The Expelled! Experience! - Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

My journey into the depths of inanity continues...

00:12:19 - Robert J. Marks III
This dude claims that the young people of today are having to suffer at the hands of "Scientism." Stein then narrates that after this. I'm also starting to realize the futility of my endeavors here, because the National Center for Science Education has already done a masterful job of fisking Expelled! at Expelled Exposed, including the claims made by Marks. I'm going to keep going anyway. I'm watching this alone, and I need to vent to SOMEONE about all of the stupid... and lucky you, you're the one!

00:13:05 - It's a Mad House!!!
A clip from Planet of the Apes... My god, it's come to this.

00:13:30(ish) - Guillermo Gonzalez
To people (like me) who are intellectual masochists and follow the developments of the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design battle, Guillermo Gonzalez is the stuff of legend... Gonzalez, a physicist, says that he was denied tenure at Iowa State University after he published a book, The Privileged Planet, that argued for intelligent design. Which is exactly what really happened... Oh wait, except that it isn't. Gonzalez says the following: "I have no doubt that I would have tenure now if I hadn't done any professional work on intelligent design." I actually believe he may be right on that: before coming to Iowa State, Gonzalez did indeed have a "stellar academic record." But as soon as he arrived at ISU, his academic throughput dropped of precipitously (there's a chart at the link above showing this), to the point where he producing zero academic papers as primary author during the three years leading up to the publication of his book.

00:15:15 - Anonymous Silhouette Scientists
"When you say 'Intelligent Design,' they hear 'Creationism.'"

Well, yeah: Intelligent Design is creationism: [The Wedge Document] [Full text of the written opinion of Judge John E. Jones from the Dover "Intelligent Design" trial... really a great read in its entirety.]

00:15:50 - Cavalcade of Rationality
PZ Myers! Richard Dawkins! Daniel Dennet (huh. I always thought he was British)! Guy who may or may not be Christopher Hitchens but it's hard to tell because the camera shot was too tight! Three's a parade of short clips from leading scientists, scholars and thinkers offering their out-and-out dismissals of ID. Everything they say is quite true, but of course all you hear is a two second clip designed to make them look arrogant, not their analysis of why Intelligent Design is -- by definition -- not science, and not scientific. It should be noted that the producers of Expelled! obtained these interviews through deception.

00:18:00 - Eugenie Scott
Love you, but man you have a messy desk.

00:18:15 - "I'm Lost!"
Ben Stein spends an a full minute pretending to be lost in downtown Seattle. Seriously.

00:19:15 - The Discovery Institute
Stein tours the offices of the Discovery Institute, the preeminent ID think tank and advocacy group. Stein talks to Bruce Chapman, founder and director of the Disco 'tute, who claims that Intelligent Design is "not a religious argument." This, despite the fact that the Wedge Document lays out the goals of the Discovery Institute as including the following:

• "reverse the stifling [scientific] materialist world view and replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions.
• "affirm the reality of God."
• "to replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God."

On which freaking planet is this not a religious argument?

00:21:45 - Joke FAIL
Ben Stein attempts a visual joke. It is not funny.

0025:00 - "We'll pin him down like a butterfly on a... butterfly board."
Ben Stein spends a full minute pretending to be lost in Redmond, Washington. Seriously.

I'm running out of steam on this... There's nothing here in this film. Nothing... I think this will end round two... There MAY be a part three, but I won't guarantee it. How's THAT for commitment to my meager goals?

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UPDATE
Yikes. I had about 50 billion typos originally. Note to self: read your damn posts before you click "publish."