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SALT LAKE CITY — Science guru Bill Nye, beloved by the last couple generations of children as Bill Nye the Science Guy, has recently caused a controversy by claiming in an online video that parents should not teach kids creationism.
"And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them," Nye said in the video, filmed for Big Think.
Nye called creationism a uniquely American idea, and said he thinks that it has been holding us back. He also said evolution is the fundamental theory of the life sciences in the same way that plate tectonics is the fundamental theory of geology.
The video has quickly picked up steam, garnering almost 2 million views on YouTube in less than a week.
Nye defended his view on CBS, saying it was not an attack on religion. He said he simply wants everyone to know science and how it works.
"If you have this idea that the earth is only 6,000 years old, you are denying, if you will, everything that you can touch and see," Nye told CBS News "You're not paying attention to what's happening in the universe around you. As I say, this is bad for kids."
In the video, he also said that creationism is inconsistent and is a view that probably won't exist for much longer.
"You know, in another couple of centuries that world view, I'm sure, will be, it just won't exist. There's no evidence for it," he said.
The incident seems to have also prompted a short-lived Twitter rumor that Nye had died. Nye posted a photo of himself on Twitter Aug. 27, proving that he was, in fact, still alive, specifically attending a jet Propulsion Laboratory press conference.
