Nova's Logo: A Symbol for Quality Science Television

I think the reason why I’m drawn to it so much, is the fact that they give you a lot of information, perhaps too much at times, but they do so without a bias.  I think I really fell in love with Nova when I saw their episode on “Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial“.  I had just started to really begin getting into Religious Studies, watching the Atheist Experience every Monday before work.  This episode was right up my alley, and was more than a great test for bias in ideaology, scientific method and investigation or dogma and ignorance.

When it first started, and they discussed Intelligent Design, they made it seem like Dogma (which is is) but they didn’t counter any of the arguments, although it would have been easy.  I began to question the nondiscriminatory unbiased nature of the show I had come to expect, but decided to stick it out as I was curious if maybe I was on the wrong side of the fence on the issue and could learn a thing or two (in case I was being the one who was bias).  In the end though after 30-45 minutes or so, they began to expose all the flaws that really broke the failed hypothesis of Intelligent Design (Most of which were in the courtroom as to remain on topic as you could devote a lifetime to debunking Intelligent Design and it’s genre of false science).  My ‘faith’ in the show was restored.

This was a serious turning point for me, as I started an automatic recording of the show on my DVR.  I’ve seen every episode since the November showing.  Everything from Fractal mathematics to Bose-Einstein Condensates.  I owe a lot to this show in just this small amount of time.  The best part being that it’s on PBS a Non-profit Broadcasting network, who accepts donations!  Unfortunately I haven’t had any spare cash to donate as of yet, mostly because my life is in a bit of a bind with me trying to figure out my overall goal in life, and trips to see my wife’s family but this is another story.

If you haven’t seen the show, or for whatever reason you haven’t been watching it as religiously as I have, I urge you to pick it up.  You can even watch their shows online if you can’t get them on TV and I’m sure you can get torrents of them (which I may do to see back-episodes).

There is so much about this show that I enjoy that I know I’m rambling quite chaotically.  For insatnce during the show on Hugh Everett‘s son called “Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives” they talk about how Mark Everett has all these boxes in his basement with his father’s things he’s never gone through.  They show them digging through some boxes, and on the bottom right, they invite you to view some original documents by visiting PBS.org which I’ve linked to here.

Nova is a great way to gain at least a basic knowledge of almost any topic.  They give you the tools and instructions to increase your knowledge on said topic, if you feel you want to, and its non-profit and seemingly unbiased.  I can’t think of anything better.  Good job guys, keep up the good work.

Also, don’t be afraid to search for Nova on Google Video, for some great stuff!

While the show is geared towards explaining the atheist stance to theists, a lot can still be learned and entertainment is to be had as a hoard of religious and non-religious callers alike call in to explain their stance on the whole “debate”. Week after week, all the callers failing to provide any proof or substance to the reasoning behind their blind faith.

The show generally begins with a brief overview of material of the day’s topic from a variety of co-hosts. Then the phone lines are opened for rebuttals or just general chit-chat and usually hilarity of some sort will ensue. However don’t be fooled, this show isn’t completely about entertainment but for education for those who don’t understand the atheist stance (Simply: Atheists don’t BELIEVE in God). It’s also a great tool for atheists who wish to learn more about holding ones ground when debating with a theist (as if it wasn’t easy enough already).

Although the circular reasoning and the never ending barrage of the same questions over and over can become tiring, it’s all made up for by the people who call in to honestly ask why is it that we don’t all die when the sun goes down, and the fact that we don’t is adequate proof to justify the existence of a God. Another gem from the same caller is why we don’t get electrocuted when we take a shower if in fact our body creates energy from the food matter we eat, as he believed we were powered by God.

I’ve decided to include a YouTube clip of just one caller who seems to believe that it takes just as much faith if not more to not believe in God, than it does to not believe. We’ll see what happens, I might also note that the YouTube Comments are quite entertaining as well.

All in all it’s a great show, and after just a few episodes I’m sure you’ll be just as hooked.

Website: http://www.atheist-experience.com/

Blog: http://atheistexperience.blogspot.com/

Edit:

A lot of people viewing this post ahve been looking for the clip of the caller who tried to argue why we don’t all die when the sun goes down, and also brought up why we don’t get electrocuted in the shower because our bodies store energy in them: