Andy Schlafly, Conservapedia

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Quote# 75650

...inventors and doctors and engineers don't typically even bother learning relativity. Should I repeat that? Complain to engineering departments and medical schools if you think that should change. Nothing useful has even been designed or built using relativity. If you want to look and look and look for a counterexample then you'll be wasting your time. I'm not going to waste mine. This is my final reply on this topic for now. Do something logical, such as editing the Bible, and after benefiting from that experience we can revisit this issue in a month or so

Andy Schlafly, Conservapedia 88 Comments [8/28/2010 10:28:11 PM]
Fundie Index: 75
Submitted By: Anedac

WTF?! || meh

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#1199177

TGRwulf

Doctors don't learn relativity?

Um... maybe that's because they don't need it?!

8/28/2010 10:30:06 PM

#1199182

Hammurabi

GPS systems must take into account relativistic effects and were created by inventors and engineers. I would qualify that as something useful. I have yet to hear of any medical professional needing to use general or special relativity in their practice of medicine though, so you've got me there.

8/28/2010 10:33:38 PM

#1199191

Justanotheratheist

More brain-addled bullshit from the grand master himself.

Mind you, I quite like the idea of editing the Bible. With a chainsaw.

8/28/2010 10:45:27 PM

#1199196

Anon

Mr. Schlafly needs to study radiology, clearly. And yes, not everybody learns everything. There go the first three sentences.

GPS has already been mentioned, but that's an application both _general_ and _special_ relativity. _Special_ relativity by itself is necessary to get many quantum mechanical calculations correct. Schlafly's computer, and every computer able to connect to the Internet, was "built using relativity".

This has always bothered me: how can people state that something is useless (or deny its existence) when that thing is required for them to make the statement on the Internet?

That's it for the next four sentences. For the last sentence: what does he mean by 'editing the Bible'??

8/28/2010 10:53:20 PM

#1199199

Philbert McAdamia

final reply on this topic for now.

And that's my penultimate warning!

Edit the bible . . . for mistakes, misinterpretations and contradictions?
For misinformation, myths and outright lies?
The remainder would fit on a 3x5 index card.

8/28/2010 11:00:31 PM

#1199204

the_ignored

To #1199196:
That's it for the next four sentences. For the last sentence: what does he mean by 'editing the Bible'??
He's referring to the Conservapedia Bible Project.

More on that here.

8/28/2010 11:10:31 PM

#1199205

Anon

@Philbert McAdamia:

But why would Schlafly want to edit the Bible? I thought he believed that it (in some version or other) was literally correct? This wouldn't be the 'Conservative Bible Project', would it?

EDIT:
Apparently, it would be. If I read the description correctly, the whole project is one big "No True Scotsman" fallacy - everything in the book that they don't approve of is to be considered not really in the book. I also see that Colbert's opinion on it is clear.

8/28/2010 11:11:24 PM

#1199208

Tangentc

I can think of many things that engineers used knowledge of relativity to build. Mostly these are communications equipment and software for unmanned spacecraft, but still, it was engineered.

And yes, I think one can safely say that no medical doctor has ever used a working knowledge of general or special relativity in the diagnosis nor the treatment of any ailment. Possibly because neither case of relativity has anything to do with biology. One might speculate further that this is because the human body is not a star system, and that since Einsteinian relativity has no real discernible effect on the human scale, that this is a completely pointless line of thought.

And that's not even including classical relativity, which has definitely been a fairly important concept in mechanical engineering for centuries.

8/28/2010 11:22:21 PM

#1199209

lifeless1

Don't we need to know that the perception of time slows down the faster you go for things like satellites and GPS?

8/28/2010 11:31:44 PM

#1199212

Phloom

Edit the bible??? That has been done way too many times in the past.

8/28/2010 11:36:53 PM

#1199215

WMDKitty

8/28/2010 11:39:27 PM

#1199226

Tempus

Places where relativity is useful or vital:

1) Global positioning systems.
2) Nuclear physics.
3) Deep space probes.

