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Question: Why does my teacher think this way!?
A teacher of mine from high school last year has an IQ of 160!. At 26 years old, he's got 2 PhD's from Princeton, one in chemistry, one in physics!. Funny thing is, he doesn't believe in evolution!.
I noticed that he's got Christian bumper stickers on his car and a cross hanging from the rearview mirror!. I asked him after school if he's a Christian, and he said wholeheartedly yes!. We talked a little more about this, and he said, "Chemistry explains Biology, Physics explains Chemistry, and once you realize that Physics is the highest level of scientific proof available to man, there's no denying that God exists and that he loves us!."
Is it unusual for someone who is so intelligent to outright declare nonbelief in evolution!?
Please no short answers!. I'd like an explanation as to how this unusual combination of beliefs can coexist!.
Just looking at him says something!. Short (5'7") extremely skinny guy, very shy and polite, with a fuzzy haircut and nerdy glasses!. The quintessential science nerd!. I was surprised that he didn't believe in evolution!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Dear VB4,
Your teacher is right and its strange that people speak truth are declared nerd!.
Pl!. go to him and ask this!.!.!.!.
"Are the subjects on chemistry, biology and physics you speak is about human body composition and secret"!?
If says yes acknowledge him as wise person and not nerd!.!.!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com
It's pretty rare!. However, you must realize that chemistry and physics majors don't have to take any biology, let alone evolution!. You could easily get through a chemistry and physics doctorate without ever receiving information about evolution!. If you have been raised to be creationist, you may even avoid discussions of evolution like the plague!.
On the other hand, did he actually say he doesn't believe in evolution!? It's very possible to be Christian, and believe that physics is proof of god, and still believe in evolution!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
please change your name if you believe in evolution rather than God if you are an avid reader of books and get into the biographies of scientist they realize not too long after a few theories and experiments that there has to be an intelligent creator that created everything to work together in harmony the food chain did not evolve neither did humans I would never think of my ancestors being monkeys those animals are disgusting they pick their asses then suck on their fingersWww@QuestionHome@Com
"!.!.!.Jesus happens to be one of those things he does not need to reason out--he just believes!."
That explains him quite well!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I'm guessing that your 26-year-old high school teacher does not really have 2 PhD's from Princeton!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Einstein wasn't an atheist, do you know that!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
The Bible can be read as less than literal!. E!.g!., the "Garden" is a Mystery School, in which souls were given instruction in development!. Some warning about lower energy-levels was given (don't touch the relativity)!. Being sent out from the Garden is a kind of (de)evolution!.
However, it is great he loves Jesus, and apparently has accepted Jesus' Presence as harmonious with him!.
Personal experience of higher Presence is self-evidential, and has significant associative proof, e!.g!. the Host of Light at Garabandal, Saint Therese of Neumann's living on Light of God for decades, Reverend Mary Baker Eddy's hundreds of "miracle" cures, confirmed by medical doctors, etc!.
People can be Christian and not have to accept the literal account of "seven days of Creation!." It doesn't mean the Bible is wrong, it means the Creation account is a metaphor, and there are plenty of other recognized metaphors in the Bible!.
"The Great Divorce," C!. S!. Lewis,
"Expecting Adam," Martha Beck, and
"Testimony of Light," Helen Greaves!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
It does not matter a person's IQ if he or she can not use it wisely!. The smart people believe in GOD!. Why!? Because GOD tells us that the very nature of things declares there is a GOD just like seeing a car tells us that someone made that car, it did not evolve from a roller skate!. (even if it did!.!.!.who made the roller skate) God also tells us the wisdom of man is foolishness to Him!. There is a very long list of scientist that believe in creation!.
