Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham: THE LIVE BLOG

Look, it’s going to happen whether we like it or not. You may as well join your friends here at Skepchick as we all watch together. At 7pm ET tonight, this post will begin updating with a live blog of comments from yours truly, as well as Elyse, Sarah, Jamie, and Amy, while our friends like you can participate in the comments. Be there!

UPDATE: our liveblog was so popular it crashed the server. We’ve continued over on Twitter!

Here’s how far we got in the liveblog:

At 19.50, Elyse posted:

Right now Ken Ham is like “I could just look at rocks? I BOW DON TO YOU, NYE!”

At 19.50, Sarah posted:

As someone with a Communication Studies degree, I gotta say, Ken Ham wins on the “how nice your slides look” competition.

At 19.50, Rebecca Watson posted:

You guys, I’m out of beer. BRB.

At 19.50, Elyse posted:

Also cut down a bunch of trees because that’s not a problem.

At 19.49, Amy Roth posted:

NO BILL DON’T USE MATH. CREATIONISTS CAN NOT ADD UP NUMBERS HIGHER THAN 6000.

At 19.49, Sarah posted:

“I don’t mean to be mean to trees.” -Bill Nye

At 19.49, Elyse posted:

Bill Nye: I’m going to say the same things as Ken Ham but say it with different numbers therefore evolution.

At 19.48, Elyse posted:

Bill Nye really likes putting bumper stickers on his MacBook.

At 19.48, Amy Roth posted:

Nye is like, Imma show you what a science teacher does…let’s chill and talk about ice and air.

At 19.48, Rebecca Watson posted:

I like it when debaters use slides. It dispenses with any pretense that they’re actually responding to the other person’s arguments on the spot.

At 19.46, Elyse posted:

“I learned something”- Bill Nye
What he means: THAT YOU’RE STUPIDER THAN I THOUGHT AND I’M AN ASSHOLE FOR ENGAGING IN THIS DEBATE.

At 19.46, Sarah posted:

The stage is really poorly lit so Bill Nye’s eyes look like black holes. #science

At 19.46, Rebecca Watson posted:

The moderator just name-dropped Larry King. Where are we, what is happening oh no

At 19.46, Jamie posted:

My feed froze so I couldn’t hear the end of Ham’s speech. THERE IS A GOD!

At 19.45, Elyse posted:

Did Ken Ham just get choked up that Jesus died on a cross for me? Because I don’t know if he knows I exist… with my vagina and whatnot.

At 19.45, Rebecca Watson posted:

I say this without hyperbole: I would seriously be more convinced by an actual ham sandwich.

At 19.44, Elyse posted:

WHAT THE FUCK DOES ABORTION HAVE TO DO WITH A LITERAL BIBLICAL CREATION MODEL?

At 19.44, Sarah posted:

“Old people, they’re just animals, let’s get rid of them!” Wow.

At 19.44, Rebecca Watson posted:

“Get rid of old people, why not?” Ken Ham

At 19.44, Amy Roth posted:

MAN OR GOD? I pick neither.

At 19.43, Elyse posted:

science is an ideology but religion is science.

At 19.43, Sarah posted:

I kind of spaced out for a few minutes & started reading this Mental Floss article on Harry Potter revelations. It’s way more interesting (and believable) than Ken Ham thus far.

At 19.42, Jamie posted:

Toda L’el there are only 3 more minutes of this bullshit left.

At 19.42, Elyse posted:

I am also a door. If a man enters me, he is saved. HEYYO!

At 19.42, Amy Roth posted:

I HAVE TO GO THOROUGH A MAN TO BE SAVED? HOW WILL I FIT?

At 19.41, Rebecca Watson posted:

Ha ha, called it! The gays.

At 19.40, Elyse posted:

Me nowphoto (22)

At 19.40, Amy Roth posted:

Creationism bait and switch: Offers observational science. Gives dinosaur rides.

