Chapter 8 UnSpun Was Clarence Darrow a Creationist?

1. Chapter 8 UnSpunWas Clarence Darrow a Creationist? Or how the Darrow “quote” was transformed from an old preacher’s story to a footnoted quotation in a prestigious law journal.

2. Tom McIver said that Darrow said in Scopes Trial of 1925: “It is bigotry for public schools to teach only one theory of origins.” (This made creationist giddy!) But Darrow argued in the trial for Evolution. Clarence Darrow

3. Genesis of Supposed Quote • 1988 - Tom McIver – Creation/Evolution – tracked the dubious quote as having come from: • 1982 – The Creator in the Courtroom, which had cited: • 1978 Yale Law Journal creationist lawyer who cited the quote, which had cited: • 1974 Bryan College Symposium (TN – where Scopes Trial was held), which had cited: • 1974 article in defunct Science & Scripture by Griggs (a CA creationist): • Grigg’s Source – Paraphrased a Denver Baptist Preacher – thought the preacher had seen the quote in a newspaper in 1925.

4. We Often Need To Question, Track Back, Cross-Check Half remembered quote told by a dead man who might or might not have seen it in a newspaper around 1925 and might not have recalled the quote correctly. So they believed because they wanted to believe. When one examines the transcript of the Scopes Trial, one finds that while Darrow used the term bigot a lot, it was not in a way that would make creationist comfortable.

5. William Jennings Bryan: “You’re out to cast ridicule on everybody who believes in the Bible.” Darrow: “We have the purpose of preventing bigots... from controlling the education of the United States.”

6. HOW CAN WE KNOW? Larger Question: How Can We Ever Be Sure of Facts if even a fact-based high research journal such as the Yale Law Journal can turn out to be wrong?

7. You Can’t Be Completely Certain Absolute Certainty Is Elusive – So Question “Always” & “Never” You only need one counterexample to “prove” always or never is wrong. Almost all swans are white... But there are black swans in Australia.

8. George Tenet Re: Weapons of Mass Destruction Dec. 21, 2002, “It’s a slam dunk” (Iraq has WMDs). Apr. 28, 2005, “Those were the two dumbest words I ever said.”

9. You Can Be Certain Enough • Criminal Case – “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” – Acquitted O.J. Simpson • Civil Trial – Preponderance of Guilt – Found him guilty

10. Measure Twice – Cut Once Find a reasonable standard for yourself – try for a higher degree of certainty if it can’t be reversed.

11. Look for General Agreement Among Experts • But remember consensus isn’t proof. • 2000 years of Aristotelian thinking said earth was flat and you would fall off at the end. • Galileo demonstrated the earth was round.

12. Check Primary Sources • No “hearsay,” second-hand stories in courts. • Question news stories based on anonymous sources. • Does the story backup the headline? • Did the writer hear the right words? • Check information upstream.

13. Know What Counts • Definitions matter! • Bush said, “We’ve reduced non-security discretionary spending.” True. But he hadn’t reduced federal spending. • Notice non-security excludes entire Pentagon spending, which raised federal spending.

14. How To Lie With Statistics • Statistics can be used to mislead readers (and consumers and voters). • Statistics can produce misleading data, often unintentionally. • How facts get grouped depends strongly on the software's criteria or the experimenter's judgment. • Interactions may happen for the wrong reasons.

15. Know Who’s Talking – Conflict of Interest? Aspirins Help Prevent Heart Attacks April 2006: Many of those raising the “aspirin resistance” alarm have financial ties to companies that stand to profit from selling the tests and drugs.

16. Global Climate Coalition* (EYE CANDY) But both sides in environmental debate have a clear motive to tilt the facts. *Oil Lobby Sponsored (2002 Disbanded)

17. Be Aware of “Sound Alikes” Opposed Some of Bush’s Judicial Nominees Committee For Justice Supported Bush’s Judicial Nominees

18. Seeing Shouldn’t Necessarily Be Believing • People can rather easily be talked into seeing things that aren’t there. • Solomon Asch experiment – when majority of “planted” subjects said the shorter line was longer, 37% of the real subjects then agreed.

19. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable – remember “My Cousin Vinny” – the eyewitness who didn’t have her glasses on when she “saw” what she saw.

20. Cross-check Everything That Matters • Weighing Evidence – don’t use a single source • Give greater weight to “Sworn Testimony” • Self-Interest? • Confessions – “admission against own interest” – a truth that hurts someone to say • Reputation of the Authority – peer review • Transparency – Are they telling you how the results were created? • Precision – Has the sample been too small – or estimated? • Convergence – Different methods arrive at same conclusion.

21. Be Skeptical, but Not Cynical Skeptic – Demands Evidence Cynic – rejects facts without evidence... assumes what he or she is being told is false.

22. 2005 – New York Times “best seller” Natural Cures “They Don’t Want You To Know About” – by Kevin Trudeau Infomercial appeals to cynicism – they are lying, but I will tell you the truth – just buy my book for $14.95.

23. Why Should You Be Skeptical of Trudeau? • Has criminal past – credit card fraud. • Repeatedly cited for false advertising by Federal Trade Commission & Federal Drug Administration for selling faulty dietary supplements. • Switched to selling books instead of pills because “informational” products can’t be prosecuted. So, ALWAYS look for REAL EVIDENCE!