Gerald E!. Aardsma (physicist and radiocarbon dating)
Louis Agassiz (helped develop the study of glacial geology and of ichthyology)
Alexander Arndt (analytical chemist, etc!.) [more info]
Steven A!. Austin (geologist and coal formation expert) [more info]
Charles Babbage (helped develop science of computers / developed actuarial tables and the calculating machine)
Francis Bacon (developed the Scientific Method)
Thomas G!. Barnes (physicist) [more info]
Robert Boyle (helped develop sciences of chemistry and gas dynamics)
Wernher von Braun (pioneer of rocketry and space exploration)
David Brewster (helped develop science of optical mineralogy)
Arthur V!. Chadwick (geologist) [more info]
Melvin Alonzo Cook (physical chemist, Nobel Prize nominee) [more info]
Georges Cuvier (helped develop sciences of comparative anatomy and vertebrate paleontology)
Humphry Davy (helped develop science of thermokinetics)
Donald B!. DeYoung (physicist, specializing in solid-state, nuclear science and astronomy) [more info]
Henri Fabre (helped develop science of insect entomology)
Michael Faraday (helped develop science of electromagnetics / developed the Field Theory / invented the electric generator)
Danny R!. Faulkner (astronomer) [more info]
Ambrose Fleming (helped develop science of electronics / invented thermionic valve)
Robert V!. Gentry (physicist and chemist) [more info]
Duane T!. Gish (biochemist) [more info]
John Grebe (chemist) [more info]
Joseph Henry (invented the electric motor and the galvanometer / discovered self-induction)
William Herschel (helped develop science of galactic astronomy / discovered double stars / developed the Global Star Catalog)
George F!. Howe (botanist) [more info]
D!. Russell Humphreys (award-winning physicist) [more info]
James P!. Joule (developed reversible thermodynamics)
Johann Kepler (helped develop science of physical astronomy / developed the Ephemeris Tables)
John W!. Klotz (geneticist and biologist) [more info]
Leonid Korochkin (geneticist) [more info]
Lane P!. Lester (geneticist and biologist) [more info]
Carolus Linnaeus (helped develop sciences of taxonomy and systematic biology / developed the Classification System)
Joseph Lister (helped develop science of antiseptic surgery)
Frank L!. Marsh (biologist) [more info]
Matthew Maury (helped develop science of oceanography/hydrography)
James Clerk Maxwell (helped develop the science of electrodynamics)
Gregor Mendel (founded the modern science of genetics)
Samuel F!. B!. Morse (invented the telegraph)
Isaac Newton (helped develop science of dynamics and the discipline of calculus / father of the Law of Gravity / invented the reflecting telescope)
Gary E!. Parker (biologist and paleontologist) [more info]
Blaise Pascal (helped develop science of hydrostatics / invented the barometer)
Louis Pasteur (helped develop science of bacteriology / discovered the Law of Biogenesis / invented fermentation control / developed vaccinations and immunizations)
William Ramsay (helped develop the science of isotopic chemistry / discovered inert gases)
John Ray (helped develop science of biology and natural science)
Lord Rayleigh (helped develop science of dimensional analysis)
Bernhard Riemann (helped develop non-Euclidean geometry)
James Simpson (helped develop the field of gynecology / developed the use of chloroform)
Nicholas Steno (helped develop the science of stratigraphy)
George Stokes (helped develop science of fluid mechanics)
Charles B!. Thaxton (chemist) [more info]
William Thompson (Lord Kelvin) (helped develop sciences of thermodynamics and energetics / invented the Absolute Temperature Scale / developed the Trans-Atlantic Cable)
Larry Vardiman (astrophysicist and geophysicist) [more info]
Leonardo da Vinci (helped develop science of hydraulics)
Rudolf Virchow (helped develop science of pathology)
A!.J!. (Monty) White (chemist) [more info]
A!.E!. Wilder-Smith (chemist and pharmacology expert) [more info]
John Woodward (helped develop the science of paleontology)
Partial list of Creation-science organizations and addresses
Institute for Creation Research, P!.O!. Box 2667, El Cajon, California 92021, U!.S!.A!. - www!.icr!.org
Creation Research Society, P!.O!. Box 969, Ashland, Ohio 44805-0969, U!.S!.A!. E-mail: wolfrom@aol!.com
Geoscience Research Institute, Loma Linda University, LomaWww@QuestionHome@Com
The problem is that evolution does not require belief!.