At 19.40, Rebecca Watson posted:

Welp, here’s my new favorite slide. Creationism leads to…an empty void.
creation debate 3

At 19.39, Sarah posted:

“I believe in literal creationism, just like Jesus did.” Slick appeal to authority, Ken.

At 19.39, Amy Roth posted:

Ham appeals to children because the adults think he is an idiot.

At 19.38, Jamie posted:

“I believe we are teaching people to think critically” -Actual Ken Ham quote

At 19.38, Sarah posted:

Wow, Ken Ham thinks this whole “I’m an Australian!” thing is a lot more foreign (and endearing) than we think it is.

At 19.37, Rebecca Watson posted:

There it is again! Ken Ham’s can’t fail ark gif!

At 19.36, Jamie posted:

Even my cat is now crying. It’s possible he’s just hungry, but more likely his crying was caused by being forced to listen to Ken Ham.

At 19.36, Rebecca Watson posted:

Oh man, so many creationists are gonna be upset Ken Ham says there’s no races. What will they hate now? Gays I guess.

At 19.35, Elyse posted:

Does Ken Ham have any idea that all he’s saying is the fucking stupidest shit to ever be spewed out of a human being’s mouth?

At 19.35, Sarah posted:

“Different people groups formed.” That sounds scientific.

At 19.34, Jamie posted:

I have never experienced god personally, so he clearly doesn’t exist. CHECKMATE!

At 19.34, Amy Roth posted:

Oh my that Andrew fellow, is sad. “I turn off my brain when science tells me something that contradicts creationism.”

At 19.34, Rebecca Watson posted:

I wasn’t on board until I realized Ken Ham has Milhouse’s dad on his side.

At 19.34, Jamie posted:

Liberty University scientist > University of Chicago scientist -Ken Ham

At 19.33, Elyse posted:

Does Ken Ham know anyone who has ever even been in a tanning bed?

At 19.33, Jamie posted:

For those wondering, Jerry Coyne wrote the book “Why Evolution is True”

At 19.33, Amy Roth posted:

Let me introduce you to another white dude.

At 19.32, Elyse posted:

LOOK! A WHITE GUY!

At 19.31, Rebecca Watson posted:

This is all one big ploy Ken Ham set up to make us think he has friends

At 19.31, Jamie posted:

Anything you haven’t experienced yourself doesn’t exist. So sorry all of China. I’ve never been there, so you must not exist.

At 19.31, Amy Roth posted:

My observational science tells me that Mr Ham needs a glass of water.

At 19.31, Sarah posted:

Does Ken Ham really want to push the message of “if you can’t see it, it’s not real”?

At 19.30, Amy Roth posted:

At 19.30, Amy Roth posted:

I’m switching to the hard stuff. Dogs evolved from wolves and wolves evolved FROM MAGIC. Got it.

At 19.30, Rebecca Watson posted:

“molecules to man” is the new buzzphrase everyone! Ken Ham is the trendsetter.

At 19.29, Elyse posted:

I think the word hijacked is being hijacked by Ken Ham.

At 19.29, Rebecca Watson posted:

Adam H. Freedman is going to be thrilled that his study is being twisted by the one and only Ken Ham!

At 19.29, Elyse posted:

This conversation about dogs needs to have more puppy bowl clips.

At 19.28, Elyse posted:

Species didn’t exist before Noah? Is this real?

At 19.26, Elyse posted:

I think I’m just going to call a standby ambulance for this drinking game.

At 19.26, Amy Roth posted:

We only have the hear and now. Time means nothing. MAN is the authority. POST HOC RATIONALIZE THAT SHIT HAM!

At 19.25, Rebecca Watson posted:

We get dogs and bones. They get people and rocks. Fair enough. creation debate 2

At 19.24, Elyse posted:

The battle is whether you want to use evidence to make shit up despite the evidence. Got it, Ken.

At 19.24, Jamie posted:

Plural of evidence = evidences?

At 19.24, Sarah posted:

Earthquakes are caused by Ken Ham trying to pull the earth away from Bill Nye. These diagrams are really helpful!

