Ignorance mixed with smug certitude is not a pretty thing.I went to the local Chabad house this past Friday night (I may have grown to dislike religion, but I still love Shabbos food), and I happened to sit across from another student who I hadn't met before. We got talking about our respective studies (he's an English major), and when I mentioned that I am studying physics he said (paraphrasing), "I hate it that scientists think they are so much more objective than everybody else, especially when they believe in things like atoms, which there are no evidence for."
I went on to explain to him that in fact there is (and has been for a long time) overwhelming evidence for the atomic theory of matter, even including images of atoms on the surface of materials (in my department there are experimentalists who even manipulate one atom at a time using lasers).
How a college student (in a good university) could be so unaware of stuff they teach in high school chemistry is mind-boggling enough, but what really annoyed me was how obnoxious he was in his assertion. If you are going to be smug, at least make sure that you are correct! (Was that too smug of me? I was very polite to him in person.)
This isn't the only example I've seen of this. I've met a sociology major who was convinced that DNA was a "patriarchal social construct" or something like that. It is almost like some people are parodies of the post-modern academia. Of course, the use of post-modernist notions by the religious right has been one of the true ironies of the last few years (it came out in force during the Kitzmiller trial).
ReplyDeleteSometimes people are so ignorant and stupid one has to wonder how they are able to breathe.
"patriarchal social construct" LOL! It's amazing that supposedly educated people think like this.
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty amazing. The manipuation of atoms is something that even I, a plain Baal Habos, am aware of through everyday reading such as Newsweek.
ReplyDeleteyeah, that guy sounds stupid and obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds super mean, but I would love to (verbally) rip that guy apart.
If there are no such things as atoms, why are we worried about Iran and North Korea having atomic/nuclear weapons? What do these people think the phrase "atomic" or "nuclear" refers to and where the energy and power in these weapons come from?
ReplyDeleteExactly. I'm so sick of people being inherently insistent on their beliefs. It fuels ignorance, hatred, and intolerance.
ReplyDeletei think that your mistaken friend meant quarks not atoms -- which we can see with the correct equipment.
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