Campaign Soapbox – Where Life Begins, Shoulders Shrug

After the warm glow of the holiday seasons and the closing of 2013, welcome back to the blog, even during the fight against ideas exhaustion. Of course, one advantage during this time is that Wonders of Life Eterna has taken the next direction in supplementing the site using video for artistic purposes. Here's the next video, highlighting the significance of New Years Day in a somber light, at least for the pavilion.



Many of you readers, especially those who enjoyed the pavilion's final seasonal operation at the end of 2006, may recall the fact that the pavilion closed its doors on New Years Day, and for those who cherished the pavilion and its memories (for better or worse!), that hit the hardest. But alas, let me bring up an issue that has been making the rounds in science news (especially the theory in the origins of life), and following this (albeit unrelated) streak, a possible brainstorm on what's the worst the pavilion would be forced to host.

You may have heard of the story about how (inter)nationally renowned scientist, Bill Nye, has accepted a mano-à-mano debate on life's origins against another, Ken Ham, of the Creation Museum fame. The reasons for this debate? The origins of life – where did we come from? Were our universe, environment, and us living beings, created from a higher deity in a span of time as little as a week? Or were they formed as a result of multiple mutations and adaptations, from single called slime pools through to the last ice age?

Many people have been fighting over this debate, even figuring out which one is correct, and if so, who is correct in this debate. Historians cited the Scopes monkey trial, disputing Darwin's theory that humankind's closest family consists of (gasp!) primates, as well as debates relating to whether textbooks should cover either theory (intelligent design? evolution?) in the best interests of (sob!) schoolchildren. I have no say in this, but I am stating how much debate and controversy the origins debate has attracted.

You may remember bumping into the online videos, in which Bill Nye has questioned whether the creationist theory (heralded by the Biblical community) has any use to children, and even praises the evolution theory as the pathway to real scientific breakthroughs. What nobody expected is that Ken Ham has joined the bandwagon not to support, but to rebuke Bill Nye's opinion on how useful evolution is, and even then, accusing Bill Nye of promoting a "pro-evolution agenda" targeting kids, at the expense of creationism. Hence the live debate, held at where else but the Creation Museum. Feeling that a big fight is going to happen, and NOT in a positive way (yes, I cannot watch), I guess it's best for me to leave this debate to your own opinion.

Which brings me to the hashtag campaign, #WorstWondersOfLifeAttractions, which serves to joke around ideas for attractions that nobody would want to see open at the Wonders of Life pavilion (if it were open, at least!) Such brainstorming would help to kickstart the campaign, "What's the worst that could happen for Wonders of Life?" Given the touchy and icky nature of health and the human body (it's not always healthy eating and exercise!!), there have been some interesting contenders; feel free to peruse and imagine just how terrible if would be.

@WOL4EVA_Rios HIV: Ride It! #WorstWondersOfLifeAttractions
— Mark Diba (@Dibadisney) January 4, 2014

#WorstWondersOfLifeAttractions "Vomit Comet" @WOL4EVA_Rios
— Rich K°o°ster (@DisneyEcho) January 4, 2014

@WOL4EVA_Rios Joys of a Colonoscopy: Journey into the nether regions. #WorstWondersOfLifeAttractions
— CommuniCore82 (@Communicore82) January 4, 2014

@WOL4EVA_Rios #WorstWondersOfLifeAttractions Halitosis Hero Honestly that could get pretty creative.
— Mick (@MickBrege) January 4, 2014

So far, these four tweets have formed the best of a likely campaign to get people to discuss how Wonders of Life's future attractions should be, even if it means brainstorming what it should NOT be. I can add more imaginative guesses to this campaign to give it more steam, but if by any chance you have a Twitter account, you can add your vision on what would constitute a terrible attraction under the hashtag #WorstWondersOfLifeAttractions, and hopefully you would provide an even more imaginative (or scarring!) answer! Also, feel free to discuss both issues in the comments, including who you think might win the debate, or maybe if there are some sinister motives evident.
And now returning to normal transmission in three, two...