.Why?Because I have met this particular form of ignorance, before.When I was at Cambridge, there was this girl.She had rather a pleasant personality and was the kind of person who seemed to mean well to all.I shan't name her, here, lest she be embarrassed, however.One day, we had an argument - a celestial one.Somehow the subject of the Earth's motion through space had come up.I detected in her what I thought was a misunderstanding, so I pointed out that the Earth goes around the Sun.She laughed at me. "No it doesn't...the Sun goes around the Earth!You can see that it does."I could see that she thought me rather stupid.I insisted that the Earth went around the Sun...but she would have none of it. |
| I insisted that the Earth went around the Sun...but she would have none of it.Her naive observations that the Sun rose and set in its motion through the sky, were levelled at me, again and again as proof that the Sun, indeed, went around the Earth.There was nothing I could do to persuade her otherwise.The life work of Nicolaus (or Nicolas) Copernicus (February 19, 1473 - May 24, 1543) had been in vain.Almost four hundred and fifty years after he had demonstrated, conclusively, that the Earth orbited the Sun (that the Solar system is "heliocentric", or Sun-centred), this Cambridge Undergraduate still hadn't got the message.Do you know what is really funny?She went on to get a first class degree in Modern Languages.She was, by this measure, the "brightest of the bright"...yet still she did not know that the centre of the Solar system was the Sun, and that the Earth, like all the other planets, orbited it.She was, I suppose, a perfect example of the problems of the "two cultures", written of by C.P. Snow.She knew her languages, but she knew nothing of science.Yet, I should thank her, really.You see, I never fail to be flabbergasted when I think of her lack of understanding of such a basic issue.She has, therefore, given me permanent access to the emotion known as "flabbergast".So, it was most evocative when I read that one fifth of Americans are ignorant of the same issue as my first class Cambridge degree holding friend.It is sobering to realize that the Copernican revolution is still not over.Copernicus has yet to win over even the developed world to his view that the Solar System is heliocentric.Sixty million Americans would react as my Cambridge friend did - by laughing at anyone who suggested that the Earth orbits the Sun.Copernicus' seminal book, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), was published in the year of his death.Legend has it that he was given a copy of it, on his death-bed, while in a stroke induced coma.He is reputed to have awoken from his coma, noted the presence of his book - and passed away peacefully.Would he rest so easily if he knew that almost half a millenia later there are still people, in the developed world, who do not believe that the Earth goes around the Sun?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ANNOUNCEMENT:Please don't forget what is the major event of the year for many freethinkers, the July Fourth Celebration at Lake Hypatia.If you think you can make that, check out the two-pageRegistration Form (pdf file), and I may see you there.TRB |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 July 2008 )
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