You mention that he does not believe evolution!.
Fine, it is like not believing general relativity!.
Evolution is science, it postulates a model of reality that best explains observation and evidence!.
It does not matter how intelligent a person is, the cult mentality based on pure belief and faith will almost always default to a position that reinforces its own world view!.
Hence this person is able to maintain irrational beliefs despite his intellectual prowess!.
Likely he was indoctrinated at an early age or maybe physiologically predisposed to be a "believer" or both!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com
This the thing!. When a person grows up with a set of beliefs, they generally stick!. The only reason someone would waver from what their parents or their environment taught them, is because they have had some kind of question in the line of reality that wasn't answered!.
I think what happened in this guy's case is that he is probably incredibly close his parents and he hasn't had the need to question the beliefs, intelligence overload or not!. You can see this happen with every day life occurrence!.
Take working for example!. When we live with parents who work hard, barely take vacation, tell us that you have to save money and that being rich is a fantasy, nothing will wipe that from our minds UNTIL we encounter someone else who has done it another way!. This guy has parents who wholeheartedly believe!. He probably has an aunt who lived with him and a grand ma who lived there too!.!.!.!. all believing!. He was sent to church every Sunday and Thursday!.!.!.!. and probably to summer school!. For ALL of his life!. This kind of indoctrination can't be wiped out easily!. He probably went to Christian based colleges too, which ensured that his beliefs held fast during his formative years!.
This is my opinion!.!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
An explanation as to how science and belief in a higher power can coexist!? Literal interpretation of the Bible, which says 7 days for creation, is from man's point of view!. We say a day is 24 hours because that's how long it takes our planet to revolve!. Our year is what it is because of our orbit around our sun!. It would be pretty egocentric of us to assume God's day is the same length as ours!. If you believe he caused everything to exist, he designed it just like we have it!. We know living things adapt and change to survive in the place that they live!. We can track humans adaptations, look how much larger we are than our ancestors!. Even if you go back to the Big Bang beginning, those things came from somewhere, had to come into being somehow, is it up to us to judge how the creation happened, what method our supreme being used to create them!? If your teacher says that he may not believe in evolution!. But I'll bet he believes that living things adapt to their environment!. Over time, hundreds of millions of years, all living organisms adapt!. We have that in fossil records that we can see!. I'm not going to be the one to tell God he did it wrong!. Hope this view helps a little!. :)Www@QuestionHome@Com
That is not unusually, at all!. You would be surprised how many atheists become religious after they study science in great detail!. Its not unintelligent to be religious, and many religious learn science!. Theist dont deny science at all, nor logic!.
But keep in mind that evolution is just a theory!.
Theism is also a theory, by the way!.
Arent they both equally untestable and circumstantial, inferred by a few tidbit observations!?
Usually its the bigots that presume to believe that science says anything about God!. Science doesnt, and any unbiased scientist would admit as much!. But atheists do say about God, and they use science as a tool to manipulate rhetoric!.
Its the nature of religion to have faith, it needs no empirical reason!. Scientist or not, all theists admit that faith is emphasized over reason!. Few of them actually believe logic actually applies!.
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I dont really get how stereotypes help you to analyze anyone!. What do prejudices prove!?
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You are prejudiced!. You cannot know anything about anyone based solely on the way they look!. It doesnt matter if you like him or not!.
In fact, Id say that you have the typical high school mentality, with those ridiculous social standards!. It doesnt matter in the real world!.
So what if he is a nerd!? That doesnt confirm a stereotype any more than watching a black man eating fried chicken!.
Please quit with that garbage!.Www@QuestionHome@Com