"Did God Create the Universe?"

Citizen · 08-09-2011, 04:09 PM

A little late, but....this show aired this week on Discovery Channel - narrated by Stephen Hawking. I missed it, but I'm told it was good. I have my DVR set to record the repeat Sunday at 9AM EST.

http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic...se-episode.htm

Has anyone seen it?

Eternal · 08-09-2011, 04:15 PM

I haven't seen it, is it just being aired in the states, or does anyone know if us Brits are getting it too?

Professor Chaos · 08-10-2011, 09:00 AM

I saw it, it was quite good. Hawking doesn't really pull any punches. He was dignified and polite, of course, but basically said, "God is not necessary. Science shows that something can possibly come from nothing. Science > God."

Rhinoqulous · 08-12-2011, 10:39 AM

I've got my DVR set to record it too, missed it when it played last week.

And is it just me, or is that anthropic principle claptrap woo been popping up more often lately?

Professor Chaos · 08-12-2011, 10:54 AM

I don't know if it's just you, but I (fortunately) haven't seen much of it lately.

My biggest frustration right now (regarding science-themed TV shows, that is) is with Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman.

The show has a chance to be excellent. Freeman has the voice of God, they frequently get outstanding guests, the high-def quality and even the quality of their animations is good, it's very well produced, etc.

But the content...ugh.

1.) Center a show on a theme that is something that is not likely/practical/going to happen anytime soon, etc. Example: Can We Travel Faster Than Light?

2.) Morgan Freeman speaks for a few minutes about how it's impossible to travel faster than light.

3.) Morgan Freeman then says, "But one scientist believes we can ultimately travel faster than light. And he can prove it.[/i]

4.) Go to commercial

5.) Back from commercial, summarize the same stuff he just said before commercial.

6.) Introduce scientist with credentials that surprisingly impress.

7.) Physicist shows how something only tangentially related to the topic works. In this example, quantum teleportation.

8.) Morgan Freeman loosely connects quantum teleportation with humans travelling in a spaceship faster than light.

9.) In the cases where the scientist, and not Morgan Freeman, makes the correlation between his or her tangentially related topic and the show's theme, there is no counter-argument given by any of the remaining 99% of the scientific community who disagree with said scientist.

10.) Repeat steps two through nine until the show is over.

Smellyoldgit · 08-12-2011, 01:01 PM

I've caught most of the Morgan Freeman programmes and yes, it did induce a few eye rolls. The 'Universe' series was a tad more realistic, but again fell foul of too much CGI crud in my not-so-humble opinion.
But at least a level of science is making an appearance on the tee-vee and it is inspiring - till one glances at the 30 odd religotard channels - then I start drinking again.

Professor Chaos · 08-12-2011, 01:09 PM

The Universe was very good.

"Known Universe" on the National Geographic Channel is pretty decent. I kind of enjoy "Wonders of the Solar System" and now "Wonders of the Universe", but Brian Cox starts to annoy me in large doses.

Kate · 08-12-2011, 01:13 PM

Cox in large doses do tend to be tedious.

Smellyoldgit · 08-12-2011, 01:19 PM

It's All Fuckin' Shit!

Professor Chaos · 08-12-2011, 01:46 PM

Kinda

, but I'm taking my minions to the Carnegie Science Center tomorrow. The minions are now 5.5, 3.9, and 0.3 years old, so I'm hoping that the two older minions will enjoy a day of exposure to teh science.

One kind of cool attraction that's going to be there is a life-size replica of the old Mousetrap game, seen here.

ghoulslime · 08-12-2011, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Professor Chaos wrote

Kinda

, but I'm taking my minions to the Carnegie Science Center tomorrow. The minions are now 5.5, 3.9, and 0.3 years old, so I'm hoping that the two older minions will enjoy a day of exposure to teh science.

One kind of cool attraction that's going to be there is a life-size replica of the old Mousetrap game, seen here.

Exposing children to the influence of critical thinking? Aren't you afraid that they might grow up to be atheists?

Brick · 08-13-2011, 08:15 AM

Pure Hilarity

ILOVEJESUS · 08-13-2011, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Kate wrote

Cox in large doses do tend to be tedious.

What part, him endlessly staring into the distance as the wind ruffles through his hair, or the total amazememnt in his words as he replicates something with some stones and a stick.

Philboid Studge · 08-17-2011, 05:06 AM

Quote:

ILOVEJESUS wrote

What part, him endlessly staring into the distance as the wind ruffles through his hair, or the total amazememnt in his words as he replicates something with some stones and a stick.

I'm gonna go with two stones and a stick. Cox sucks, and vice versa.

nkb · 08-17-2011, 10:45 AM

I watched the Curiosity show about whether God created the universe, and I was kind of disappointed. Too oversimplified (although I understand that it was supposed to have wide appeal), too many repetitions of the same assumptions/conclusions, and way too many dramatic closeups of Hawking's eyes.

Don't get me wrong, it was still better than most of the crap out there, but it was too over the top for my taste.

Did anyone catch the 2nd episode, exploring whether we can be attacked by aliens? I didn't even bother watching (saw the previews), and deleted it immediately from my DVR. The entire series took a big credibility hit with that one.