Conservapedia Statistics

Much love to Rebecca Watson for this tip about Conservapedia (here a link to my blog post from earlier this year for those who missed it).

Check out Conservapedia's usage statistics:

Most viewed pages

1. Main Page‎ [1,953,451]
2. Homosexuality‎ [1,827,374]
3. Homosexuality and Hepatitis‎ [518,416]
4. Homosexuality and Parasites‎ [460,254]
5. Gay Bowel Syndrome‎ [432,120]
6. Homosexuality and Promiscuity‎ [422,619]
7. Homosexual Couples and Domestic Violence‎ [374,478]
8. Homosexuality and Gonorrhea‎ [332,269]
9. Homosexuality and Anal Cancer‎ [294,892]
10. Homosexuality and Mental Health‎ [294,250]

Is it my imagination or do these guys have a bit of a hang-up about sexuality?

BTW, the further invitation to view Conservapedia's description of evolution is a little more depressing. People believe this stuff? And vote? Scary.

Science in an Age of Endarkenment

David Colquhoun has an excellent rant at new Age crystals, homeopathy, credulous politicians, creationists and general pseudoscience here, also available in slightly edited form on the Guardian's science website.

I used to consider most of the above targets to be in Douglas Adam's words "mostly harmless". I recall with some fondness the laughs we had in our school at Father Soffe, the creationist religious teacher - I don't believe he managed to convince anyone of anything other than his own barminess.

However this article illustrates that the problem is a serious one. The insidious nature of many of these "beliefs" are a genuine cause for concern, especially when politicians and universities start to condone and spread them. A recent example of wacky belief in German politics was provided by the Hessian Culture Minister Karin Wolff, who has suggested discussing the biblical version of creation within Biology class, "in order to avoid confusing the children". Ms. Wolff is clearly very confused herself, and should be excused from office.