Teach the controversy

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As you all know, the band They Might Be Giants are by and far one of the best, most insightful bands but as of late, there's been a controversy brewing. There is a new song that refutes the scientific claims of the old one. The original thesis was "The Sun is a mass of incandescent gas...a gigantic nuclear furnace". The new thesis now states "The Sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma".

I think this is a great opportunity for one to have to teach the controversy and teach both methods.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdWlSF195Y[/youtube]



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-KyciKHw-g&feature=related[/youtube]


Clearly, both must be taught and the controversy cannot be ignored. There are too many supporters of all backgrounds of the original thesis to simply be ignored.

What controversy? The sun shines because of nuclear fission produced by the strong gravitational field.

ruveyn

No! It is the smile of Jesus radiating beams of joy and light onto everyone. Says so in the bible.

... and we are to be as moons reflecting the splendor of the heavens bringing light into darkness!

Parody on the evolution/creationism "teach the controversy" matter with a similar "this is what they knew then, this is what we know now" vs "this is what i like, i don't care if it's incorrect" tone. "Teach the controversy" basically being an excuse for one to choose what is appealing to their ears rather than what is correct.




....it was a joke.

I like this theory of fossilization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlqDu2cD ... r_embedded (may not be for younger audiences)

Oops. Oops. That should be FUSION. Sorry about that.

ruveyn

Still not acceptable. Kids should be taught that the sun is maybe powered by nuclear fusion or by nuclear fission or by the smile of Jesus. This is a controversial topic and still open to discussion. Nobody can prove it isn't the smile of Jesus so I think it should be taught in schools as an alternative during science classes.

I must add that I absolutely love TMBG! I've been a fan since I was 12 and now I'm trying to get my kids to like them too. They haven't caught on yet, but I'll keep trying.

What's your kids' ages? If they're young enough, maybe they'd like the kids series of CD's?


The second video is from their latest "Here Comes Science!" The first song is on there too but I'm not sure which version is on the CD...

Empirical evidence supports nuclear fusion. Not one bit of empirical evidence supports the Smile of Jesus. Besides, the Jesus of the Christians, does not exist and never did.

ruveyn

You argue as if the glorious principle of Teaching the Controversy had anything to do with evidence. It doesn't. The basis for Teaching the Controversy is that if enough people believe something, then children must be taught that this something is a valid theory, independent of any evidence.

Remember that you should only demand that the controversy should be taught if you want to challenge the status quo without examining relevant evidence. If you want to maintain the status quo without examining evidence, you should instead appeal to Common Sense. You should talk of Common Sense as if it were something sacred that needs to be written in capital letters.

Exactly. That's the whole point. In the same way, empirical evidence supports evolution and not one bit of empirical evidence supports creationism. TallyMan does not really believe that the smile of Jesus makes the sun shine. This is really just a parody of evolution vs. creationism and mocking those intelligent design people. Like most of us aspies do from time to time, to took this literally. Don't worry about it, I did that too in a thread a while back.

Why stop there?

I think children should be taught other controversies as well.

The velveeta theory of lunar composition has to be revived.

Lets teach children that the moom could be made of green cheese-along side this newfangle notion that it is made of granite and basaltic rock.

We should fairly present both sides of the argument- and let students decide which theory they prefer.

Teach the Controversy and ignore the facts.

ruveyn

That's the tactic of the Bible-Belters. At least biologists admit to holes being in the theory of natural selection (especially the holes in the fossil record), but the Christian fundies? They just say 'God works in mysterious ways', which is as bad a cop out as saying 'a wizard did it'.