Queer Quote: Krugman Responds To Rubio

You may recall that presidential wannabe Marco Rubio gave an interview where he claimed not to know (or to care about) the age of the planet on which we all live.

Some bloggers were not bothered by this ridiculous statement, but the New York Times Paul Krugman is not one of them. He writes a response which I want to excerpt and present as today's Queer Quote:

Coming back to the age of the earth: Does it matter? No, says Mr. Rubio, pronouncing it “a dispute amongst theologians” — what about the geologists? — that has “has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States.” But he couldn’t be more wrong.

We are, after all, living in an era when science plays a crucial economic role. How are we going to search effectively for natural resources if schools trying to teach modern geology must give equal time to claims that the world is only 6.000 years old? How are we going to stay competitive in biotechnology if biology classes avoid any material that might offend creationists?

And that's exactly my point. It is important to know the age of the earth and it does have an impact on the economic growth of the United States.