Last month I attended an e-learning conference in Florida, where to my mild surprise Bill Nye was featured as the keynote speaker on the first day of the event. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what the Science Guy was going to bring to the table, so I was pleasantly surprised by his intense one-hour presentation on learning, exploration and, of course, science and the importance of scientific thinking and investigation.
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| Live whiteboard illustration by Kelly Kingman |
If asked, I would have said that Bill Nye was an unexpected candidate to be the voice of scientific rationalism in the 21st century. It's as if Mister Rogers had decided to launch a crusade to return America to its religious roots, based on his popularity as a children's program host. (Not as strange an example as you might think - Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister.)
However, Nye's passion for science is undeniable, and his television stint from 1993 to 1998 as Bill Nye The Science Guy makes him as recognizable an icon to the current generation as Fred Rogers was during his own era, giving Nye a visibility factor that instantly raises the profile for his advocacy regarding scientific theory.
He's strategically maintained and developed his pop-culture profile with a pair of best-selling books* on evolution and science, and innumerable TV appearances as an advocate for scientific thought. A prime example is his famous two hour and 45 minute 2014 debate with creationist Ken Ham, which had an audience of over one million broadcast viewers and which has received over 6 million views on YouTube. He's also the current president of The Planetary Society, an international non-profit organization created to allow the general public to contribute toward the advancement of space exploration.
The comparison to a religious crusade is not entirely appropriate, given that Nye's crusade is in some ways against religion - or, to be more accurate, the fundamentalist view of the world around us, I don't think the Science Guy objects to religion per se.
Similarly, I have nothing against people who have chosen to have faith in a higher being, or to take a spiritual view of life, but I have to agree with Bill Nye: the insurmountable problem with creationism is that it doesn't advance our understanding of how the universe works. Ignoring or denying all the scientific evidence regarding the origins of the universe does not move us forward in our desire to explore that universe.
It's obvious that Bill Nye has successfully transcended his origins as a children's show host, and made himself into a passionate, dedicated spokesperson for science and scientific thought. If you ask me, science could do a lot worse.
- Sid
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