Evidence of greater interest in the Flying Spaghetti Monster than in ID

When the Click Whore of Babylon appeals to her own authority, the chances are high that her rhetoric is designed to conceal an intolerable truth:

My sense, based on some years of coverage at Uncommon Descent, is that Pastafarianism has changed its focus. […] They could not stay in the game with ID indefinitely because they would need to be something other than just a big practical joke that went on way too long.

My response to her pulling stuff out of her ass is of course not to pull stuff out of my ass, but instead to look for evidence. What came immediately to mind was to plug the terms “Flying Spaghetti Monster” and “intelligent design” into Google Trends.

Interest in FSM and ID Since 2004

According to Google Trends, interest in "Flying Spaghetti Monster" has been

According to Google Trends, interest in “intelligent design” (red) has declined steadily since the Dover trial. Interest in “Flying Spaghetti Monster” (blue) has plateaued.

Interest in FSM and ID over the Past Five Years

According to Google Trends, there has been more interest in the Flying Spaghetti Monster than in "intelligent design" crypto-creationism over the past five years.

According to Google Trends, there has been more interest in “Flying Spaghetti Monster” (blue) than in “intelligent design” (red) over the past five years. The average levels of interest in the FSM and ID are, respectively, 20 and 12.

The parody of religion evidently has greater staying power than the parody of science.

34 thoughts on “Evidence of greater interest in the Flying Spaghetti Monster than in ID

  1. petrushka:
    ID will not convert the world without attractive headgear.

    Not sure about that. Look where the burqa and niqab have brought Islam.

  2. Yes, and Pasrafarians have nifty colonders, which are useful.

    But ID has no uniforms.

    And while their minds are circunscribed, it’s hidden from view until they engage in debate.

  3. No doubt the signature of god dish at the Discovery Institute is perfection salad.

  4. Does anyone else wonder, as I do, whether Mung’s purpose in the Zone is to gin up a semblance of interest in “intelligent design” and related terms?

    ETA: Of course, the rules do not permit us to claim that Mung’s motives are different from what Mung says they are. But we may express what we wonder, and invite Mung to respond.

  5. Tom English:
    Does anyone else wonder, as I do, whether Mung’s purpose in the Zone is to gin up a semblance of interest in “intelligent design” and related terms?

    I can picture him spending then next few months googling “Intelligent Design” just to turn the tables… because of course he’s incapable of coding a bot to do it for him.

  6. My ex wore a colander on her head sometime in the first half of the Eighties. She used it to prepare pasta dishes that were Absolutely Divine. And her birthday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So I shall be known as the Father of the Son of the Prophetess of Pastafarianism (Until a Paternity Test Proves Otherwise).

  7. My current goal is to demonstrate just how badly this site needs to have Elizabeth back at the helm.

  8. Mung: My current goal is to demonstrate just how badly this site needs to have Elizabeth back at the helm.

    The helm? What helm? If there had ever been a helm, you would never have posted here. TSZ is the Anti-UD.

    I, the Father of the Son of the Prophetess of Pastafarianism (Until a Paternity Test Proves Otherwise), shall call you the Bastard Son of Father Flagellum and Mother Penguin (Until a Paternity Test Proves Otherwise).

  9. I now have this image of Barry Arrogant, in full pirate gear, wooden leg and all, shouting “you pathetic snivelling coward” at me. In a pirate voice, of course. Thanks for that Tom.

  10. Mung:
    My current goal is to demonstrate just how badly this site needs to have Elizabeth back at the helm.

    Someone wants a spanking from mommy….

  11. Completely off topic (but UD was mentioned) did anyone catch KF reprimand Rvb8 for using outdated rhetoric, and then support his claim by quoting Plato for the thousandth time? With that level of logic from IDists is it any wonder that the FSM is more popular?

  12. A terrible dilemma is before you, Elizabeth. From this day forth you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never speak to you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins and I will not speak to you again if you do.

  13. how badly this site needs to have Elizabeth back at the helm

    It’s all about leaders, someone to follow, someone to do the leading and the thinking so they don’t have to think too hard themselves. I do feel for them sometimes.

    Their projection illuminates more then they might have hoped.

  14. Mung is the one who libeled Elizabeth for weeks by asserting — with no evidence — that she abandoned the site because it embarrassed her.

    Of course she paid for it then, and still does.

    And of course she came back and denied all of Mung’s allegations.

  15. Acartia: I now have this image of Barry Arrogant, in full pirate gear, wooden leg and all, shouting “you pathetic snivelling coward” at me. In a pirate voice, of course. Thanks for that Tom.

    So sorry. But if you do the image in Photoshop, I’ll write a post in National Enquirer style.

  16. “What foods” appeared half a century ago in the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Don’t know if it was original with them.

    Credit where due.

  17. ID/YEC is more famous and more dangheroys, to error, then ever. it moves in more intellectual circles. Why do posters HERE feel its worthy of thier attention but not others and isn’t?

  18. Robert Byers:
    ID/YEC is more famous and more dangheroys, to error, then ever. it moves in more intellectual circles.

    The data I have presented is silly. But it’s infinitely better than none at all. The “interest” in a term is the number of searches for it. You can bet, though, that if the number of searches for “intelligent design” had remained high, and the number of searches for “Flying Spaghetti Monster” had fallen off, the Click Whore of Babylon would have felt no compunction in telling us about it. Like her, you have no data to back up your claims. No one here ever doubted that you had an ass, nor that you could pull stuff out of it.

    Why do posters HERE feel its worthy of thier attention but not others and isn’t?

    Amazing sentence, loosely speaking. If you click on my name, you can read at the upper right of my blog how I got into this. I’m thinking of late that if Clinton wins the election, and it’s clear that public education in crypto-creationism will stand no chance in the Supreme Court for some time to come, I’ll give this stuff up entirely.

  19. Tom English: Amazing sentence, loosely speaking. If you click on my name, you can read at the upper right of my blog how I got into this. I’m thinking of late that if Clinton wins the election, and it’s clear that public education in crypto-creationism will stand no chance in the Supreme Court for some time to come, I’ll give this stuff up entirely.

    Barry does not amuse?

    I thought the internet village needed its idiots. Porn too, but I don’t think the internet’s going to be low on that any time soon.

    Well, they can get boring, but just when you’re tired of it all, they go even lower in comprehension and obliviousness to irony. Not the best show ever, but it has its moments.

    Glen Davidson

Leave a Reply