Another perfect example of why I Love Rachel Maddow !

[Motown_Johnny]

After discussing Noah's Ark and the fact that there will be dinosaurs depicted on the Ark in a new theme park.


Rachel: "What about the termites? Where did the thousands of species of termites live on the Ark for a year?"



:nuke:


:woohoo:

:yourock:





Most people ask what the carnivores were fed (the answer is fish caught with nets that Noah and his family were smart enough to take with them, even creationists can answer that one).



But Not Rachel!!! She knows that there are over 2300 species of termites on the planet. She knows that creationists don't believe in evolution so it stands to reason that those 2300+ species must have existed at the time of the flood and must have survived by being on the Ark. She knows that the Ark was made of wood and that termites eat wood.


I would love to hear the answer to that question. I guess it would be that God kept them from doing serious damage to the Ark while they were afloat. Still, the line of reasoning that Rachel Maddow applies is so direct and yet so unexpected (to me) that I can't help but to react emotionally when she does something like that.


:loveya:

[johnnypneumatic]

1. god was especially fond of beetles

About 40% of all described insect species are beetles (about 400,000 species<2>)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle

[orleans]

5. wow--i bet it took noah WEEKS to hunt them all down (two of each kind!)

and put them in a bug jar to take with him on the ark.

why...
that's just fucking amazing!

[Kalyke]

10. Who was His favorite? John or Paul?

:rofl:

[BadgerKid]

2. The mosquitoes and ticks must have feasted, too. n/t

[Rincewind]

3. Two of every species.

That isn't enough for most species to survive. For example, elephants only have a baby elephant once every 5 to 7 years. Then there would be all the inbreeding, and recessive genes causing birth defects. A stable breeding population of most vertebrate animals needs dozens, if not hundreds of animals. And an ark that held two of every animal would need to be several times the size of the biggest ocean going ship ever built.

[truedelphi]

4. None of that is even remotely true -

Considering that God held that ship in his two very capable hands. Thus the animals could stretch out (from time to time) across His immense palms, and glide along his fingers slippery with water.

While Jesus whistled some sea faring chanties.

And all was well.

(And the inbreeding thing-ee might explain why Fundies cannot reason too well.)

[thereismore]

8. You don't know how they think my friend. At the time, creation was close to perfect

and two animals was all it took to renew the species. It would not work today, but at that time, closer to creation, yes. :crazy:

[Raine]

6. Just gota love Rachel!

:loveya: :bounce:

[hfojvt]

7. that's kinda funny, but it doesn't work as a semi-serious argument

First, any good creationist is gonna deny that there REALLY are thousands of species of termites. Considering that lions and tigers can mate, even though they are supposed to be two separate speices, I find it hard to believe that many of the species of termites also cannot mate.

In the second place, obviously the bugs were on their own. Noah would not need to bring two fleas, bcause those would come with the dogs and the cats and the deer. Many bugs are going to enter your house, or your ark, whether you want them to or not. Termites also could easily survive. Here's a bunch of termites chomping away at my house. Down comes the rain, reducing my house to rubble and debris. But wait, the pieces of wood will float. So there are the termites bobbing along on their floating snack bar until the waters recede.

Or perhaps the eggs would survive. Eggs and seeds are often fairly tough. They aren't gonna drown, because they don't need air. So they just sit there in the wet ground until things dry out.

But ultimately, it is not all that clever to even get involved in arguments about how many phlogistons can dance on the head of a pin in the luminiferous ether.

[thereismore]

9. Exactly right. The creationists don't recognize "species", they talk about "kinds".

I am pretty sure that all termites are differentiated from one "kind" of termite that did make it to the ark. So there.