Geocentrism and the End of Ration - Essay

(Edited from original text, see below...)

Apparently, about 21% of Americans believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. This comes from Morris Berman’s book, “Dark Ages America,” and it’s the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. Even if that statistic is wildly off – up to half off - that means that almost ten percent of the population of the United States – 30 million people – believe, against all evidence found by science, instruments, and the naked eye, in a system of scientific processes that hasn’t been considered remotely rational for almost four hundred years. Against this kind of mentality, how can the WNBA hope to survive?

The WNBA survives based on a rational argument: women can play sports. Why? Because there’s nothing inherently masculine in competition. A sport consists of (in my mind) an athletic, objective competition between two groups (composed of singular or plural competitors). Competition is not bound by sexual roles, nor is objectivity. While one can argue that men have evolved (or are designed) as stronger, tougher, leaner versions of their female counterparts, there are women who are stronger, tougher, and leaner than men. Thus, the idea that “any man can beat any woman at sport at any time” is rendered ridiculous. It simply isn’t true based on empirical evidence. We can argue psychology, gender roles, and society all day long, but at the foundation of all of this is that women have not evolved (or been designed) in a way that would exclude them from athletic activity, and thus, sports.

An irrational person, however, doesn’t necessarily see such an argument. Said person’s universe is (literally) crafted in an entirely different way. Logic, experience, and evidence mean nothing when put against Belief. He or she creates their own world based upon what is in their mind and in their heart, rather than the other way around. If they believe that women are inferior – that they can’t play sports, should stay in the kitchen, and should be little more than sexual slaves – then who is to stop them?

What’s worse is that such a person cannot, by their very nature, be argued with. No matter what kind of evidence one shows them, it will mean nothing, because, in the end, it is not evidence that causes them to think in this way. 75 million Americans believe in a Ptolemaic-vision of the universe, which can be disproved with binoculars, observation, and one’s mind. What is an entire league of women, fans, and sponsors going to do, let alone one man with a blog?

The WNBA is not in death-throes quite yet, but it isn’t exactly thriving either. Things are definitely getting better, but the only way to survive in the future will be to expand their market-share by reaching out to people who normally wouldn’t watch a women’s basketball game (or a basketball game, for that matter) and show them what they’re missing. But if one in four Americans (or a little less than one half, if Berman’s numbers are to be believed) believe that women are inherently inferior and that the WNBA is a disgrace, that’s a huge portion of the population that will dismiss the league out of hand. What about all of the other people who have similar thoughts, but are too disgraced or spineless to admit to their own beliefs? How many more people is the WNBA going to fail to reach, simply because the people on the court have two X chromosomes?

Seriously, I’m asking you. You all seem to be rational people. Hell, you like the WNBA; there must be loads of intelligence, wisdom, and disdain for stupidity/ignorance out there. Does anybody have any ideas, because I’m way too tired and astonished to even begin this late in the day. Maybe over the weekend I will have an answer. But now, I need to rest. I don’t want to stumble upon some website that proclaims the Moon to be made of green cheese and be forced to cryogenically freeze myself for another four centuries.

(Originally, the opening paragraph read...

Apparently, about 46% of Americans believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. This comes from Morris Berman’s book, “Dark Ages America,” and it’s the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. Even if that statistic is wildly off – up to half off - that means that almost a quarter of the population of the United States – 75 million people – believe, against all evidence found by science, instruments, and the naked eye, in a system of scientific processes that hasn’t been considered remotely rational for almost four hundred years.

However, I have been unable to verify the quote from within the original source material, as opposed to the website from which I originally found it. However, in Morris Berman's book Twilight of American Culture, Berman writes...

"A random telephone survey of more than two thousand adults, conducted by Northern Illinois University, revealed that 21 percent believed that the sun revolved around the earth, with an additional 7 percent saying that they did not know which revolved around which."

I have thus changed my essay to reflect this new information. If anyone can find the source of the original quote, I would appreciate if they would send it in.)