This needs to be heard to be believed...
So my step-father is an atheist. He also believes that the laws of entropy don't allow evolution by natural selection to occur, he thinks that this article (//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/alien-code-in-human-genes_n_3034876.html) is proof that we were designed by aliens, and he is convinced that the dumbing down of American society is evidence of all of humanity being in a constant state of degradation. And when he goes off on this tangent, he won't let me get a word in edgewise, because he's "got a degree in physics and used to work at White Sands." (Nevermind all the physicists who would no-doubt think he's nuts.) He's also an Alex Jones-Coast to Coast AM-Tinfoil Hat-9/11 Truther kind of guy.
...how do you even get to that point?
Let's say he is right -- we are a product from aliens seeds - he still has to explain the origin of these aliens: were they created by a deity, or did they evolve on some far away planet?
Then how does he reckon evolution works then? Because it's been seen to happen.
It's a bit like saying that the law of gravity don't allow for the earth to have a moon.
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"This needs to be heard to be believed...
So my step-father is an atheist. He also believes that the laws of entropy don't allow evolution by natural selection to occur, he thinks that this article (//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/alien-code-in-human-genes_n_3034876.html) is proof that we were designed by aliens, and he is convinced that the dumbing down of American society is evidence of all of humanity being in a constant state of degradation. And when he goes off on this tangent, he won't let me get a word in edgewise, because he's "got a degree in physics and used to work at White Sands." (Nevermind all the physicists who would no-doubt think he's nuts.) He's also an Alex Jones-Coast to Coast AM-Tinfoil Hat-9/11 Truther kind of guy.
...how do you even get to that point?
I had a dear friend years ago, intelligent, and a really nice guy too, who lived 600 miles away. I would usually see him about once a year. I never knew what he would be into the next time I visited him. He was a mechanical engineer type guy and very good at that sort of thing, but I actually don't know what his college training was. I know he worked for Mercedes at one time as a trouble shooter that solved mechanical problems around the country. He was more or less the guy that solved the problems the mechanics could not.
Seeing him was always kind of an intellectual adventure, never knowing what to expect. The last time I saw him he had gotten into the alien seeding thing, and at dinner, he was naming various books and literature, while doing the, "They now have positive evidence of this," thing. His wife loved him very much, and didn't seem to mind, but while she was pouring me another cup of coffee, she said without a hint of concern, "You can tell him to stop anytime you want." He didn't miss a beat. I would have been embarrassed by that remark, but he just kept going, and I still gave him my attention.
Well, I can't say alien seeding is any more odd than an ultimate designer. I kind of enjoyed his perspective. I don't know how long he stayed with that. I lost track of him about 10 years ago, when he bought a sailboat and headed off across the Atlantic with his wife to Denmark, where he decided they should live. :-D
I don't understand his views on evolution, but I do see how he can believe in some conspiracy theories.
Here are a few which have been proven and are ignored by our school history books:
QuoteTheory: The FBI Poisoned Alcohol during Prohibition
Conspiracy theorists like to point out that the government (usually the U. S. government) is poisoning the national populace, which is blissfully unaware, via chemtrails and/or flouridation. How laughable, most of us say, and yet, although there is no proof of these two, the FBI did, in truth, poison liquor stores during Prohibition for the purpose of "dissuading" people from that demon hooch.
Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933 in the U. S., and was absolutely unenforceable. Everyone of the public knew perfectly well that a drink now and then was not at all harmful, and refused to accept its absence. Prohibition was impelled by the Temperance Movement, which promoted teetotalism, or utter abstinence from alcohol. Its most prominent activist was Carrie Nation, a 6-foot, 180-pound, blue-haired battle axe, who stormed into bars and smashed their kegs open with a hatchet. Amazingly, no drunks ever beat her up for this.
