A little bit off topic of the geoscience-field… but I feel it necessary for people to know. It sounds almost like a nightmarish bad dream… but according the a online paper the UNs counsil of human rights have BANNED criticism of islam. Yes you read it right. Banned critique. That means that topics on human rights vs sharia laws and those nasty fatwa-curses are off limits. The theocratic despots are safe to act as they see fit in countries like Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afganistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Sudan - the countries that most often of all muslim countries ignores human rights. No one can any longer complain about such small things as beheadings of gay people and such "trivial stuff"… Political correctness towards muslims one might think was the reason - the real reason probably has more to do with the fact that the UN counsil on human rights have been controlled by undemocratic nations for a long while…

Far less serious, but still bad this of course means that the islamic version of creationism and intelligent design now can feel safe from ungodly western ideas like the theory of evolution and such. Not know to many westerners but universities all around the islamic world tend to teach so called non-offensive science only. Theres a reason theres not that many prominent muslim scholars on evolution. 

In the past there have been some discussions in the UN on the scientific quality in islamic universities and the UNs organisations on education have brought up several issues. But now the religious delegates of course can relax since they with ease can claim that any such critique is critique of islam - and therefor not allowed.

Theocracy vs human rights/freedom of speech = 1-0

Speaking to you Americans who probably (still) have more respect for titles than we in Sweden do.

How can a creationist and young earth-believer like Dr John Baumgardner become a Ph.D. in geophysics? (He is known for searching for evidence of the biblical flood). He obviously dont understand basic science even per definition - since he believes in the ridiculous notion of a biblical young earth he cant understand anything about geology for real. Its just not possible.

One hell of a liar all through his career? He must be - how else could he have made it through his studies/exam/scientific career? This guy must have written litteraly thousands of stuff where he as the author didnt believe in the facts he wrote about. Not only that, he has several fancy positions within the geological community and several papers published. God forbid… Does he teach others?

I have no doubt of him being smart - he must be at least extremly manipulative, since he operates succesfully in a field in which he denies all basics in.

Its no wonder that titles like Phd and Professor has very little status these days when anyone can get them despite what they truly stand for or understand - in this case simply just pseudoscience. A Ph.D. doesnt stand for any academical guarantees anymore.

I’ve heard this type of complaint a million times before from a million archaeologists when I studied archaeology back in the days. 

I think that it is a prime example of professional archaeologists not realizing the great importance of popular culture on the very survival of the field and that archaeology just wouldn’t receive the same funds without fiction portraying history as "an adventure". They bitch and they moan about how inaccurate archaeology is portrayed in the movies about Indiana Jones. "Archaeology reduced to a treasure hunt".

It isn’t how it is in reality you say? No shit Sherlock. Show me ONE academical profession not portrayed “wrong” in movies and television. One.

Come on, what SINGLE phenomena do they think is the very reason that MILLIONS of young people across the world got the firsts seeds of interest in archaeology?

Oh yes, Indy. Just like “ER” makes new students of medicine. Just like “twister” probably made new students of meteorology. And so on. All of them popular, without being correct representations of how the professions actually work in reality.

So shut the F up and start worship the very reason you probably have a career in archaeology today. If not the personal reason for you smart ass – at least most likely a reason for someone out there writing some part of your paycheck.

Is fiction bad for reality? Not in this case. The very opposite. 

A question. When studying paleontology or just geology in general at universities and colleges in the US, how much room is given to consideration for the feeling of creationists and others who dont believe in evolution or the geological time scale? One easliy gets the impression from media and internet forums that more and more of the academical world in the US is under the influence of these creationists. How bad is it? Can you really get a diploma or degree in the US in geology and not learn about the real scientific facts?

You who live in the USA, tell me of your opinion and experience.

In Sweden (which probably is the most secular nation in the world, at least in many aspects) we have almost no problems with this at all. And no consideration of religious feelings regarding evolution and such are ever taken at the universities since we make it very clear (by law even) that it is science that should be taught at schools and university and not religious myths. Of course there are problems here too, but not about religious fundamentalism vs natural science at the universities.

Yes, this movie is probably unfortunally completely serious. A man who actually thinks that, not only is the earth hollow, but there’s a governmental conspiracy to cover up the facts about this and that all students of geology are victims to propaganda. And he’s made an exciting movie that proves it… For example, there are no available images of the North Pole; the government keeps those away from the public. A North Pole in which he claims, there’s a huge entrance to the interior of the earth that the goverment doesn’t want people to know about.

I always thought that the Hollow Earth people where a dying breed. A leftover from more ignorant ages. But it seems it’s the other way around. They, the Hollow Earth-fools that is, seem to grow in number every year.