Penn & Teller ignorant of Ben Stein's movie

[gdnp]

Anyone interested in clarification of Penn's TAM comments straight from the horses mouth can view one of his recent video blogs at www.crackle.com.

http://crackle.com/c/Penn_Says#id=2328055&ml=o=12&fpl=264776&fx=

Lessons from the video:
1) If you ask someone who claims he graduated from high school on a plea bargain (or was it work release?) and whose higher education credentials consist of clown college about global warming, you get what you deserve
2) Penn calling Al Gore annoying? Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

Penn is a highly skilled entertainer. His statement of "I don't know" about global warming was obviously sincere.

My response would have been: "Global warming? You're asking me about global warming? I went to friggin' clown college, for cripe's sake! What the do I know about global warming? Do I look like Al Gore? Am I that annoying? Or that boring? Doesn't anybody have a question about Uri Geller? Jeez!"

 

[krelnik]

If you follow what Penn writes and says to any degree (radio show, video blogs, writings, interviews, etc), you will find that he is the first to admit that he is not a super-smart guy. He admits to not having a college degree, but tries to make up for it by reading as much as he can and surrounding himself with smart friends.

His TV show, of course, has an entire research staff. (And they covered Creationism in the first season some five years ago, so they have no reason to revisit it).

I'm guessing it just didn't come across his radar for some reason. It does seem a little odd given his interest in skepticism and so on, but stranger things have happened.

 

[gdnp]

His TV show, of course, has an entire research staff. (And they covered Creationism in the first season some five years ago, so they have no reason to revisit it).

Yikes. I didn't even know he had a TV show. That's how out of the loop I am. Maybe I should shut up before I put my foot too deeply in my mouth about what he should or should not know.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

No, no: You added:



You are clearly linking what you call Penn's defense of Stein with Stein's movie. Then, you are not saying that Penn defended Stein in general.



That is your interpretation. You are clearly jumping to a conclusion that the evidence doesn't support.

You lose the context of a discussion so easily, Claus and here you are trying to tell me what I meant as if you know better than I do.

Context: An example revealing a lack of critical thinking skills.

Not the context: Stein's movie's subject matter.

 

[Civilized Worm]

When did Dawkins get his degree in psychology and sit down with these scientists for therapy sessions?

He didn't, hence he speculates.

 

[MattusMaximus]

I know all about Ben Stein's educational achievements and his work as both a lawyer and speech-writer. I've read his columns in the NY Times in the Sunday business section for years and used to watch his television quiz show "Win Ben Stein's Money".

I used to admire & respect him.
Now I just think he's pathetic.

Ditto for me. I was aware of Stein's political leanings, but that's politics so I was willing to let it go. When he decided to go off the deep end of the anti-science woo-world however, I decided to completely write him off.

Interestingly, whenever I mentioned to anyone in conversation that Stein was behind this movie, the reaction that I got was universally the same: "Really?! I thought Ben Stein was smart."

By analogy, I view Stein's involvement with "Expelled" as his jumping-the-couch moment... sadly, for him I think it's all downhill from here.

Richard Dawkins is usually asked "How can there be excellent scientists who are also biblical literal-ists?" Dawkins speculates that these people have compartmentalized their brain and do not subject their religious beliefs to the same rational scrutiny that they apply to their scientific research.

IMHO, Ben Stein is an EXCELLENT example of such a phenomenon. Although... I admit that given some of the things he's said (the famous "science kills" comment and stating a causal link between Darwinian natural selection and Nazi atrocities), I believe he's had some psychological breakdown.

It's called cognitive dissonance.