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HaHa!
If Evolution exists, WHY ARE THERE SO MANY UGLY PEOPLE?!?!?!?!
I love Colbert.
It’s a valid question, and one I’ve asked many time.
Because beauty is not -or historically was not- the only criterion to choose a mate
As well as standards or measurement of “beauty” being constantly in flux. What’s fashionable now was considered unattractive or undesirable very recently, historically speaking, and none’s lasted long enough to even make a dent on the evolutionary timeline.
Fun example: [for caucasian skin types] having a tan. It was undesirable before the industrial revolution. When menial labor consisted of working in fields under the sun, pale skin was the standard of beauty because it was the sign of affluence and leisure. When menial labor became working in factories, having a tan meant you had the means and freedom to spend time in the sun. Fashionable body types/weight has very similar linkage. What’s considered “beautiful” is an indication of status rather than what’s advantageous (or advisable) physically.
Which episode is this?
Something from last week actually (compared to this posting).
Was it wednesday’s? I think it was. Colbert didn’t let him talk enough, but that is natural. The ugly people discussion was awesome.
The Colbert Report is comedy. Letting Dawkins talk too much would have killed that just a bit (at least IMO). Dawkins is helluva smart, but he’s not the funniest man walking the planet.
I realize that, he just kinda bugs me by not letting people talk sometimes. I would have liked to hear him a bit more, but I do realize colbert is comedy. I do watch the show on a regular basis.
I agree. Colbert over did it with Dawkins. By contrast his interviews with Pagels and Ehrman were right on target: getting the authors’s POV while simultaneously disparaging it. Hey, he made Pagels look funny.
The ugly people quip was excellent. But you can see that sort of evolutionary change all the time. It’s a very simple example.
Evolution can’t control ugliness in people. Your sperm and her egg only get 23 chromosomes each, “chosen” randomly, then added together. There’s absolutely no way that process could result in increasing physical beauty on a micro or macroevolutionary scale, if my understanding is correct. It can, perhaps, increase the likelihood of certain features over time, like height and muscularity, but as far as how good your mug looks, it’s a roll of the dice, so to speak. Fortunately, we can do much to increase our appeal even if we aren’t born with exceptional beauty. Hit the gym, pick decent clothes, land the right job buy a Mercedes and your chances of spreading your genes increase exponentially.
Linky for folks outside the US:
http://www.in.com/videos/watchvideo-richard-dawkins-on-the-colbert-report-5133397.html
Being from the U.S., I can’t really test this, but couldn’t you just change your IP to a U.S. address and view that video from anywhere? How exactly does it locate your computer?
You can’t just change your IP address. You’d have to go through a proxy. And if you did that, then yes, you could view it.
Most video streaming services can spot (and block) anonymouse.org a mile away, though :-)
Real geeks would purchase a server in the US and create their own proxy. :)
I am in Canada and this link: http://www.in.com/videos/watchvideo-richard-dawkins-on-the-colbert-report-5133397.html works.
You can always use FoxyProxy, Firefox add-on.
lol that was hilarious!!! Wow colbert did a great job with that. Thx for posting.
As far as ugly people go – people crave diversity. If everyone was beautiful models, all of a sudden the one in a million ugly person would become a rock star. On top of that of course is: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I love Stephen Colbert and Richard Dawkins. I just wish Colbert would have shut up a little bit more on this one, so we could here a little more from Dawkins.
Colbert is such an ASS! So God created all these ugly people together with all the hunger, poverty, destruction, drought, famine and HE just watched? So much about the all loving, all powerful, all knowing doG.
You realize that is a persona he projects, right? I know that an Ohio State study found that most conservatives (62% I think) couldn’t tell (or didn’t know) that he is a parody figure. A Poe as it were. :)
…what Larian said. Colbert is just teeing the golf ball up nice and high so Dawkins can drive the greens. Or, tossing a nice slow pitch right over home plate so Dawkins can hit it out of the park. Or, … well, that’s the extent of my sports analogy capability. You get the idea.
Proud member of Colbert Nation!!
Yes, Stephen, Peanut Butter Cups are proof of a higher power ;)
Colbert does parody very well imho. He brought out some of the major objections conservatives have about evolution so Dawkins could address them while seemingly opposing it.