Bill Cosby on Education

[Johnny C]

I agree, but Evolution isnt a fact, its a theory put forward by folks who dont want to believe in a Creator.

PROOVE that we came from monkeys...

Of course you could counter with "God is a theory"

 

[ATOMonkey]

When kids can grasp organic chemistry, gene manipulation, and astro-physics, then we can introduce creation vs evolution in the classroom.

Until then it's probably best not to put the cart before the horse, as it's nothing more than political grand-standing.

 

[ATOMonkey]

IMO, teaching evolution to teenagers is just as productive as teaching algebra to dogs.

 

[eldirector]

I agree, but Evolution isnt a fact, its a theory put forward by folks who dont want to believe in a Creator.

PROOVE that we came from monkeys...

Of course you could counter with "God is a theory"

So, do you understand how science works? Theories are pretty "powerful" stuff. One step away from a Law. Certainly not the same meaning as "theory" in your every-day language.

And no, "God" can never be a theory. Not even a hypothesis, maybe a conjecture. No way to test predictions. That is the whole point of Faith.

Who says they both can't be right, anyway? Or wrong, for that matter.

 

[TMU317]

We didn't evolve from Apes, we evolved from a common ancestor.

And what was that common ancestor?

 

[ATOMonkey]

And what was that common ancestor?

Unicorns and Leprechauns.

 

[eldirector]

And what was that common ancestor?

Yeah, Wikipedia isn't the most scholarly of sources, but this isn't the most scholarly of forums. At least it is fairly condensed and somewhat human-readable:
Human evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I agree, but Evolution isnt a fact, its a theory put forward by folks who dont want to believe in a Creator.

PROOVE that we came from monkeys...

Of course you could counter with "God is a theory"

We can observe evolution. We can see its effects on creatures. There has been lots of studies with I believe (going off memory here) with flys, they have short enough life spans that we can observe changes. The first observations of evolution was done with Bean plants.

God, however, as far as we can tell, only exists in books, and the minds of people. We have no evidence that a god exists. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.


As the other fellow mentioned you are tossing the word Theory around with out using it correctly. Hell gravity is just a theory, yet we see and recognize it as truth. When (in the science world) something is called a Theory, that is basically Law until proven wrong, in which case we toss it out, and start over.
that is how science works.

People say the bible is infallible. However we have proven it wrong several times. With science and society. Bible says the moon emits light. Wrong, it reflects light from the sun. Bible says slavery is fine, yet we has a society abolished it. Hell they have rules about rape in the bible. Pending on the circumstances the women according to the bible must wed the rapist.

The bible talks about the creation of the whole world and creatures yet only mentions a very small portion of its land and animals.

Scientist claim the universe is millions of years old, some christains claim only 6000

Regardless as to how long you think its been around, it took until only 2000 years ago for god to finally step in. Which means he sat for millions of years or for 4000 years just watching the world rape and kill itself into oblivion before stepping in.

Then (according to John 3:16) he sent his only son, down to be tortured and killed as a sacrifice to himself for people he created breaking rules he created. He could have just changed the rules, he created all of the things. But no. He creates himself on earth to be tortured and sacrificed to himself because of himself.

And of course the is the answer of "well science can't explain it, that must mean god did it" Which is intellectually lazy if our science can't explain it then we try a different science.

if we go with the answer, id rather believe just in case there is a god. and if there isn't then at least i live a noble life. Well that's pascals wager and is flawed. any god would be able to see through you, and see that you are tying to deceive him, which i doubt he would like.

then how do you know you chose the right god "because the bible tells me hes the right god" well, almost all god have claimed they were the one true god. Odin, Zeus, Ra etc.

Todays religion is tomorrows mythology.

 

[bingley]

Why is it that some people have such a hard time accepting that science and religion deal with different aspects of human existence, and these aspects don't have to meet. Science tells you how, it doesn't tell you why. Religion tells you why, it doesn't tell you how. Science can explain to you how life develops, or how you grew from a bunch of cells into a human being, but it cannot tell you the meaning of life, or why you are put here on earth. Religion can't explain how my post is making its way around the world, but it can give higher meaning to such phenomena.

Hey, guys, I think this thread is about the role of parents in education. I think I find Cosby's position to be quite reasonable. Look at the kids who do well at school; they tend to have parents who encourage, support, and "impart discipline" to them. When the parents fail to do the job, the kid will go to school with problems, and these problems become the problems for the teachers and for the other students. The cumulative result is that everyone gets slowed down. In our society, we blame the school, because "we're paying the teachers salary with our tax dollars." Alas, a good education for your children cannot be bought with money. You have to start at home.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Why is it that some people have such a hard time accepting that science and religion deal with different aspects of human existence, and these aspects don't have to meet. Science tells you how, it doesn't tell you why. Religion tells you why, it doesn't tell you how. Science can explain to you how life develops, or how you grew from a bunch of cells into a human being, but it cannot tell you the meaning of life, or why you are put here on earth. Religion can't explain how my post is making its way around the world, but it can give higher meaning to such phenomena.

Mainly because you don't need religion to teach you the meaning of life, or be a source or morality.

The universe is a cold, dark, indifferent place. It doesn't care if you succeed or fail. We sail these cosmic seas upon our own accord for good or ill.


You and mr cosby are very correct. We absolutely need parents that are interested and active in the education of kids. Teachers can't do it all themselves.

 

[Que]

I'm trying to let this thread stay open and I will. However, if some people do not have the capacity to convey information without breaking the rules, they will be gone. Consider this the second and final warning.

 

[buckstopshere]

Sorry folks, I've been out of town and not had an opportunity to check this thread.

The intended purpose was to share some ideas about education from a man that makes good common sense.

So, let's get back to the regularly scheduled program. Creationism vs Evolution needs to get off at the last stop.

ATOMonkey - thanks for sharing your experiences growing up. I didn't have anyone to teach me anything. My parents bailed on me, I was raised by my grandma who quit school in 8th grade until I was 14 then bounced around from my friends parents to relatives.

This is why I think it's so important that those of us with kids that are still in school get back to taking on our responsibilities of teaching our children the important things of life. Above and beyond what schools will teach although reinforcing them. We need to take some of the burden off teachers and hold ourselves accountable for our children.

Ya know, that way we can indoctrinate them to believe in crazy stuff....like self reliance and liberty!

 

[buckstopshere]

Bill Cosby has some great ideas about education.

Agreed. He has some great ideas on a number of topics.

Oh yeah, he's pretty funny too. Bill Cosby Himself is my favorite stand up routine of all time!!