Well, sure. Of course there is. Just as there are many things science either cannot (currently) or does not (currently) know. Almost no one with even a basic understanding of science will say otherwise, not seriously at least. And that is where what I consider the main problem facing science today, in America, comes in.
Creationism.
You see, many Creationists believe that science cannot be trusted because it changes frequently (as new discoveries replace old models shown to be incorrect) and can't (currently) answer every question we've ever had. What never changes and can answer everything? Their holy book of choice, in the USA this tends to be the Bible, of course! I suppose we should ignore all the changes that have been made to the Bible, and how it gets interpreted, over time, right?
So, how did the universe come into being? God did it! How did the Earth form? God did it! How did life appear on Earth? God did it! Scientists, when met with something they don't know or understand, work to seek the answers. Most Creationists don't seem to be able to handle any mystery, any unknowns, and attribute everything to variations of, "God did it." There is nothing scientific about this sort of world view regarding life, the universe, and everything.
Yet, whether under the label of Intelligent Design or Creationism, those who believe such nonsense are pushing their scientifically illiterate opinions about the nature of the world onto everyone else. Whether it is in Tennessee, Indiana, New Hampshire, or any number of other states, science (and more specifically, science education) is under attack. Sure in some states these bills are meeting defeat, like in the above article about New Hampshire's bill or in Oklahoma, but in others they aren't meeting their demise like they should be.
Look, if you want to believe that the world was created 6000 years ago by man being sculpted out of dirt and a cosmic geneticist cloning a woman out of a rib, go for it. If you want to believe, despite there being no evidence for it, that the entire Earth flooded and two (or seven depending on whether they were "clean" or not) of almost every species on the planet boarded a small boat and survived an absolutely complete global flood, you go right ahead. Frankly, I don't care if you believe that a giant walrus regurgitated the universe into being five minutes ago, complete with everything we would need to falsely believe the cosmos is about 14 billion years old.
You are, after all, free to your beliefs. However, the very instant you begin to push your unsubstantiated beliefs as fact onto others, the very moment education and progress become blocked because of magical thinking, then you've just over stepped your bounds and we've got ourselves a problem.
Much of this hostility towards science is based on evolution, and the theory of evolution. Evolution, you see, disproves the stories of, basically, every religion's creation myth. Naturally this would lead to the religious opposing evolution (with its corresponding theory), and please do not confuse the process of evolution with the theory of evolution. Evolution is a fact, whether you like it or not.The theory of evolution, however, is different from simply saying, "evolution." Evolution is the process, the theory of evolution explains the process.
There is a difference.
Many of the assaults against evolution, it seems, are based on the use of the word "theory," as in, "the theory of evolution." In science, ample evidence is required for something to become a theory, it is not just a random idea someone has. The latter is what Creationists seem to believe the word "theory" means, even when used in a scientific manner. Personally, I'm fond of Isaac Asimov's take on this,
“Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.”So what, exactly, is the definition of a scientific theory?
The appropriate definition to use when looking up the word at Dictionary.com is the first one;
a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena.About.com explains it as;
A scientific theory summarizes a hypothesis or group of hypotheses that have been supported with repeated testing. A theory is valid as long as there is no evidence to dispute it. Therefore, theories can be disproven. Basically, if evidence accumulates to support a hypothesis, then the hypothesis can become accepted as a good explanation of a phenomenon. One definition of a theory is to say it's an accepted hypothesis.It is rather sad that the most common argument against evolution seems to be over the misunderstanding of a word's definition. Then again, you never see Creationists/ID-iots arguing against the theory of gravity or germ theory, do you?
To draw things to a close, I'd like to suggest that if you don't accept evolution, odds are you don't understand it. Whether it is intentional or not (as many religious speakers make sure their audience gets a very biased, very inaccurate, view of evolution and its theory), simple conversation reveals that most Creationists seem to lack even the most basic of understandings of evolution. Destroying science education for the sake of what amounts to fairy tales will not help anyone. It will, in fact, only hurt those no longer learning actual science.
Now, since I touched on evidence earlier, here are some links to read a little about some of the evidence we have for evolution;
Fossil Evidence:
http://
http://
http://www.enotes.com/
Gene Evidence:
http://www.brighthub.com/
http://
http://
http://
Observational Evidence:
http://
http://
http://
http://
To be fair, here are some links to evidence we have for Creationism/Intelligent Design;
*crickets chirping*
Scientific evidence aside, I don't understand why religious zealots feel that violating the clearly defined separation of church and state can be so easily trampled upon. We are not a Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Taoist country. We are country without religion. It's one of the reasons why our founding fathers came here. I'm all for evolution. I also believe in creationism, I believe that a broader view of religion can fit very snuggly into finely structured scientific arguments. Almost like they were suppose to be there. But that's my choice to believe this and not the responsibility of State funded schools to convince me of it.
ReplyDeleteWhile Creationist by technical definition, I wouldn't classify you, based on your written view above, with what seems to be the majority of Creationists. If more argued that a god was working behind the scenes, between the cracks, setting things in motion, and so on, that would be one thing. And it wouldn't be in direct opposition to the world as the evidence show it to be.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Creationists that deny facts, deny evidence, and deny history in favor of their personal brand of "God did it and anything that refutes or disproves my views is wrong!" that this post speaks of. If I may make an assumption, I would assume that Creationists that fall in the latter probably annoy you as they do me, based on your views being the former.
Of course, this is all off of the very limited information you gave regarding your views.
I'm absolutely annoyed by these types of people. In truth any person or group that places their views down the throats of the general public without being able to back it up with anymore evidence than because they say so makes me damn near crazy. This goes for religious ideologists, or political bigots (Republican or Democrat. Narrow mindedness has seeped into the social conscious and this is exactly what the extremist want. The less we think and examine for themselves the more they can manipulate and control us based on our prejudices.
ReplyDeleteI find it to be more embarrassing for those who don't 'believe' in science. I could pick them apart like they were nothing. Unfortunately, just making fun of them and showing them how stupid they are for it, doesn't solve the problem. The best way to show people the actual truth, is to try not to offend people while explaining simple concepts and absolute truths. One thing I am proud of in Wisconsin, is my high school actually taught science. We didn't go into any kind of 'theory of evolution' or the arguments with it, but we did talk about genetics and how we evolve. My teacher was awesome. :)
ReplyDeletei almost clicked on *crickets chirping* for a second there. Huh, there is a link to evidence for ID etc?
ReplyDeleteI find it sad that in a country like America these discussions even have to be had.
I guess I'm a little smug that here in Australia you would get laughed out of the room.