Once Prohibition went into effect, the FBI saw fit to enforce it as well as possible, since the law is the law, and, by adding potentially fatal impurities to it, endeavored to teach the public that it was going to lose with Mr. Booze. These impurities included methane, formaldehyde, ammonia, and even arsenic and kerosene. But the FBI's usual method, without informing the populace, of course, was to denature drinkable alcohol, which is called ethanol, by adding rubbing alcohol, which is made of water and propene. Propene is distilled from natural gas and oil; rubbing alcohol does a fine job cleaning wounds and preventing infection, but will destroy your intestines, kidneys, and liver if you drink it. The FBI also added acetone, which is paint thinner.
Not surprisingly, people started dying quite readily from what seemed alcohol intoxication, and this only fueled the Temperance Movement's assertion that alcohol is the Devil.
Theory: The Fascist Plot to Overthrow the U. S. Government
In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt deemed it beneficial to the American economy to abandon the gold standard and operate on a pure American currency basis. This had proven very helpful in Great Britain in lowering the cost of products and boosting the citizens' buying power. Many conservative businessmen of the time deemed the gold standard essential for a strong economy, since gold does not devalue like a nominative currency.
Major General Smedley Butler testified before a senate subcommittee a year later that he had been approached by Gerald MacGuire and William Doyle of the American Legion veterans' organization. They confided in Butler whether he would have any part in a military coup d'etat to oust Roosevelt and set up a Fascist government with Butler as its head commander, Secretary of General Affairs. Their motive was money, of course, since they and their friends had their fingers in a lot of business pies.
Theory: Operation Mockingbird
Mockingbird began the same year that the Office of Special Projects was founded by Frank Wisner. In 1951, the OSP, renamed Office of Policy Coordination, merged with the CIA and became the agency's covert paramilitary branch. Its first and principle assignment was to influence national media toward the hatred and fear of Soviet Communism. The CIA funded the operation with money from the Marshall Plan, and bribed journalists and newspaper editors who grew wise to their ulterior motive. Mockingbird led, directly and immediately, to Senator Joseph McCarthy's rise to power.
Theory: The U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Plan to Terrorize the U. S. Populace
The Joint Chiefs are the 5 generals and admirals in charge of the 5 branches of the U. S military. In 1962, those men were George Decker (Army), David Shoup (Marines), Georg Anderson, Jr. (Navy), Curtis LeMay (Air Force), and Edwin Roland (Coast Guard), along with a few others, all chaired by Lyman Lemnitzer (Army). The entire board of the Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed, drafted, and agreed on a plan to concoct a casus belli for war against Communist Cuba, under Fidel Castro. Their collective motive was to reduce the constant threat of Communist encroachment into the Western Hemisphere, per the Monroe Doctrine.
//http://listverse.com/2013/05/02/10-nefarious-conspiracies-proven-true/
The thing government conspiracy nuts often make mistakes on is they imagine government to be one evil plotting mind and forget government is not one giant static being, it's millions of usually loyal patriotic people and in order for big bad gubnit to pull it all off millions need to be in on the plot..
AllPurposeAtheist wrote:
QuoteThe thing government conspiracy nuts often make mistakes on is they imagine government to be one evil plotting mind and forget government is not one giant static being, it's millions of usually loyal patriotic people and in order for big bad gubnit to pull it all off millions need to be in on the plot..
I must respectfully disagree. It usually only takes a few, maybe a dozen or so people to be in on the plot for it succeed. The hands on people usually don't know the whole plot. They are informed of their small part to do, without having a need to know about the whole. Then if they guess there is an illegal plot and tell their handler they know, the handler simply tells them they are guilty of treason so they better keep their mouths shut or face the consequences.
Those types of conspiracies have small 'c's'. The Conspiracies of Conspiracy Theorists have large 'C's', and always require many more than a dozen or so people to be in on the plot. People conspire. There are conspiracies. There are not, however, Conspiracies. The difficulties conspiracies have in remaining secret highlights the problematic nature of Conspiracies.
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"he is convinced that the dumbing down of American society is evidence of all of humanity being in a constant state of degradation.
Degradation from some imagined utopia seems to be a common theme among the religious and crackpots. And looking at them, I can certainly see why they see things that way.
