A Whale Fantasy From National Geographic - Part 1  

Posted by RK in

National Geographic is popularly regarded as an important scientific magazine that carries out research all over the planet and shares the results with its readers. The magazine is a major source of information in a great number of important areas, yet few readers are aware of the extent to which it passes this information through an ideological 'filter' before handing it on to its readers, and sometimes even twists the data according to the demands of this ideology and builds-up completely imaginary stories.

The ideology in question in National Geographic is a blend of philosophical naturalism and the current brand of evolutionism, known as Neo-Darwinism. In the name of defending that theory, it generally presents prejudiced views of discoveries, and even opens the door to scientific falsehoods. For example, there was the falsehood of the Archaeoraptor fossil, which was presented by National Geographic in 1998 as an infallible evidence that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but which later proved to have been 'hand made.'

Even scientists who support the theory criticize the magazine for the blind propaganda it carries. According Dr. Storrs Olson, the Curator of Birds at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, "National Geographic has reached an all-time low for engaging in sensationalistic, unsubstantiated, tabloid journalism." (1)

One instance of National Geographic's 'sensational, unsubstantiated and tabloid' evolutionist propaganda was its 'Evolution of Whales' article carried in the issue of November, 2001. The article maintained that a string of fossil discoveries had proved the evolution of whales thesis, and even quoted paleontologist Hans Thewissen as arguing that whales were one of the best examples of evolution. The pictures, reconstructions and diagrams plastered all over the 14-page article were intended to visually reinforce the same claim in readers' minds.
However, the 'evolution of whales' scenario, so fiercely defended by National Geographic, was-and is-nothing but a fairy tale, devoid of any scientific evidence.
The parade of reconstructions on pages 66-69 in National Geographic's November 2001 issue were meant to sum up the magazine's claim regarding the origin of whales. A whole string of creatures were lined up one after the other and described as transitional forms in the evolution of the whale. According to the magazine, the order of these creatures, according to the geological periods they lived in, was as follows:

* Pakicetus (50 million years ago)
* Ambulocetus (49 million years ago)
* Rodhocetus (46.5 million years ago)
* Procetus (45 million years ago)
* Kutchicetus (43-46 million years ago)
* Durodon (37 million years ago)
* Basilosaurus (37 million years ago)
* Aeticetus (24-26 million years ago)


National Geographic's list continued, but included known categories of dolphins and whales.

Continue . . .

This entry was posted on 6/19/08 at 9:31 AM and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

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