O"Reilly on Science: You can't explain the tides

[booley]

Apparently, Bill O’Reilly has never heard of the moon. In a debate Tuesday with Dave Silverman, head of the American Atheist group behind this, the Fox host tried to prove the existence of God by citing the unknowable mysteries of the tides. “I’ll tell you why [religion is] not a scam, in my opinion,” he told Silverman. “Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. You can’t explain why the tide goes in.”

Silverman looked stunned. “Tide goes in, tide goes out?” he stuttered. O’Reilly pressed on. “The water, the tide—it comes in and it goes out. It always goes in, then it goes out. … You can’t explain that. You can’t explain it.” Of course, Raw Story points out, people who passed high school science might tell you that tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon as it orbits the earth. But Silverman had a better response: “Maybe it’s Thor up on Mount Olympus who’s making the tides go in and out."

www.newser.com/story/109164/bill-oreilly-to-atheists-you-cant-explain-the-tides.html

Remember what I said before. IF you're going to say crazy shit, then be creative.

[dasfuchs]

You mean like this?

I was spanking some folks over on the Huffington Post website regarding this subject. Rather than waste my time rewriting my comment(s), I'll just copy-and-paste them here...

I'm gonna have to side with Mr. O'Reilly on this one and call Huffington Post and Stephen Colbert out for their straw man arguments.

O'Reilly's point of view is very similar to mine, and it's a point of view made famous by some guy named Isaac Newton. It's not that we don't understand how things work, but the precise opposite: We do understand how things work, and how they work is awe-inspir­ing.

There are but two possible explanatio­ns for this: Either the awe-inspir­ing brilliance of our universe is a work of art (artificia­lity; the product of intentiona­l design), or it's the result of a grand cosmic accident. It's Mr. O'Reilly's view, my view, and the view of the majority of history's great thinkers that such a cosmic serendipit­y is far better explained by a purposeful cause (God), rather than the atheist explanatio­n that ultimately boils down to the oh-so-inte­llectually­-fulfillin­g "it just happened."

Is this a gap argument? Hardly. It's not the detailed, quantifiab­le design arguments forwarded by master scholars like Stephen C. Meyer, but it's still profound and based on knowledge: Knowledge of our universe, coupled with knowledge of how purposeful agents operate and the pattern of design they leave behind. There's a brilliant correspond­ence between our orderly universe and our rational minds, and it's this correspond­ence which makes science possible in the first place. Put two+two together and it strongly points towards an intelligen­t design of the cosmos.

O'Reilly wins this round.

www.imdb.com/title/tt1091617/board/thread/176300499?d=176341711&p=1#176341711

[Amaranth]

Okay, quick check: Was I the only one who read that and thought "Fucking magnets, how do they work?"

[ltfred]

Don't you just love trolls who try to prove how smart and therefore right they are by using reasonably long words and complaining about the aesthetic of the counter-argument?

[Napoleon the Clown]

TVTropes has a name for this. (WARNING: May induce a five hour wiki-walk.)

[ironbite]

Tides can't be....ex.....WHAT!? NO WHAT!?

That is beyond moronicy. Beyond stupidity. Beyond even what is acceptable for people to have a brain to keep their HEARTS BEATING! Oh Billo....oh oh Billo.

Ironbite-give it up dude. You just lost.

[Vypernight]

Jan 8, 2011 3:14:27 GMT -5 dasfuchs said:

You mean like this?

I was spanking some folks over on the Huffington Post website regarding this subject. Rather than waste my time rewriting my comment(s), I'll just copy-and-paste them here...

I'm gonna have to side with Mr. O'Reilly on this one and call Huffington Post and Stephen Colbert out for their straw man arguments.

O'Reilly's point of view is very similar to mine, and it's a point of view made famous by some guy named Isaac Newton. It's not that we don't understand how things work, but the precise opposite: We do understand how things work, and how they work is awe-inspir­ing.

There are but two possible explanatio­ns for this: Either the awe-inspir­ing brilliance of our universe is a work of art (artificia­lity; the product of intentiona­l design), or it's the result of a grand cosmic accident. It's Mr. O'Reilly's view, my view, and the view of the majority of history's great thinkers that such a cosmic serendipit­y is far better explained by a purposeful cause (God), rather than the atheist explanatio­n that ultimately boils down to the oh-so-inte­llectually­-fulfillin­g "it just happened."

Is this a gap argument? Hardly. It's not the detailed, quantifiab­le design arguments forwarded by master scholars like Stephen C. Meyer, but it's still profound and based on knowledge: Knowledge of our universe, coupled with knowledge of how purposeful agents operate and the pattern of design they leave behind. There's a brilliant correspond­ence between our orderly universe and our rational minds, and it's this correspond­ence which makes science possible in the first place. Put two+two together and it strongly points towards an intelligen­t design of the cosmos.

