There Are Four Lights

For those of you who may not be familiar with anime or manga this rendition of four of the greatest scientists in our history might seem a little odd. For anime/manga fans reading this who aren’t familiar with ‘Charlie, Carl, Albert and Isaac’, this is probably confusing to you as well!

Since we’re celebrating Carl Sagan Day, I thought I’d create a little piece of artwork that has been floating around in my head for a while—-what Carl Sagan, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton might look like if they were bishounen characters in a manga series.

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There’s a movie coming out about the end of the world called 2012. It’s based on modern-day myths that the Mayans predicted the world would end in 2012 and that there are scientific facts which support their claims. This is wrong.

The film has some new ads out that look like real commercials for an organization setup to shelter people from the devastation. Unfortunately, there are many woo-artists who have been spreading the 2012 myth for quite some time now. This major motion picture is drawing more attention to this so-called Mayan prophecy.

Griffith Observatory has a nice page on their site which debunks the 2012 myth, here. This is appropriate, since most of the myth’s claims are astronomical (no pun intended).

THERE IS NO PLANETARY ALIGNMENT on December 21st, 2012. Even if there was, planetary alignments WON’T DESTROY THE EARTH.

THERE IS NO GALACTIC ALIGNMENT of our solar system either. Our galaxy is too huge to have a midpoint that you could pinpoint to a specific year.

THERE IS NO MYSTERIOUS PLANET headed our way to destroy us. Government agencies aren’t hiding evidence of a Planet X or Planet Niburu.

Now, here comes the really silly part; guess what? THE MAYAN CALENDAR DOESN’T END IN 2012. Yes…the claim that’s the basis of the 2012 myth isn’t true either. The Mayans never made any 2012 apocalyptic predictions. Part of their calendar ends–which had many cycles–but a new one begins.

So, you probably shouldn’t be concerned about the world ending in 2012. At least, not any more than you do any other year. Our own calendar ends too—-on December 31st. I predict some people may even have a party!

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I try not to think with my gut. If I’m serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble.

-Carl Sagan

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I was going to write a post about the recent comments from the Canadian minister of science about evolution, how he initially refused to answer whether he believed in evolution based on his claim that it was a religious question, and then his later back-tracking that indeed he does believe in evolution, but the question is irrelevant…

But the entire subject bores me…it’s so tiring to hear people argue creationism vs. evolution, compare religion and evolution as if that were a valid comparison, and talk about evolution in the ignorant manner that only a highschool science education can give you–where you have a vague caricatured idea of what it is, mixed with misconceptions (like we evolved from apes).

When you actually learn about evolution…when you actually start to find out, like I did, how little you know about how amazing the theory is and…OH YA…when you realize just WHAT a freakin scientific theory is…then all the arguments from creationists sound idiotic, comments from agnostics are unbelievably ignorant, and talk from people who say they believe in evolution but think everyone has the right to their own beliefs REALLY DOES sound as stupid as if you said that about the theory of gravity.

It’s so easy to pick up a book, watch a documentary, listen to a lecture and learn about how incredible evolution is. You’ll wonder, like I did, why you didn’t know it all before. And you’ll understand why Darwin’s work is the greatest scientific discover of all time.

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