October 29, 2011
Sometimes it’s fun to set Larry up to step right into a punch, although it’s often so easy you feel almost guilty…. nah! Like all creationists, Larry denies the well-documented evidence for whale evolution, another case where genetic data is confirming fossil evidence.
On several occasions he asserted that Pakicetus, Eocene fossils discovered in Pakistan, are only known from a single bone, and therefore impossible to reliably place as a whale ancestor. This struck me as odd, because I remembered reading from several sources that partial skeletons of Pakicetus had been found.
One evening during the week I came across the Wikepedia page on the animal and read that “[t]he first fossil found of the creature consisted of an incomplete skull with a skull cap and a broken mandible with some teeth.” And “[s]omewhat more complete skeletal remains were discovered in 2001.”
Planning on biking around the farmers market that Saturday, I printed out the image of the skeleton highlighting the bones that have been found and placed it where I’d be likely to remember it. I tucked it into my pocket the morning of the market and spent some time biking around and finally ending up at the market.
I stopped by Kevin and Larry’s Box O Bullshit display and heard Larry berating some college kid for something to do with the speed of light. Larry seems to really believe he’s an expert on everything from astronomy to zoology, so any Saturday he’ll be spouting more of his Cereal Box Science.
I waited until the conversation came around to evolution, mentioned whales and specifically Pakicetus, so Larry would turn around and spit into my face that only a single bone existed from the animal. I asked him if he was sure, and he said, “Yes,” with an expression to make sure I understood I was tiring his superlative expertise on the subject. I handed him the image, which he took and stared at blankly for a moment, and then turned away to change the subject to something else with the college kid he was lecturing.
But the point of this is not that Larry was wrong on this one point, a minor one arguably, but that he’s wrong all the damn time! About everything! Larry stands out there handing out the most abysmal creationist literature, truly laughable stuff, but he never, ever bothers to look up the original sources the creationists are distorting.
Observing him week after week is truly a study in self-delusion and massive denial.