At 19.23, Rebecca Watson posted:

wait WHAT? Name a technology that could be based on molecules to man what what?

At 19.22, Rebecca Watson posted:

Ham: scientists debate the age of the universe therefore creationism. Because “6 thousand” is basically like 13.8 billion years, right?

At 19.22, Elyse posted:

Smoke detectors. We agree. God exists because smoke detectors weren’t there when the world was created.

CHECKMATE BILL NYE!

At 19.21, Sarah posted:

“There’s supposed to be a gap there; I don’t see a gap there.” Well, that’s because you can’t see time, Ken.

At 19.21, Amy Roth posted:

Power-point graphic with lizards and an Earth. Checkmate. ~ Creationists.

At 19.20, Rebecca Watson posted:

Ken Ham definitely thinks that graphic with the ark is nailing it.

At 19.19, Elyse posted:

“There’s a misunderstanding here” Ken Ham, unironically

At 19.19, Amy Roth posted:

Be quiet. The men are talking.

At 19.19, Sarah posted:

Jamie, you can’t be a n inventor because you’re a lady and you need to stay home and take care of your children, like God Said!

At 19.18, Amy Roth posted:

FREE THE WHITE MEN.

At 19.18, Elyse posted:

Rebecca is still sober enough to name logical fallacies. Everyone drink.

At 19.18, Amy Roth posted:

If Ham shows a NON white guy, I will wear a bow tie for a month.

At 19.18, Rebecca Watson posted:

Argument from Authority. EVERYBODY DRINK! (We drink on fallacies now)

At 19.18, Jamie posted:

If my mother had just prayed harder maybe I could of been an inventor too!

At 19.17, Elyse posted:

IS THERE ANYONE ON EARTH THAT IS NOT AN OLD WHITE GUY?

At 19.17, Amy Roth posted:

You can do science AND be wrong. I need another bottle of wine.

At 19.17, Elyse posted:

I really like that this guy invented an MRA scanner. I would buy that.

At 19.16, Amy Roth posted:

MORE WHITE PEOPLE.

At 19.15, Sarah posted:

Oh my god, 30 minutes of Ken Ham talking alone??? Have I died & gone to hell? Is this my punishment for being an Evolutionist (TM)?

At 19.15, Amy Roth posted:

Illustrated!? I KNEW CREATIONISM WAS ABOUT CRAFTING!

At 19.15, Jamie posted:

It’s cute that Bill Nye thinks people make up their minds on evolution based on “evidence”

At 19.15, Rebecca Watson posted:

At least both debaters are Mac guys, AMIRIGHT?

At 19.15, Elyse posted:

FINALLY! IT’S OVER!

Oh shit.

At 19.15, Amy Roth posted:

Bless you, Rebecca.

At 19.14, Rebecca Watson posted:

Is he saying “eshtew?”

At 19.13, Elyse posted:

Did Bill Nye just disprove all of the Bible by pointing out how boats work?

At 19.13, Sarah posted:

I love all the questions marks?

At 19.12, Elyse posted:

What would I be doing otherwise, Bill? I’d be sitting on my couch, drinking and not masturbating to this debate. Just like I’m doing right now.

At 19.12, Amy Roth posted:

Appeal to television shows.

At 19.11, Elyse posted:

I THOUGHT THIS WAS A CHILD RAPE JOKE IT’S ACTUALLY ABOUT DEAD PEOPLE WHAT THE FUCK BILL NYE? WHHHHHAAAAAAAAT THE FUCK?

At 19.11, Amy Roth posted:

Bow tie jokes IRREDUCIBLY COMPLEX.

At 19.11, Sarah posted:

This is my favorite joke so far.

At 19.11, Jamie posted:

I see Bill Nye has decided to go with the absurdist approach to proving evolution. Interesting play Nye.

At 19.10, Elyse posted:

Amy, I think maybe skin pigment isn’t something that’s evolved in stupid humans yet.

At 19.10, Rebecca Watson posted:

Ah, the old “Bow Tie Opener.” Classic.

