I've just come across a story of stupidity so monumentally self-defeating that I have no option but to set up my own award scheme to give it the recognition it deserves. Let the word go forth from this time and place: the prestigious GIR will be awarded to those people or institutions whose eagerness to achieve their goals is exceeded only by the depth of their ham-fisted incompetence. It will be offered not mockingly*, but in the genuine hope that the recipients can learn from their errors and, well, you can work it out.
With that in mind, the first GIR goes to the one Mike Mathis, producer of the Creationist "documentary" Expelled:
It's a screed attempting to show that Darwinism is nothing more than a cult, whose proponents exclude religious-minded scientists from the academic debate. But that's not the stupid bit.
In support of this hypothesis, it cites the case of Galileo. But that's not the stupid bit.
It's ostensibly a call for greater inclusion of all points of view in the scientific debate. One of the scientists (P Z Myers) interviewed in the film attempted to go and see the finished work only to be, yes, expelled from the cinema on the instructions of the producer. But that's not the stupid bit.
Actually, because it's his story, go and read P Z Myers account of his expulsion on Pharyngula. He'll tell you the stupid bit. Then, if you think that farrago doesn't deserve an award, come back here and complain to the committee. But I bet you won't.
Having read that (and for your own sake, only after having read that) you'll probably be interested in going and reading this. Enjoy.
*This is a lie.
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