joining these professor lawrence krauss theoretical physicists cosmology instead
a professor of physics and director of the origins project that there's an
estate university professors great to talk to you i watched your video where
you suggest that teaching creationism is a form of child abuse with great
interest because i'd suggested on this program a couple weeks ago
threatening children with going to hell
is a form of child abuse and very specifically
ait looked at a definition of child abuse which included the causing of
irrational fear has said what is more irrational fear then the fear of going
to hell
explain
with your particular case of creationism how do you make the connection to tell
the bees
well of course do you know there are various levels of child abuse in san
diego reality worst
in teaching creationism but the idea is that
in my mind that
withholding that
withholding anything for her children that gives them a disadvantage
or harms them and it was about a disadvantage compared to others
especially as they grow an adult alert
is child abuse now
of course as parents we all do that at some level
but for example i think with all the education
ism milder version of spa say withholding medicine
it's is putting your children
at a disadvantage is not sexual abuse is not
female genital mutilation is giving the nightmares by time and they were al but
what it is doing is putting him in a competitive disadvantage withholding
knowledge
uh... filling their minds full of fake stories and telling them it
is that they need a debate
that they should believe this inspiring out a
considered a disadvantage it means that they
they are not uh...
uh... first of all that one of two things that happen
one naked for they will
they will learn that in fact what they've been told is a lie
and without it was caused by this trust their parents and and uh...
and uh... and and the other lessons that they learn and maybe maybe uh...
baby that's not so bad in general
but or they won't do what both what they'll do it was a go through life
the believing in death and not understanding aspects that are crucial
west we develop a society that
twenty-first century that will require an educator br workforce in
biotechnology and
evolutions the basis of
i wanted to go to dan and to deal with the other challenges we need to deal
with
if you'll if you live your life
believing ally
you're at a disadvantage so
sure it's about child abuse but it is
we need to incur a charge children to question freely
and to try and
safety for themselves
and anything we do the counters that
have is is unfair to them
i want to get the motive in a second but wool the response i got when i talked
about my hell example a lot of people saying hold on a second
parents knowingly teach their kids are not teach but
many parents taught the kids about santa claus and eventually the kids do find
out that santa claus isn't really my distinction was that believing in santa
claus
correlate with anything particularly negative eventually kids figured out
there's no downside to believing in santa claus temporarily tie that in a
little
well exactly but the differences we always great parties are kids in many
ways the jerk
uh... kids like ten times what we do it
with the express knowledge at a certain age will say
you know that was just something we were telling you and that's really neat we do
we will be basically are preparing them
to learn
but the mess of their childhood are not all there and we do it gently
but we also learned do we're also doing it knowing in advance of where to teach
them but their parents are
are cranium it for them and that they maybe should be worrying about other
things at all
so will never know what
well i don't think anyone ever teach sick
every introduces santa clause of the attempts desire advocates believe it's
at a cost for the rest of their life and i think it'd be
that they could use it against his again to wake up as adults waiting for their
presence
ca chris's warning and be devastated so we is a very different thing we're
teaching it as a story reads like a
which he she has nothing at all
at you know to try and work we're doing with the express knowledge that we will
introduce into the real world
if you can view if you introduce the bible stories for example if if you are
found one actually involve morality instead of the
instead the opposite and then you that venue you know or join the whale or
whatever you want to say you know what these are
uh... these are really stories but we're trying to tell you is that you can be
patient in
whatever then that's a different thing but if you're introducing it is reality
if you're telling kids that were at the six thousand his old and they shouldn't
believe scientists because of there's no way that humans are related to other
animals
and don't believe any of that stuff you learned in school
or taking kids out of school because actually learning something
well that is like the taliban at some level which is
extreme form of child abuse is comment
don't want girls to be educated our people to be educated good way to
understand the mess that their learning are crap
and and uh... and knows and others from the also the the the greatest power you
can have
over children is to and adults
is a rule information from that because the more than all the more likely they
are picked themselves
as i was vastly different to tell kids a story that you know what their except as
a story than to try and tell them that the reality is false
this method true and they shouldn't believe
signed it because you know that uh... it's a it's a
if that's what we're talking about which arguably revolution
well let me know that andia
all the rest of science and the results of science become suspect let's talk
about that let's talk about that a little bit i mean
is motive than issue at all in other words if the parent truly believes
either that that that creationism is the truth
like some of the people for example that richard dawkins has interviewed i think
the woman wendy something from women for concerned that that whole thing where
they say the jury is kind of out there's two theories here if they really in in
good faith believe that is it still child-abuse sa participant parimala
extravaganzas
there not knowing we try to record showing
but you know what
the people look at uh... what the people who who bob dole out blood transfusions
in the case
are not lonely trier and but they are in the case and occasionally removed from
the parents
the parents are not com are not
are not the appropriate
guide to these children they're hurting them to chat
the people who know how the kids to get vaccinated
are hurting their children
you know it may be out of a clearance
so the trial just animal you know what
well i'm sure a lot of people to commit child-abuse think they're doing
something good for the kid
but they're not
and just because they think they're doing something good for the kid doesn't
mean they are
uh... i i i suspect although i don't know i suspect very few people
you know the people commit new dude
genomic elation
somehow think they're going to grow as a favor
but they're not so we can say
all just because you're well-intentioned
you're doing the right thing who alternately gets to determine
whether something is good or bad ultimately
well you know i a obviously
what we were it what we need to do is is educate people
some parents for better or worse to do well are aware that your
and many of us have been apparent at a rock you've been
no-fat ourselves having done things we wish we had done we could have done
better
none of us are perfect in that regard
but what we need to do
is i think our committee
for example we should be very careful
about uh...
allowing uh...
terrence remove their children from schools
uh...
be completing a weekend in june for carrie for religious reasons
but i think it's what we what we have to ask is are we
are we uh... being unfair to the children
and so you know it's a careful eva uh... obviously
you know what the state to tell you when you know what you don't want
to be told
uh... what you can do what you can't do it some
uh... at all levels of your life but there's certain basic things like
medicine health care
and education i think
society has an obligation to ensure that children have access to all of those
already this big move lawrence krauss theoretical physicist director of the
origins project the arizona state university
really a pleasure thanks for doing this thank you i hope that uh...
was helpful