Ben Carson Speaks On Science: "Gravity, Where Did It Come From?" - With Video

[hatrack]

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson engaged in another round of climate change denial while also veering off into remarks about evolution and gravity during a Sept. 30 appearance at the University of New Hampshire, the New Republic reported.

“The way the earth rotates on its axis, how far away it is from the sun. These are all very complex things,” Carson said in response to a question from the audience. “Gravity, where did it come from? I mean, there are so many things. So I don’t denigrate the people who say ‘Eh, eh, whatever, somehow it happened.’ I don’t denigrate them. I just don’t have that much faith.”

As stated in Newton’s law of universal gravitation, any two objects attract one another with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Footage of the encounter begins with the audience member telling the former neurosurgeon, “You don’t believe in climate change or evolution, I believe. And I was just wondering, do you seriously not believe that climate change is happening?”

EDIT

https://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/watch-ben-carsons-bizarre-anti-science-rant-gravity-where-did-it-come-from/

[Lizzie Poppet]

1. Insane Carson Posse.

"Fucking gravity...how does it work?"

[underpants]

9. Tides go in, tides go out

O’Reilly: I’ll tell you why [religion's] not a scam. In my opinion, all right? Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. You can explain why the tide goes in…
Silverman: Tide goes in, tide goes out…?
O’Reilly: Yeah, see, the water — the tide comes in and it goes out, Mr. Silverman. It always goes in…
Silverman: Maybe it’s Thor up on Mount Olympus who’s making the tides go in and out…
O’Reilly: No no, but you can’t explain that… you can’t explain it…

[GummyBearz]

16. If you understand gravity and how it works

You should write a paper on it. Understanding gravity and how it works with the other 3 fundamental forces is the modern day "holy grail of theoretical physics". You would be guaranteed a nobel prize for the work. Even better, just reply to me here so I can take credit for your work and collect the nobel prize for myself.

On the off chance you can't answer your own meme "Fucking gravity...how does it work?", I'd suggest taking off one shoe and inserting it into mouth.

[Lizzie Poppet]

17. It was what's referred to as a "joke."

Perhaps you've heard of them...

[GummyBearz]

18. Yea...

A joke was "Fucking magnets...how do they work?". A famous meme used to mock and laugh at people who think magnets are not understood. You replacing magnets with gravity and assuming they are equally well understood just flips the meme into a joke on yourself, as gravity actually is not understood.

[Lizzie Poppet]

19. See above, repeat as needed.

Yes, I'm perfectly aware that gravity is the least-understood of the four forces, particularly in terms of it's actual operation (how it "works&quot . No, I'm not willing to pass up an opportunity to make what I thought would be an amusing joke about Carson because of that fact. And I'm damn sure not willing to do so because some humorless pedant might get their panties in a wad over it...

Piss off.

[GummyBearz]

20. Sorry

That you put such stuff on the internet. There is enough BS floating around the net without adding more to it. Call me a science justice warrior I guess. I don't like seeing people spreading misinformation about science around, whether it was a joke or not. If you saw someone make a racist joke do you give it a pass because "hey I got a sense of humor, that was funny shit!". I thought not. Better to be pissed off than pissed on.

[Lizzie Poppet]

22. Riiiiight...because oversimplifying physics it totally just like racism.

Congratulations on dropping what has to be the most inane, ill-considered analogy I'm likely to see all week.

Fuck this...welcome to Ignore. You'll have to find someone else to troll for a flamewar this afternoon.

Amusing, though...since I rather suspect I actually know at least as much about theoretical physics as you do. I'm a layperson (more-or-less: I work in philosophy of science), but I'm rather well-read on the subject, which has always been an interest of mine. However, I have no desire to discuss it with someone lacking rudimentary social skills.

Buh-bye, "science justice warrior" (*snicker*). Y'all have a nice life now...

[GummyBearz]

23. Yep

No analogy would hold up (obviously). It was great chatting with you philosophy guy... and no, being well read on science is different than getting a grad. degree in it. Take care, just don't post BS and then back peddle with the 12 year old "I was kidding I already knew that!" routine.

[onethatcares]

28. the earth sucks.

it's really pretty easy. whoops, someone else beat me to that antser.

[Gman]

2. Stupid Carson. Everyone knows there's no gravity

The earth sucks.

[ananda]

21. At least he's not in the antipodes.

He'd need suction cups for his feet.

[smirkymonkey]

3. And this guy claims to be a neurosurgeon?

How do you get that far in the medical world with absolutely no concept of scientific principles?

[Marr]

5. He can fix a brain, he just can't use one. /nt

[trusty elf]

4. a Ben Carson anagram

[img][/img]

[MADem]

8. I love the way your mind works!!!!

[NCjack]

6. It takes a big ego to be a top-of-the-ladder surgeon. In Carson's case,

his ego is so big that he thinks that since he knows nothing about the physics of the cause of gravity, neither does anyone else, including Albert Einstein and Hermann Minkowski. That really re-enforces the egos of his ignorant know-nothing base that believes that science is bankrupt. Carson needs to refresh his knowledge and memory of the Special Theory of Relativity. We needs to focus attention on what he is: a skilled and able repair mechanic for broken and diseased human bodies. Beyond that, he is not special in any way.

[MADem]

7. This guy is no Edwin Starr in the "rhetorical questions" department...nt

[ChisolmTrailDem]

10. A whole room of fucking idiots. SMH... nt

[GummyBearz]

11. Gravity is the least understood of the 4 fundamental forces

Electromagnetics and the nuclear forces are far more understood than gravity. And, btw, Newtonian mechanics was wrong all along, as proven by Einstein and relativity.

I'm sure these aren't the reasons Carson said what he said, but be aware of them in case you put this argument up against a right wing type with a science degree

[edhopper]

13. This is true

but we can be very sure this is not Carson's argument, which is merely a poor God of the Gaps fallacy.

[beac]

12. Is it possible that Carson has had

some kind of mild stroke?

I am not kidding. The blinking and the frequent difficulty he seems to have processing a question and/or his answer makes me wonder if there is some mild cognitive deficit.

This is not a person I can visualize thinking on his feet while doing a delicate operation on a human brain.

[exboyfil]

14. Actually he is sort of right

Newton and Einstein model the effect. The actual cause is still being worked out. descent with medications on the other hand is observable and, if you avoid the quantum physics associated with chemistry is pretty well defined.

[MisterP]

15. soon he'll be babbling about the "electric universe" and yelling that Venus is hot so it was

spat from Jupiter and that there's no gluons, it's Jesus holding nucleons together! Jaaaayzus

(these are all real deviations BTW)

[Liberal Veteran]

24. That's like asking "Dirt! Where did it come from?" or "Light! Who can explain it?"

Otherwise intelligent people looking for answers to questions in the wrong places.

Has he tried, I dunno, cracking open a book on physics?

[daleo]

25. Einstein's field equations for general relativity theory are well understood

In the sense that they yield verifiable predictions and link disparate observations in a logical framework, which is what it means for something to be understood, in science.

As for metaphysical questions about "ultimate reality", science doesn't claim to answer those questions. Organized religion does claim to have answers, though logically most of these answers must be wrong, else there would only be one religion.

Via the notion of faith, Religion tries to turn ignorance into a virtue. Thus, the more ignorance you attest to, the more virtuous you are. This results in the Carsons of this world, and their religious sound and fury, signifying nothing.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. Is he really a doctor?

or just an impostor?

[underpants]

27. Yes ....as a physician ..... I ... Have ... access...to...prescriptions

Gee is stop after the first part