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"This needs to be heard to be believed...
So my step-father is an atheist. He also believes that the laws of entropy don't allow evolution by natural selection to occur, he thinks that this article (//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/alien-code-in-human-genes_n_3034876.html) is proof that we were designed by aliens, and he is convinced that the dumbing down of American society is evidence of all of humanity being in a constant state of degradation. And when he goes off on this tangent, he won't let me get a word in edgewise, because he's "got a degree in physics and used to work at White Sands." (Nevermind all the physicists who would no-doubt think he's nuts.) He's also an Alex Jones-Coast to Coast AM-Tinfoil Hat-9/11 Truther kind of guy.
...how do you even get to that point?
By watching a lot of television and not bothering to listen to any counterpoints.
Thanks to the History Channel, my otherwise average-intelligenced dad thinks that anything remotely complex built by ancient humans was actually built by fucking aliens. These programs tell a story of an ancient people who are too stupid to find their own noses, therefore they needed other-wordly help in order to create great things. Apparently humans today are smart enough to send rockets to the moon, but our ancestors were like Patrick the Starfish.
Yet they still don't believe in evolution!
In the Mormon religion back in the day- before DNA showed it was bullshit- the church taught that all of the native Americans were the offseed of Israelites. You can only imagine the lengths they went to to describe how the Aztecs and Incas built their temples and buildings, with hep fum gawd.
Ancient peoples were as intelligent as us, just not as technologically advanced. They built with what was available; stone. Over centuries they refined their skills to a high level. The same thing is true in the history of weapon making, armor, and everything else. Over time, armor became very sophisticated, until finally made obsolete. People need to read some history rather than believe the bullshit.
If you have any classified work with the government you can believe they'd do almost anything. I'd tell you about it but I'd have to hunt you down and kill you. Just kidding, the NSA would extirpate you from the face of the earth with extreme prejudice. :shock: :P :lol: Solitary
(//http://i.imgur.com/Mr3p92l.jpg) :-$
(//http://i.imgur.com/TkV9dGD.jpg) :shock:
Quote from: "Smartmarzipan"Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"This needs to be heard to be believed...
So my step-father is an atheist. He also believes that the laws of entropy don't allow evolution by natural selection to occur, he thinks that this article (//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/alien-code-in-human-genes_n_3034876.html) is proof that we were designed by aliens, and he is convinced that the dumbing down of American society is evidence of all of humanity being in a constant state of degradation. And when he goes off on this tangent, he won't let me get a word in edgewise, because he's "got a degree in physics and used to work at White Sands." (Nevermind all the physicists who would no-doubt think he's nuts.) He's also an Alex Jones-Coast to Coast AM-Tinfoil Hat-9/11 Truther kind of guy.
...how do you even get to that point?
By watching a lot of television and not bothering to listen to any counterpoints.
Thanks to the History Channel, my otherwise average-intelligenced dad thinks that anything remotely complex built by ancient humans was actually built by fucking aliens. These programs tell a story of an ancient people who are too stupid to find their own noses, therefore they needed other-wordly help in order to create great things. Apparently humans today are smart enough to send rockets to the moon, but our ancestors were like Patrick the Starfish.
Yet they still don't believe in evolution!
Yeah, it's actually a real big shame for what happened to the History Channel. It used to be a very good channel back when I was kid, they always ran quality, factual programs that even had me glued to the TV. Now I don't even bother watching it, I really wonder why they changed course so radically.
Quote from: "Smartmarzipan"By watching a lot of television and not bothering to listen to any counterpoints.
Funny you should mention that: He spends most of his time watching Fox News.
QuoteNow I don't even bother watching it, I really wonder why they changed course so radically.
I can't believe I have to point this out to you, but: $$$.
QuoteAncient peoples were as intelligent as us, just not as technologically advanced.