At 19.10, Elyse posted:

What is with all the football references? Is this the superbowl of shitty debates?

At 19.10, Sarah posted:

The moderator talks exactly like Glenn Beck.

At 19.09, Amy Roth posted:

WHY IS IT STILL ONLY WHITE PEOPLE? Even in the power-point? I assert that the POC of color have been hijacked by HAM and made into dinosaur rides. SCIENCE

At 19.09, Elyse posted:

I’m going to pay Bill Nye to ask Ken Ham how magnets work.

At 19.08, Rebecca Watson posted:

Ha ha ha, what does this mean

creationdebate1

At 19.07, Amy Roth posted:

TLD(listen) SCIENCE is a magic wonderland filled with talking dinosaurs and ham sandwiches. You don’t NEED facts.

At 19.07, Sarah posted:

Who wants to bet that some poor Creation Museum intern had to make this powerpoint for Ken Ham?

At 19.06, Elyse posted:

I’VE HAD IT WITH THIS MOTHER FUCKING SCIENCE ON THIS MOTHER FUCKING PLANE- KEN HAM

At 19.06, Rebecca Watson posted:

“Secularists!” Add it to the drinking list.

At 19.06, Rebecca Watson posted:

Hey everyone, this engineer says Goddidit. Case closed, let’s all go home!

At 19.05, Elyse posted:

Now I have to decide whether I hate Dawkins enough to make sweet love to Ken Ham.

At 19.05, Sarah posted:

You can tell who the Evolutionists (TM) are in the audience because they aren’t laughing at Ken Ham’s weird jokes.

At 19.05, Rebecca Watson posted:

No Ken Ham. We do not enjoying you saying it.

At 19.04, Amy Roth posted:

I’m just trying not to make jokes about ham, now that I am a vegan.

At 19.04, Elyse posted:

5 minutes of Ken Ham.

FUCKING KILL ME.

At 19.04, Elyse posted:

Is anyone still awake? We’re not even past the intros and this already sucks.

At 19.02, Elyse posted:

Ham won the coin toss because Jesus hates Bill Nye.

At 19.02, Amy Roth posted:

WHERE DID THEY HIDE ALL THE POC?

At 19.02, Rebecca Watson posted:

Oh lord. Jokes.

At 19.01, Amy Roth posted:

I already have alcohol poisoning. That, or part of my brain fell asleep.

At 19.01, Elyse posted:

Is creation a viable model of origins? NO. IT IS NOT.

Can we go home now?

At 19.00, Rebecca Watson posted:

Well, we’re only through one commercial and have already drank four times.

At 19.00, Sarah posted:

OH MY GOD KEN HAM AS A CARTOON I ALREADY CAN’T

At 18.58, Amy Roth posted:

So I never read the bible all the way through. I imagine this debate is going to clear everything up for me or get me drunk.

At 18.58, Rebecca Watson posted:

5 minutes to go. Does everyone have a drink? I propose a game. Drink every time one of the following words appears:

complexity
creation
millions
dinosaurs
Darwinist
At 18.57, Elyse posted:

bow ties? There’s a fucking dress code? I’m wearing a turtle neck.

At 18.56, Amy Roth posted:

Show your team spirit. Bow ties ARE cool. o_O

At 18.55, Rebecca Watson posted:

Sarah, there IS elevator music! Turn up the beats!

At 18.54, Amy Roth posted:

This is what I imagine the elevator to heaven sounds like.

At 18.54, Elyse posted:

I don’t know. One guy has science. The other has ANSWERS. WHO DO I ROOT FOR?

At 18.53, Sarah posted:

I’m glad they have a countdown for how close we are to it starting, down to the millisecond. This is riveting.

Although couldn’t they have thrown some elevator music in?

Now I hear music!! Was it my magic that started it, or was my volume just down too low? YOU DECIDE!

At 18.49, Amy Roth posted:

What color jersey should I be wearing for this? Everything seems so white.

At 18.47, Amy Roth posted:

Hello world. I love creating so I think the creationist guy will have some interesting stuff to say.