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Thinking
6 years ago
General
Found this when coming through some old LJ entries.
It's been my experience that we as a society accept what a celebrity says without considering the celebrity's qualifications on the subject.
Let's take Ben Stein for example.
Earlier this year (as of the original posting of this LJ entry 2008) he was the host of a movie called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". This reputed to say that science was crushing the expression of 'Intelligent Design' in schools and that this theory should have equal weight with the 'theory' of evolution.
I used to be a fan of his Win Ben Stein's Money game show when it ran on Comedy Central about 10 years ago and found him not only intelligent but also witty as well (I have no problem with accepting the fact that he still is ;-D). However, the important thing to remember is that Stein is NOT a scientist. In fact, he's an economist by training and a speech writer and political commentator by profession. Thus it is that one should think twice before considering the validity of his claims that "Creation Science" should be given equal weight with evolution.
I will concede that there are exceptions to this rule, primarily because the celebrity in question has a personal investment in the cause. An example of this is the fact that the late Yul Brynner did some ads on not smoking. If you know his history, you know he was a heavy smoker for many years and in fact died of lung cancer. Thus in this case, his message was (and still is) valid.
Just food for thought
It's been my experience that we as a society accept what a celebrity says without considering the celebrity's qualifications on the subject.
Let's take Ben Stein for example.
Earlier this year (as of the original posting of this LJ entry 2008) he was the host of a movie called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". This reputed to say that science was crushing the expression of 'Intelligent Design' in schools and that this theory should have equal weight with the 'theory' of evolution.
I used to be a fan of his Win Ben Stein's Money game show when it ran on Comedy Central about 10 years ago and found him not only intelligent but also witty as well (I have no problem with accepting the fact that he still is ;-D). However, the important thing to remember is that Stein is NOT a scientist. In fact, he's an economist by training and a speech writer and political commentator by profession. Thus it is that one should think twice before considering the validity of his claims that "Creation Science" should be given equal weight with evolution.
I will concede that there are exceptions to this rule, primarily because the celebrity in question has a personal investment in the cause. An example of this is the fact that the late Yul Brynner did some ads on not smoking. If you know his history, you know he was a heavy smoker for many years and in fact died of lung cancer. Thus in this case, his message was (and still is) valid.
Just food for thought
