A couple years ago, Marcus Ross received his Ph.D. in paleontology from the University of Rhode Island. His dissertation was “impeccable,” according to his advisor.
The topic: “the abundance and spread of mosasaurs, marine reptiles that… vanished at the end of the Cretaceous era about 65 million years ago.”
The problem was that Ross was a Creationist and believed the world was only a couple thousand years old to begin with. Therefore, he didn’t believe the very subject he was writing about.
I bring that up because there’s an opportunity that I’m sure some younger reader may want to take advantage of…
Greg Landry’s Homeschool Science Academy is offering some sweet prizes (laptop computers and Amazon gift cards) to students who submit the best entries in an essay contest.
The topic: “How Does Human Anatomy and/or Physiology Support the Biblical Account of the Creation of Humans?”
Right… not “Does Human Anatomy” but “How Does Human Anatomy?” They’re assuming a falsehood from the outset.
Topic of Your Research Paper The topic of your research paper should include some specific aspect(s) of anatomy and/or physiology of the human body. Be unique, creative, original — think outside the box — dig deep! Hint: lots of people write about the eye. It certainly is an incredible part of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. But, unless you focus on some small aspect of the eye and explain in detail how it supports creation, or have some unique take on the eye, you’ll be writing something similar to many other people. Be unique, creative, original!
Someone ought to give this a shot.
Use the standard Creationist arguments, make stuff up like they do, and prose it up. Poe the hell out of this. Throw in a barb about Richard Dawkins, talk about the evils of evolution, and give props to an exhibit you saw at the Creation Museum.
Win the grand prize and then tell us all about it while typing on your new laptop 🙂 Debunk your own research paper.
If you think this is somehow mean or rude, remind yourself that this “academy” is trying to brainwash children with this garbage. It’s encouraging children to miseducate themselves with Creationism. I don’t feel bad suggesting someone with some real science background enter this.
You must be between 11 and 18. The deadline is March 15th, 2010, so you have some time. If you’re a finalist, you’ll have to deal with a phone interview, but I’m sure you can handle that.
And if you feel bad about taking a prize away from a sincere person (albeit a Creationist), you can always donate your laptop to a good charity.
All the other details are here.
Maybe this is all futile. They’re judging essays based on “Scientific merit.” So I guess no one will win.
