2008 Woodie Awards
Concession to Ignorance in Evolutionary Debate
Aaron Eagan
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Opinions
With reasoning including that it will be a welcome step forward in improving Florida's educational standards, the Department of Education voted to require that all public schools officially cover evolution.
Despairingly, but not surprisingly, the issue stirred up hot debate, as evidenced by the dozens of outspoken opponents of evolution who offered their uninformed opinions during the circus-like public hearings in Tallahassee and Orlando on the matter. A man held up two oranges during one hearing, smugly mocking that he had "irrefutable evidence that they are related to somebody's pets."
The widespread negative reaction to evolution in a modern, secular nation is disturbing; the study of the common ancestry of humans with other life forms is enriching, to say the least. But the widespread public misunderstanding of science, in particular that of evolution is an educational disgrace. Any doubt that Florida's public education standards were overdue for an update dissolved as each anti-evolution speaker walked up to the podium during the hearings.
In a pusillanimous effort to placate these malignant, ignorant members of the community, members of the Department of Education decided to include the words "the scientific theory of" along with evolution, as if to say "scientists don't really know if evolution is true; it's just a hypothetical idea." This sets a dangerous precedent: a sufficient number of objections from religious zealots can change what scientists and educators believe should be taught in science classrooms.
The scientific understanding of the word "theory" is much different than that of laypeople. In the scientific sense, a theory is a massive body of evidence that has withstood rigorous testing. Heliocentricity, friction, germ theory, gravitation and relativity are all theories in the same sense as evolution. All are equally confirmed
by repeatable observations and testable lines of hard evidence; all are equally crucial to scientific literacy. Just as we can measure the properties of light as predicted by relativity, we can likewise observe the several coinciding ancient, parasitic, viral DNA sequences that dot human and primate genomes, evidence of the common descent predicted by Darwin (genetics are but one of the many lines of evidence that make up evolutionary theory).
Despairingly, but not surprisingly, the issue stirred up hot debate, as evidenced by the dozens of outspoken opponents of evolution who offered their uninformed opinions during the circus-like public hearings in Tallahassee and Orlando on the matter. A man held up two oranges during one hearing, smugly mocking that he had "irrefutable evidence that they are related to somebody's pets."
The widespread negative reaction to evolution in a modern, secular nation is disturbing; the study of the common ancestry of humans with other life forms is enriching, to say the least. But the widespread public misunderstanding of science, in particular that of evolution is an educational disgrace. Any doubt that Florida's public education standards were overdue for an update dissolved as each anti-evolution speaker walked up to the podium during the hearings.
In a pusillanimous effort to placate these malignant, ignorant members of the community, members of the Department of Education decided to include the words "the scientific theory of" along with evolution, as if to say "scientists don't really know if evolution is true; it's just a hypothetical idea." This sets a dangerous precedent: a sufficient number of objections from religious zealots can change what scientists and educators believe should be taught in science classrooms.
The scientific understanding of the word "theory" is much different than that of laypeople. In the scientific sense, a theory is a massive body of evidence that has withstood rigorous testing. Heliocentricity, friction, germ theory, gravitation and relativity are all theories in the same sense as evolution. All are equally confirmed
by repeatable observations and testable lines of hard evidence; all are equally crucial to scientific literacy. Just as we can measure the properties of light as predicted by relativity, we can likewise observe the several coinciding ancient, parasitic, viral DNA sequences that dot human and primate genomes, evidence of the common descent predicted by Darwin (genetics are but one of the many lines of evidence that make up evolutionary theory).
Be the first to comment on this story