Free Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole by Stephen Law Page B

and philosophers may come this far armed with the power of reason, but no further —turn back now!” we should be concerned, particularly if no good reason is given for supposing science and reason cannot, in fact, take us further. The more we appeal to mystery to get ourselves out of intellectual trouble—the more we use it as a carpet under which to sweep inconvenient facts or discoveries—the more vulnerable we become to deceit: deceit by both others and by ourselves.

 
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ut It Fits! ” is a popular strategy for dealing with powerful evidence against what you believe. In fact, “ But It Fits! ” does double duty. Not only is it a great immunizing strategy, it can also be used to create the illusion that a ridiculous belief system is not, after all, ridiculous, but at least as well confirmed as its rivals. I'll explain how “ But It Fits! ” works by means of a particularly impressive example: Young Earth Creationism.
    YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM
    Young Earth Creationism is a theory based on a literal reading of the Old Testament. Young Earth Creationists maintain that the entire universe is less than ten thousand years old (a typical estimate is about six thousand years). They claim that the universe, the earth, and every living species were created literally as described in Genesis, over a period of six days.
    So, according to Young Earth Creationists, the theory of evolution, which says that new species have evolved over many millions of years, is false. So are current cosmological theories thatsay that the universe came into existence several billions of years ago (between thirteen and fourteen billion years ago).
    Young Earth Creationism is popular. Polls fairly consistently indicate that about 45 percent of US citizens believe it. 1 Nor is it restricted to the uneducated. A 1972 Gallup poll suggested that about a third of US graduates believe we are all descendents of Adam and Eve. For many, creationism is a moral crusade. According to H. M. Morris, a leading proponent, “Evolution is the root of atheism, of communism, nazism, behaviourism, economic imperialism, militarism, libertinism, anarchism, and all manner of anti-Christian systems of belief and practice.” 2 Young Earth Creationists typically see themselves fighting a battle over the souls of coming generations, and are particular keen to have their beliefs taught in schools.
    Extraordinarily, not only do many millions of Americans believe the universe is only about six thousand years old, many also believe that Young Earth Creationism is good science. They consider the biblical account of creation to be at least as scientifically well confirmed as the theories of evolution and a billions-of-years-old universe.
    How, you may be wondering, can any sane, reasonably well-educated person believe that Young Earth Creationism is just as scientifically credible and well confirmed as its more orthodox scientific rivals? After all, isn't there overwhelming empirical evidence against Young Earth Creationism? What about the fossil record, which reveals that the species currently living on this planet have evolved from common ancestors over many millions of years? And of course, we might add that the fossil record is merely one piece of evidence for the theory of evolution. The theory is also powerfully confirmed by, for example, discoveries in genetics (indeed, an overwhelming case for evolution can now be made without appealing to the fossil record at all). 3
    Surely there's also a mountain of evidence that the universe is much older than ten thousand years. For example: What of the light from distant galaxies, which, given the speed of light, would have taken hundreds of millions of years to get here (and even that from stars within our own galaxy can take tens of thousands of years to arrive)?
    What of the movement of tectonic plates, which we know to be very slow but that also have succeeded in separating the Atlantic coasts by thousands of