(6-4) CRITICAL THINKING FILMS: Fundamentalism is a Mental Disease

Fundamentalism is a Mental Disease is yet another great short film clip with a retro flare examining the ridiculousness of Creationism or as often referred to as Intelligent Design. The video is straight and to the point and drives in its message like a sledgehammer into granite. Utilizing clips from various eras and mediums it really has a way of getting its message across.

The argument presented is the same as before with most of the videos and articles I have read. Intelligent Design is a whole lot of rubbish and always will be. Everything that is claimed to be scientific in anyway is always nothing more than a fallacy and an outright lie. These people who use it as a means to cripple evolution are nothing more than liars and thieves. They poison the minds of man all in the name of preserving the believe in an invisible sky man.

(6-3) EXPERT LECTURE: James Watson

James Watson is one of the two men responsible for discovering the genetic structure of DNA. The man has had an amazing career that garnered him praise and even a Nobel Prize. His discovery revolutionized the world of science and forever changed how the world is viewed. Without such a discovery thousands of humans would be dead or struggling with disease. Breakthroughs in the field of genetics would have never been found and we would be many years behind scientifically. James Watson, the partner to Francis Crick, brilliant and an icon of the science world…of yesterday.

In the lecture I gazed upon an old man who has lost touch with reality and almost all sense. The man stumbles on words, changes subjects or sometimes forgets them entirely. He is not what he once was and it is sad to see. Through most of the video he tackles the problems with Autism while trying not to sound sexist. This actually harms him in the process since he tries to fall back on jokes to make it look less so. While doing this he randomly brings up Rosalind Franklin and says unprofessional remarks towards her in a way to debase her credibility. For those who don’t know Mrs. Franklin was the a scientist who accused Watson and Crick of stealing her data and discovery of the DNA structure. While this is still up for debate, I find it odd that he keeps lambasting her. In the end the lecture served its purpose and showed us what a once brilliant mind is up to these days.

(6-2) ASSIGNED READINGS: Logical Fallacies

Fallacy Files is a web site that collects and archives numerous fallacies. The fallacies range from the logical to the most obscure of ad hominem. Everything is listed alphabetically as well as categorically for ease of the user. On top of the easily structures system there are dozens of separate links and articles that deal with the problem of common and uncommon fallacies. The database is kept up to date and made as accurate as possible.

The site is not without its faults. The design for the page is atrocious. From the fonts to the outdated use of tables the site just screams “update me!” Another huge problem is navigation and its web 1.0 set up. Everything looks as if it were created in dream weaver or worse, coded in notepad. As a graphic design student these things stick out to me and as a normal human being I can tell you one thing, people hate looking at ugly web sites.

(6-1) ASSIGNED READINGS: Intelligent Design

The article on Skeptics Dictionary covering the subject of intelligent design (ID) is as thorough as you can get. It covers all areas concerned with the ID controversy, post creationist rebranding. While the article in question tries it’s best to remain as neutral as possible, it is still very clear that the ID side of the argument is definitely on the wrong side of the fence. The reading utilizes various quotes from both sides of the aisle but all this does is prove that those in favor of ID are trying their hardest to mask that ID is actually creationism. The point of this article is not meant to persuade either side to take up a position but merely to enlighten the reader on the current conflict that is Intelligent Design.

After reading the entirety of the article is was clear that ID is nothing more than an ironic twist on wolf in sheep’s clothing. The side of the pulpit are on a mission to invade the world of science and at any cost make the doctrine of a creator viewed as the be all end all. What gets me is that these very people try and disguise this as a fuax science, declaring it as an alternative to evolution. They use clever buzz words and manipulation tactics that easily confuse the average person. ID is not a science or an offshoot of it. It is merely the work of con men, it’s a modern day snake oil bottled in a new packaging.

(5-5) CRITICAL THINKING FILMS: Survival of the Sufficient

I hear loads of people go on about survival of the fittest and how it’s all that matter in the long run of things. Although I admire the hell out of Charles Darwin his whole stance on survival has become outdated. This is a good thing though since the point of science is to not remain at a constant. You have to continue the search for knowledge or you will become a religious doctrine. Most in the science world have forgot this. Scientists have instead become bitter and arrogant where they only care of their data or the data of the big names. Alterations and addendums are not wanted and it’s sad.

The point that this video is trying to make is that we have surpassed the need to only survive on strength and cunning alone. We have become a species that relies mostly on the power of the mind. We have mastered our domain and in doing so have cast aside the need to be stronger than other animals in a way that our hunter gatherer ancestors were. The times they are a changing and it’s up to us to make this realization come full circle.

(5-4) CRITICAL THINKING FILMS: Little Things that Jiggle

I liked this little video a lot. Yeah it was simple and basically did the job of a grade school science teacher but the way it was presented was pretty fantastic. The whole kitschy 1950’s school projector film tone mixed in with the UPA styled animation was just the things that could catch any sensible person’s eye. Then again I have an obsession with post war culture and all the fantastic creative minds that were born during the atomic age. From retro-futurism to the novelty toys like x-ray specs, I adore it all. This video had such moxy!

Back to video at hand and its substance. The film is basically in introduction into the four forces that make up our universe and how they influence almost everything. It’s done in such a way that makes it interesting and unique. The small hints it gives of space travel in conjunction with bits of B sci-fi are really spectacular. I can finally say I enjoyed a short film in this class. Shazam!

(5-3) CRITICAL THINKING FILMS: The Myth of Eternal Recurrence

This whole theory or belief is rubbish, it’s mental, and it’s the ravings of a madman. After watching the video I did some research to learn more about the lunacy I had just viewed. Having a full grasp of the concept I’m reminded of the horrible Kevin Spacey film K-Pax and the amazing Sci-Fi Channel show Battlestar Galactica which constantly had the saying “everything that has happened before will happen again.” Even then it was done in a way that wasn’t as ridiculous. This states that everything happens over and over in the exact and identical way. Madness, straight up rubbish is what it is.

If this were true it would make everything pointless to an extent it would render even the pointlessness that is Nihilism pointless since it in a way gives it a non-purpose. I don’t have much left to say on something this laughable. This is almost as bad as every single religion combined and even those are pretty stupid on their own.