Saturday, September 26, 2009

I am following Professor Hale's advice...

...and doing a short post.


Do you ever see bumper stickers or emblems on cars that drive you crazy? I do.


This one for example:




Apparently women need to "misbehave" to make a difference. I guess that goes with the "bitches get things done" attitude.



Or this one:

I dislike this one because it kind of smacks of the "I'm in the club and you're not" mentality.


I don't like this one either:


I have God along for the ride to help me out!


Or this one:

As though evolution was a theory that could be tested through experiments like gravity.


On the subject of evolution, here is the latest installment in the "Christian fish" vs "Darwin fish"
emblem battle:

I guess I just don't like things based on mockery. I've never seen the symbol of another religion such as Judaism or Islam treated in this manner.





11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you. More people should take my advice more often.

I find bumper stickers particularly annoying. I find, in general, any thought small enough to fit on a bumper sticker is probably wrong. But i do enjoy the fish vs fish arguments. The one with the dino is cute and I haven't seen it before.

The world we live in is complex. the words we use to describe it need to be equally complex. There aren't just 2 kind of people. I don't care how smart your kid or your dog is.

Further, I think most vanity plates are stupid too.

knightblaster said...

Yeah the vanity plates are over the top here in Virginia -- more annoying than the bumper stickers.

My favorite, though, is when people tape political bumper stickers to the inside of their windows during election season rather than actually sticking them on their cars. Nothing like having the courage of one's convictions.

Learner said...

Prof Hale,

The world we live in is complex. the words we use to describe it need to be equally complex.

Very true.

Learner said...

Nova,

Some people here still have their Gore/Lieberman stickers form the 2000 election! Not as many Kerry/Edwards though.

The Librarian said...

Bumper stickers are the exact opposite of civil discourse. It's the vehicular version of child yelling out an opinion and then running from the room before anyone else can comment or disagree or start a reasonable discussion.

Anonymous said...

I think the evolution bumper sticker is a way to counteract the "it's just a theory" dismissal. It is a scientific theory, but in science, that means it is considered to be a fact, not a vague hypothesis.

Learner said...

Librarian- agreed!

Anon- I understand that is the intention, however the comparison of gravity with evolution is preposterous because gravity can actually be studied, evolution cannot.

Anonymous said...

"Anon- I understand that is the intention, however the comparison of gravity with evolution is preposterous because gravity can actually be studied, evolution cannot."

I'm not a scientist, but it seems unlikely that for over a century, evolution would be considered the foundation of modern biology, if it is something that cannot be studied. The recent genetic evidence is hard to get around.

Learner said...

Anon,

Evolution cannot be experimentally studied because it is not something that is observable or reproducable in the same way gravity can be. It is assumed that genetics, or changes within a species over time, or the similarities in the DNA of different species serve as evidence that there was between species evolution. However, any between species evolution would have occurred millenia ago and as such cannot be reproduced or studied in a manner to "prove" them. The presence of something such as similarities between the DNA of different species may, at face value, appear to prove evolution from a common source, that conclusion does not meet the level of scientific "evidence" just like correlations do not indicate causation. That does not mean between species evolution did not happen, just that the level of evidence for the theory of evolution comes no where near the level of evidence for something like gravity.

Charles said...

Hey,checking in from Buenos Aires.

I would agree that political bumper stickers can be very uncivil, but would politely disagree a bit with Librarian... they are just a way to maximize bandwidth and eyespace; not necessarily a way to avoid dialogue.

Learner said...

hey Charles :)

I hope you are having an awesome time and dancing your socks off!