Sunday, March 10, 2013

#459: Steve Austin


Plenty of people sharing the name, but the Steve Austin we have in mind is chair of the geology department at the Institute for Creation Research, which describes itself as the “leader in scientific research from a biblical perspective, conducting innovative laboratory and field research in the major disciplines of science,” a.k.a. “Jesus geology” (“Innovative” means that they count the Bible as evidence and, apparently, little else, which is, come to think of it, not particularly innovative). Austin has been an active promoter of a Noah's Flood interpretation of the geology of the Grand Canyon, and has presented various posters in various venues, including the Geological Society of America in 2012.

As a creationist, Austin is no stranger to subterfuge, as illustrated by the attempt to score points by him and fellow creationists (Marcus Ross, Tim Clarey, John Whitmore, and Bill Hoesch) at this 2011 Geological Society of America arrangement; Austin introduced himself as a geologic consultant, without a word on his background. And that’s not his only attempt at this kind of deceptive ploy, as shown by this one. Indeed, even his “research” is permeated by claims that must be judged incredibly and obviously dishonest rather than just erroneous, as pointed out here.

Diagnosis: Austin’s affinity for reinterpreting honesty could even suggest a fraud, but his aptitude for cognitive dissonance is hardly in doubt either, so the verdict is “addle-brained nincompoop”.

4 comments:

  1. Just a heads up: the link contained in the sentence, "this 2011 Geological Society of America arrangement" is a 404. This is the proper link: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/16/the-fundamental-cowardice-of-c/ (hyphens, not underscores)

    Anyway, keep up the good work!

    One other thing... didn't Steve Austin used to promote himself as an atheist (or non-Christian, at the very least) who was persuaded by the geological "evidence" of a Young Earth?

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  2. For what it's worth, Austin used to publish under the pseudonym "Stuart E. Nevins" (an acronym of his real name).

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  3. this creationist fraud is now on Netflix with one of the worst pseudo justifications for an entire earth flood in Genesis- in which he completely ignores the millions of years differences in marine life in different layers found in the Grand Canyon-he is a total liar

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    1. I started to watch it and as soon as the credits rolled I turned it off. Later, I thought well, may as well watch some more. Made it through thirty minutes and couldn't take it any more. These guys are sneaky and conniving.

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