Bill Nye storms the Internet

In case you were unaware, Bill Nye has made some trouble recently on the Internet suggesting that Creationism is bad for children. The video in question, posted by the pro-science channel Big Think, quickly went viral and was swarmed by comments from people who both supported and denied his claims.

Now, UVU is no stranger to how wonderful of a speaker Bill Nye is. He almost took over our school when he came to speak. The Grande Ballroom was standing-room-only as Nye took to the stage. Soon the entire area was filled with students wanting to see the man that shaped their childhoods.

This article isn’t about Nye’s words in that video. It isn’t about the Creationism versus Evolution debate, that is too complicated an issue to step in. It’s about the actions taken by people against Nye, and though you may not agree with his stance, how he allowed his side to be taken more seriously.

The video now has over 4 Million views is getting close to having 150,000 comments. The comments are the interesting part of this video and the effects it’s having on people. There are a lot of people swearing against Nye, insulting his intelligence and those that comment in support of him. That’s not to say the detractors aren’t getting insulted as well. They are. On the Internet, no one comes out clean in a “debate.”

Like many topics on the Internet, this one was full of name calling, fact-checking and general rudeness. It is actually still going on though the video itself was posted over two weeks ago. At the time of writing, one of the most recent comments says, “No, he’s right, You sound like an idiot.” It took some searching to find a comment without profanity or and insult to religion.

Not long after the initial video was posted, video responses from other groups began to get posted to Youtube. These all called Bill Nye out on his belief that Creationism was not appropriate for children. They passionately pleaded their respective sides and began to try and spread their videos around to attain the same status as Nye’s. Taking a look at three responses from the most prominent sources, their view count is completely eclipsed by Nye’s.

The three responses are from The Creation Museum, Ken Ham and an account named realtruthmatters.

The views don’t matter, neither do the content of each video. The thing that should be noticed the most is the lack of ability to comment on the three responses. They present their arguments and then shut down any form of criticism. Two of them even have ratings shut off.

They present their criticisms of Nye to the Internet, but aren’t brave enough to accept their own. Though these people would probably get attacked, much like Nye did, probably more so, but the fact that they turned the ability to comment off of their videos is a rather large statement. They wish to criticise someone for their opinion, but refuse to accept criticism themselves. This is hypocrisy in its simplest form.

Admitted, there are others who posted responses who allow comments to be posted, and these are brave individuals. They put themselves out into the world, and allow the world to attack them, often personally for their opinions. They show true passion and bravery.

Bill Nye and The Big Think share their passions about science and discovery with the world, sometimes offending it, sometimes enlightening it, but accepting even the harshest of criticisms along the way. That deserves respect, regardless of your personal beliefs.