O'Reilly wins this round.

www.imdb.com/title/tt1091617/board/thread/176300499?d=176341711&p=1#176341711

This is what bothers me about the Creationist bullshit. I personally am open to the possibility that a higher form of existence might have had a hand/foot/tentacle in our world being the way it is. The problem is just about every one of these morons IMMEDIATELY leaps to 'God' as the answer. Hell, E.T. or Cthulhu have a better chance of nudging things along than God.

Creationism is not about being open to the possibility of a a higher power helping to create things; it's just another half-assed attempt to shoehorn God into a place where he/she/it doesn't fit.

It's not a theory; it's just a crappy publicity stunt!

[Julian]

Jan 8, 2011 2:57:18 GMT -5 booley said:

Apparently, Bill O’Reilly has never heard of the moon. In a debate Tuesday with Dave Silverman, head of the American Atheist group behind this, the Fox host tried to prove the existence of God by citing the unknowable mysteries of the tides. “I’ll tell you why [religion is] not a scam, in my opinion,” he told Silverman. “Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. You can’t explain why the tide goes in.”

Silverman looked stunned. “Tide goes in, tide goes out?” he stuttered. O’Reilly pressed on. “The water, the tide—it comes in and it goes out. It always goes in, then it goes out. … You can’t explain that. You can’t explain it.” Of course, Raw Story points out, people who passed high school science might tell you that tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon as it orbits the earth. But Silverman had a better response: “Maybe it’s Thor up on Mount Olympus who’s making the tides go in and out."

www.newser.com/story/109164/bill-oreilly-to-atheists-you-cant-explain-the-tides.html

Remember what I said before. IF you're going to say crazy shit, then be creative.

"Maybe it’s Thor up on Mount Olympus who’s making the tides go in and out."

Thor lives on Mt Olympus now? Or is he just visiting his neighbours? Zeus needed to borrow Mjollnir to fix some loose tiles, and Thor wanted to attend a workshop on lightning bolts...

But yes.

Well the bible says that God is the one true God etc....

Yes, I know, but I have it on good authority that Thor wrote that.

What the hell, why would he?

Well it was a bit of prank that got out of hand, and he basically dick-rolled this insignificant diety no one but a handful of oppressed tribesmen had ever heard of, and he's never wanted to clear it up because he doesn't want to be bothered by billions of petty, insignificant, self-important, clamouring, self-obsessed apes.

[Julian]

(I wonder if BO'R thinks the moon is a light source set in the firmament... That certainly wouldn't explain the tides.)

[The_L]

Jan 8, 2011 3:28:43 GMT -5 Amaranth said:

Okay, quick check: Was I the only one who read that and thought "Fucking magnets, how do they work?"

No, you're not. Fucking lunar gravity, how does it work?!

[Amaranth]

Jan 8, 2011 8:22:19 GMT -5 The_L said:

Jan 8, 2011 3:28:43 GMT -5 Amaranth said:

Okay, quick check: Was I the only one who read that and thought "Fucking magnets, how do they work?"

No, you're not. Fucking lunar gravity, how does it work?!

"And I don't wanna talk to a scientist
Y'all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed"

I think we've found Billo's next comeback.

[deusmalum]

It's a mixture of the effect of lunar gravity (and to a lesser extent, solar gravity) on the earth and the rotation of the earth. Plain and simple, and easy enough to understand that it's a quickly treated subject in undergraduate Classical Mechanics.

What the fucking shit, O'Reilly.

[malicious_bloke]

Someone should really give him a window. I hear they taste lovely.

[Undecided]

Jan 8, 2011 6:40:16 GMT -5 Julian said:

Jan 8, 2011 2:57:18 GMT -5 booley said:

www.newser.com/story/109164/bill-oreilly-to-atheists-you-cant-explain-the-tides.html

Remember what I said before. IF you're going to say crazy shit, then be creative.

"Maybe it’s Thor up on Mount Olympus who’s making the tides go in and out."

Thor lives on Mt Olympus now? Or is he just visiting his neighbours? Zeus needed to borrow Mjollnir to fix some loose tiles, and Thor wanted to attend a workshop on lightning bolts...

But yes.

Well the bible says that God is the one true God etc....

Yes, I know, but I have it on good authority that Thor wrote that.

What the hell, why would he?

Well it was a bit of prank that got out of hand, and he basically dick-rolled this insignificant diety no one but a handful of oppressed tribesmen had ever heard of, and he's never wanted to clear it up because he doesn't want to be bothered by billions of petty, insignificant, self-important, clamouring, self-obsessed apes.

I'm as annoyed by one as the other. The teleological argument is just as ingratiating as conflating the Norse and Greek panthea.

[Doctor Fishcake]

Jan 8, 2011 3:28:43 GMT -5 Amaranth said:

Okay, quick check: Was I the only one who read that and thought "Fucking magnets, how do they work?"

*Raises hand*.