Andy is a moron.

8/29/2010 12:04:30 AM

#1199231

GodotIsWaiting4U

Medical doctors? Yeah, they don't bother. Electrical engineers? Might have some use for it, but it would be limited at best. Mechanical engineers? If they're dealing with gravity, they can usually use Newton's constant. Astrophysicists? Relativity is an absolute sine qua non. They MUST use it.

8/29/2010 12:12:34 AM

#1199232

Tolpuddle Martyr

"Do something logical, such as editing the Bible..."

Andy makes baby Jebus facepalm!

8/29/2010 12:18:57 AM

#1199235

A doctor needs to learn relativity like a plumber needs to learn aeronautics.

8/29/2010 12:21:48 AM

#1199238

Mrs. Antichrist

Hate to burst your bubble, Schlafly, but as others have mentioned, relativity does have practical applications. The abstract can help us when dealing with the concrete, even if your dinky little brain has trouble grasping that. Doctors don't learn about relativity in med school because it doesn't have any pertinence to health care; saying that relativity isn't important to a doctor and is therefore not useful is like saying that brain surgery is useless because an engineer doesn't need to learn about it. In addition, if our species ever succeeds in developing the technology needed for high-speed space travel, you can bet you ass that relativity will become important from a medical standpoint, given the theoretical changes in biological processes it could produce, such as the change in the passage of time affecting aging.

At any rate, knowledge is important in and of itself, regardless of whether or not it has a practical use. The quest for knowledge gives humanity a purpose and an ongoing goal. It makes life interesting. We're highly curious animals and, as such, our psychological well-being often depends on the ability to constantly learn new things throughout our lifetime. Even mental midgets like yourself are driven by it, although the 'knowledge' you collect tends to be utterly, miserably false (i.e., creationism).

8/29/2010 12:40:05 AM

#1199240

rubber chicken

While I might agree that Nuclear weapons are not that useful, I must say that I'm suprised to see Andy say it.

8/29/2010 12:42:52 AM

#1199243

Medical Science has no room for your wishy-washy pseudo-intelligence.

If you don't like it, go see if I care when you drop dead from next pandemic disease.

8/29/2010 12:47:41 AM

#1199253

emau99

Nothing useful has even been designed or built using relativity.

GPS.

If you want to look and look and look for a counterexample then you'll be wasting your time. I'm not going to waste mine.

Fundamentalism in action, folks.

8/29/2010 12:59:44 AM

#1199255

"Do something logical, such as editing the Bible"

This statement would hurt me deep down if I didn't cling to the belief that on his deathbed Andy will reveal that he was joking all along.

8/29/2010 1:05:09 AM

#1199274

London Jew

Tell us what relativity is, Assfly. Go on - describe the theories to us. We'll wait.

8/29/2010 2:53:15 AM

#1199287

Orion

Look Schafly, I don't pretend to understand relativity or special relativity and would do a poor job at best of explaining it. But that does not mean that it is indeed useless. Just because as a lawyer/economist by training (in training) I do not learn relativity, or germ theory or evolution does not mean that these concepts are wrong, useless or both.

Nobody learns everything and sometimes you have to place some trust in the knowledge and wisdom of others to know what is right, true and useful better than yourself.

Other people know stuff, important stuff, even though you could be intelligent you may never understand this stuff, but it is important nonetheless.

Deal with it.

8/29/2010 3:38:59 AM

#1199288

anevilmeme

He's serious, this isn't an elaborate Poe?

8/29/2010 3:43:25 AM

#1199296

Percy Q. Shunn

At first, I thought this was some kind of troll or Poe. Then I read Andy's name, and LOLd.

8/29/2010 4:18:15 AM

#1199297

Quantum Mechanic

No GPS for you, liar!

8/29/2010 4:20:31 AM

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