Totally true. They lacked the infrastructure we have in order to quickly gain knowledge and create advanced tools, but the brains where there. Check out the video I just posted, it actually shows you what people can be capable of even without computers:
viewtopic.php?f=79&t=2918 (http://www.atheistforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=2918)
Ho-ho-ho-ho. And what about the divine conspiracy a-la-hinduism. Maya makes you see what is not truth as truth.
So, did you ask your step-father that if we are a product from aliens seeds then how were these aliens who seeded us created, by a deity? or did they evolve on some far away planet?
I presume that if he is an atheist as the title indicates then he would have to agree that these aliens evolved. So there. He believes in evolution, not evolution on this planet, but that it took place on some far away galaxy...(Drum in Star War music).
Quote from: "josephpalazzo"So, did you ask your step-father that if we are a product from aliens seeds then how were these aliens who seeded us created, by a deity? or did they evolve on some far away planet?
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"And when he goes off on this tangent, he won't let me get a word in edgewise, because he's "got a degree in physics and used to work at White Sands." (Nevermind all the physicists who would no-doubt think he's nuts.)
:)
One day, get him drunk, so that you can have an edgewise in words. :P
Quote from: "josephpalazzo"One day, get him drunk, so that you can have an edgewise in words. :P
He's a recovering alcoholic. Been sober for some 20-odd years now. Goes to his AA meetings twice a week. So that's out.
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"Quote from: "josephpalazzo"One day, get him drunk, so that you can have an edgewise in words. :P
He's a recovering alcoholic. Been sober for some 20-odd years now. Goes to his AA meetings twice a week. So that's out.
Write your questions on a big poster, and place it somewhere in the house where he will be confronted with almost everyday.
Sample question: Did the aliens once evolve or were they created by a god?
Typical of older people and others to replace of one supernatural belief with another one in it's place instead of being objective about the evidence of reality.
You know, like we all know about our fathers, you will never convince them that you know better than he does. Unless he suggests he can strap you into a "special" chair and electrocute you to Mars, I suggest you just let him go off where he wants to.
Every seven years are body is new accept our brain, which means we are being created and destroyed as we speak. :shock: #-o :lol: Solitary
Quote from: "drunkenshoe"Oh yeah, I heard that indian vedas discovered about quantum physics thousands of years ago. :lol:
Well, at least they said "Gods are later than the creation of the universe".
Quote from: "LikelyToBreak"AllPurposeAtheist wrote: QuoteThe thing government conspiracy nuts often make mistakes on is they imagine government to be one evil plotting mind and forget government is not one giant static being, it's millions of usually loyal patriotic people and in order for big bad gubnit to pull it all off millions need to be in on the plot..
I must respectfully disagree. It usually only takes a few, maybe a dozen or so people to be in on the plot for it succeed. The hands on people usually don't know the whole plot. They are informed of their small part to do, without having a need to know about the whole. Then if they guess there is an illegal plot and tell their handler they know, the handler simply tells them they are guilty of treason so they better keep their mouths shut or face the consequences.
Oh for fuck sake. And with that, you have just told me (and I suspect many others) all I need to know about considering your opinion as being credible in any future debate.
He's obviously capable, but spending his time watching FOX news suggests he might have unconscious aversion to reality.
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"This needs to be heard to be believed...
So my step-father is an atheist. He also believes that the laws of entropy don't allow evolution by natural selection to occur, he thinks that this article (//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/alien-code-in-human-genes_n_3034876.html) is proof that we were designed by aliens, and he is convinced that the dumbing down of American society is evidence of all of humanity being in a constant state of degradation. And when he goes off on this tangent, he won't let me get a word in edgewise, because he's "got a degree in physics and used to work at White Sands." (Nevermind all the physicists who would no-doubt think he's nuts.) He's also an Alex Jones-Coast to Coast AM-Tinfoil Hat-9/11 Truther kind of guy.
...how do you even get to that point?
That mostly happens to people who, instead of just facing the facts of matters, rather embrace unsubstantiated bullshit they happen to feel comfortable with. Mostly because of political expedience. It's easier for them that way (they think....). In fact they make life and the world harder for themselves and others.
Gerard