Forum:How is it that someone could have a graduate biology degree yet believe in YEC?

I really wonder how someone could go to a great school (such as Harvard or University of Michigan) and still believe that the bible is a literal history of the Earth. Now I am not saying there cannot be a God but there is too much evidence of Evolution and an old Earth. Any thoughts? --Rationalzombie94 (talk) 18:37, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
 * The scientific evidence has very little to do with being a creationist. The end.  That explains most of it.  YEC is a social practice and a mandatory meme for some social groups.  Some people will accept any idea or ideology to fit in with their group.  Particularly if it's something they've been told since birth is true anyways.  No piece of paper inures you to those effects.  ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 18:56, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Kurt Wise and Todd C. Wood are excellent examples - very intelligent, know and can do the science, but they have this single fixed point of belief that creationism must be true, therefore baraminology. Todd Wood is an excellent and slightly horrifying example of a mind divided against itself - David Gerard (talk) 11:35, 2 April 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm a staff scientist at Caltech (I work in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, but my PhD is in Physics, but no biology), and have worked at and with people at Cornell, Stanford, UC Berkeley, LBNL, PNNL, ANL, INL, LANL, LNL, etc, etc, etc. I've heard people say that most scientists are atheists, (I am an agnostic) but I know many scientists with religious belief, including deists, Christians, Muslims, Unitarians, etc.  Not all of these scientists where born into their religion, I know Caltech and Cornell PhD grads who have recently taken up religion.  To be honest, I have never worked with anyone who has stated they were atheist or agnostic, but I would guess they're here. It's not often a topic of debate, but the most common belief I hear from those with faith is that the Creation explanation in texts like the Christian Bible are purely figurative.  That doesn't explain why some believe in YEC though, but I know there is a wide spectrum of religious believers in science. --TheJackolope (talk) 22:42, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Figured I would ask, considering there is a ton of proof for evolution. Having faith in something is one thing but the way creation "scientists" have faith is quite extreme. --Rationalzombie94 (talk) 15:23, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Ah, but don't you see? Once you get hooked on using God as an explanatory tool, all that proof becomes invalid. You see, if you believe in God, the perceived uniformity of natural laws across time and space is merely an illusion that exists only because God allows it to. Inductive reasoning? That's how you can be a scientist and still believe in YEC; the concept of God is compatible with every observable configuration of reality because inherent to the idea is that God would be able to adjust reality at their whim. These scientists don't study reality to discover fundamental laws, but to take a closer look at what God has painted onto the canvas of existence (and perhaps wonder about what they might paint next).
 * And as for creation 'science' specifically; it's founded on a belief in biblical inerrancy, so the level of devotion of its proponents shouldn't really come as a surprise. 141.134.75.236 (talk) 16:36, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
 * try explaining Andy Schlafly and Jason Lisle. Hamster (talk) 18:52, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Religious fanatics bent on ignoring reality? Not sure why you bring up Andy, though, since he's by no imaginable stretch of the word's definition a scientist. 141.134.75.236 (talk) 18:59, 25 April 2015 (UTC)