Test if you are open minded - Conservapedia

[Rev. Rye]

QUESTION DISSECTION UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

1. Do you resist admitting the possibility that a conservative approach to education is far more effective for students than a liberal one?

Well, when all the studies that try to see if it's possible come up negative, I seriously think that it's hard to admit the possibility.

2. If it were proved to your satisfaction that some idea you've been using to bolster a political argument was false, would you keep using that idea in your argument?

I know I would. Of course, Kent Hovind refused to do it.

3. Do you resist admitting that something you accepted for over a decade is, in fact, completely false?

Do you, Conservapedia?

4. Do you resist the possibility that Hollywood values result in significant harm for those who believe in them, and to innocent bystanders?

No more than has been done in the name of conservativism. Look at the War in Iraq.

5. Do you think it is impossible that increased gun ownership reduces the rate of crime?

I've looked at the studies and they're inconclusive.

6. When President Ronald Reagan told Mr. Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, did you think that it was impossible for the Berlin Wall to be torn down? (Or for those who were not born/not old enough to have an opinion - Do you think it is impossible that North Korea and South Korea will reunite into a single country, without being the result of one invading the other?)

Given the first part of the problem, I was born a few weeks after the Berlin Wall fell, so I couldn't have developed an opinion. That said, I've looked at the past and seen people from both sides of the Cold War who not only believed that the wall would never fall, but that a Communist takeover of America was inevitable.
As for the part about North and South Korea, I remember reading this book about an animator's experience in North Korea and he explained just why it was so unlikely that the Koreas would reunite; essentially, his argument rested upon the fact that most of the people of North Korea are starving, and South Korea wouldn't want to pay money for taking care of all of those people. In short, I'd put more stock into Germany reuniting with Poland.

7. Did you think, or still think, that the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") is impossible?

Maybe in a century or more, our technology could be precise enough that it could work, but not now.

8. Do you think that it is impossible that the Shroud of Turin is authentic?

There's been some dating of the Shroud: It appears to be from the 13th or 14th century.

9. Do you think that there must be a purely material-based explanation (such as magnetism) for remarkable homing and migration behavior of birds and butterflies?

Until the material-based explanations have been exhausted, I won't consider anything else.

10. Do you think that it is impossible for the speed of light to have been different in the past?

Well, given recent developments, the speed of light may not be as constant as thought.

11. Do you think that it is impossible to measure openmindedness?

It's an abstract concept. How can it work?

12. Do you think that evolution [2] must have occurred?

Given all the evidence, you may as well just deny that Napoleon ever existed.

13. Do you think that is impossible for the power of 2 in Newtonian gravity, whereby the gravitational force is proportional to 1/r2, to be more precise with an exponent that is slightly different from 2, such as a gravitational force proportional to 1/r2.00000001?

Given the definition of "precise:" 1.definitely or strictly stated, defined, or fixed: precise directions.
2.being exactly that and neither more nor less: a precise temperature; a precise amount.
3.being just that and no other: the precise dress she had wanted.
4.definite or exact in statement, as a person.
5.carefully distinct: precise articulation.
Both seem to be precise, at least theoretically.

14. Do you resist admitting that some things taught to you in school are completely false, and even known to be false by some responsible for the material?

Not at all. If a subject interests me, I study it, and if it turns out that the teachers were wrong, they were wrong.

15. Do you deny that some widely required theories of science, such as the theory of evolution, may actually impede the progress of science?[3]

Maybe if you explained why you thought it would works?

16. Do you deny that the imposition of socialism and same-sex marriage on a nation could harm its competitiveness at international events like the Olympics?

Judging by the All-Time Olympic Games medal table, I don't see anything. The USSR, Scandanava, the DDR, Hungary seem to be high on the list of olympic medalists.

17. Do you refuse to consider the possibility that "experts" may not have all the answers, and that the best of the public may have valuable insights to which experts are blind?

I know that sometimes "experts" don't have all the answers, and that sometimes the best of the public can help. I've corrected my teachers too many times for that.

18. Do you think that if you read parts of the Bible years ago as a child, you can claim to "have read the Bible" and that you have no reason to read it regularly now?

Well, if you read a book like The Phantom Tollbooth, and never have since, can you still claim to have read it?

19. Do you believe that because the Earth's orbit and rotation are what they are now, they are guaranteed to remain stable for billions of years?

If the people who study Earth's orbit see no sign of irregularities or any sign that it could plausibly become unstable, then I can justifiably believe that.

20. Do you deny that a woman married to a man in prison is a better mother than two gay women?

That would depend on the women, but I will say that a lesbian couple never has unwanted children.