Re: [asa] getting my anecdotes straightened out

I recall reading the story about the reduced number of ribs in men with
the name of the professor, which I cannot recall. This was years ago.
There was an added twist to the story because the professor's mother had
a supernumerary rib pair.

I have no doubt but what some ignorant preacher declared that man's lack
of a rib was proof of the biblical record. Indeed, probably every item on
the do not use list is still being touted by some ill informed preacher
as proof of his interpretation of scripture.
Dave (ASA)

On Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:56:42 -0600 mrb22667@kansas.net writes:
> Thanks, John. That does sound like the story (& much longer it was)
> that I do
> remember reading. Though I'm pretty sure I didn't see it in
> DISCOVER magazine
> or from a Disney source. Probably it's been repeated elsewhere.
> While the
> scientist has derisive "fun" with the scientific side of the issue,
> his light
> engagement with the theology side was based in his own position of
> personal
> ignorance on the subject. (When all you have is a hammer...)
>
> It's just as well if the story isn't really true, although as you
> pointed out,
> Bill, such beliefs have been held by many of us --lending a certain
> credibility
> to the tale. One thing I've discovered as a high school teacher is
> that my
> effort to craft a facade of intellectual invulnerability in front of
> my students
> is roughly in inverse proportion to my actual knowledge and depth of
> experience.
> (As a young new teacher I was not about to admit any mistake in
> front of my
> students that I didn't absolutely have to ---I had to prove to them
> that I knew
> more than they did.) But as I become a little more self-secure, I
> can begin to
> actually have fun with some of my foibles in front of the students &
> let them
> laugh with or at me. (although sometimes some embarrassing
> self-disclosures can
> still be too fresh for comfort.) Anyway, I'll bet we all have our
> list of
> things we look back at and laugh at how long we were in "arriving"
> when we
> perceive others to have been there long before. The trick is not to
> assume such
> humor in the presence of someone who has not yet made the same
> "arrival" and
> then feels belittled.
>
> (I wonder how old I was before it occurred to me that my assumed
> belief of
> little "dwarf-like" people who lived in and controlled stop lights
> for us --was
> just plain silly.)
>
> --Merv
>
>
>
> Quoting wjp <wjp@swcp.com>:
>
> > Merv:
> >
> > While I agree the Bible teaches no such thing, and the result of an
> > "unfortunate"
> > translation in the King James:
> >
> > "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he
> slept;
> > and he took one of his ribs, and closed the flesh instead thereof;
> > And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a
> woman,
> > and brought her unto the man" Genesis 2:21,22
> >
> > The word used for rib here more literally means "curved".
> > In Ex 25:14, the sides of the Ark, are its "ribs".
> > Since we have all heard of the rib of a boat, one wonders whether
> the
> > translators of the KJ, ever meant the rib as a bone.
> >
> > However, the next verse powerfully says,
> > "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
> flesh:
> > She shall be called Woman because she has been taken out of Man."
> >
> > Anyway, my only point her was to confess that I believed the very
> same
> > thing as this woman until I nearly graduated from high school,
> having
> > had no experience with female anatomy until well into my college
> years.
> > How I came to believe this is utterly lost in history. Of course,
> I also
> > had a lot of other strange ideas, like where babies came from, and
> I'm
> > certain no one taught such things to me. For the record, I
> believed that
> > somehow babies came out of the navel of woman. I didn't have a
> very
> > detailed theory. I was simply never called upon to get more
> detailed.
> > Reflecting the times, I remember in college a friend of mine
> consulting
> > an encyclopedia when his parents were away as to the nature of
> female
> > anatomy. I don't think I'd exchange such naivete for today's
> enlightened
> > views among the very young.
> >
> > bill powers
> > White, SD
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:42:15 -0600, Merv Bitikofer
> <mrb22667@kansas.net>
> > wrote:
> > > Can anybody remember the source of this, or discern if it is no
> more
> > > than urban legend?
> > >
> > > From the point of view of an anthropology professor, the story
> > > goes.... a young lady raised her hand in class and quite
> calmly and
> > > seriously informed him that it was impossible that men and women
> have
> > > the same number of ribs because the Bible teaches otherwise.
> The
> > > incredulous professor then challenges her to go examine the
> skeletons in
> > > the lab to see for herself.
> > >
> > > This was probably used in the context of belittling creationists
> (I
> > > think.). But I can't remember where I read it. I want to say
> in one of
> > > Stephen Jay Gould's books, but I'm not sure. (And Gould is
> generally
> > > more respectful towards believers though he could be feisty in
> his own
> > > right on behalf of truth and science.)
> > >
> > > Oh ---and please note; this isn't to open commentary on the
> anecdote
> > > itself. Obviously the claimed facts are all wrong and the Bible
> teaches
> > > no such thing about our rib counts today. And of course most
> reflective
> > > creationists would never make such a claim. The point of the
> whole
> > > thing is/was to illustrate a simple-minded interaction between
> belief
> > > and the self-prided hard core "scientist". I want to find the
> source
> > > to see if the alleged event is convincingly documented to have
> happened.
> > >
> > > --Merv
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
> > > "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
> >
>
>
>
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>
>
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Received on Fri Feb 20 17:14:15 2009