View Full Version : "Intelligent design" in our classrooms?
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 08:25 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/01/
19/evolution.debate.ap/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/01/19/evolution.debate.ap/index.html)
a.k.a.
01-23-2005, 09:50 AM
Poor kids.
The irony is that
this gesture won’t even begin to appease the Religious Right. They won’t rest until Darwin is anathema and Genesis
becomes part of the curriculum.
Abstinence has already become the centerpiece of sex education. What’s next?
Manifest Destiny in history class? Divine Providence in current affairs?
Why do we even call it Public
“Education”. “Indoctrination” is more like it.
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 03:30 PM
So what do you say to the
position that this is just giving an equal hearing to an alternative point of view?
a.k.a.
01-23-2005, 04:36 PM
So what do you
say to the position that this is just giving an equal hearing to an alternative point of view?
Given the political context, I’d say that’s ingenuine.
Look at how long there’s been an effort to bring
Black Studies into the public school curriculum and all you see is token gestures (usually every February). George
Washington Carver, MLK a few Black Scholars and Celebrities on the bulletin boards... Kids don’t learn about slave
rebellions, Jim Crow, lynchings, SNNC, or COINTELPRO. And these are actual events that really happened. Not idle
speculations based on simplistic thinking.
If you’re going to talk about “intelligent design”, the
proper context would be a philosophy class. What does this sort of notion have to do with biology?
I’m not one
of those people that thinks science is the be all and end all of human knowledge. But you have to respect it’s
rigorous methods and open ended structure. Especially when you’re trying to advance the academic skills of
children.
Evolutionary theory rests on an extensive fossil record. What does the notion of “intelligent
design” rest on? How can facts and speculation be considered equal? (We might as well bring UFO's and ancient
astronauts into the curriculum.)
If you want to give kids alternative perspectives, teach them the
difference between Natural Selection and Punctuated Equilibrium. Give them something substantial so that their young
minds can be challenged (instead of befuddled).
DumLuc
01-23-2005, 05:41 PM
Another article on the same
subject had this to say:
The school district said in Wednesday's court filing that its "biology curriculum
policy does not advance religion."
Instead, it informs "students about the existing scientific controversy
surrounding Darwin's Theory of Evolution."
Christian conservatives, who played an important role in the
re-election of President Bush, have been pressing for decades for creationism to be taught in schools.
Lawyers
for the school board said that neither creationism nor "Intelligent Design" will be taught to students, and that no
religious beliefs will be taught.
Intelligent Design does not presuppose any supernatural being, and is not
creationism, the school district said in its response, saying the school district will also continue to teach
evolution.
On January 13, teachers will be required to read a statement saying that Intelligent Design is an
explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view, and that if students want to read more about it,
they can read a book called "Of Pandas and People" which they can find in the school library.
Personally I'm
okay with this. Give those fertile young minds something else to think about when they're lying awake at night.
a.k.a.
01-23-2005, 06:50 PM
Pandas seriously misrepresents the
nature of the fossil record. For example, on pages 99-100 the authors of Pandas have written:
"Intelligent design means that various forms of life began abruptly through an intelligent agency, with their
distinctive features already intact - fish with fins and scales, birds with feathers, beaks, and wings, etc. Some
scientists have arrived at this view since fossil forms first appear in the rock record with their distinctive
features intact, rather than gradually developing. "
Actually, a close examination of the fossil record
supplies scores of examples that show the gradual appearance of a wide variety of physical adaptations, including,
for example, the vertebrate limb. Pandas wishes to claim that abrupt appearances of critical features (which might
be taken to support design) characterize the fossil record. Unfortunately, this contention does not square with the
facts. The earliest known fish, for example, were quite different from the fish we recognize today. The earliest
fossil forms lacked many of the characteristics possessed by fish today, including jaws, paired limbs and bony
internal skeletons, and yet Pandas wishes to tell students that fish (and all fossil forms) appear in the fossil
record "with their distinctive features intact."
...
Pandas' predictions about future discoveries of
fossils are wrong. To be sure, the text makes very few statements that could be subjected to scientific testing.
However, when it does make a prediction, it fails miserably. Consider this statement from Pages 101-102:
"The absence of unambiguous transitional fossils is illustrated by the fossil record of whales. The
earliest forms of whales occur in rocks of Eocine age, dated some 50 million years ago, but little is known of their
possible ancestors. By and large, Darwinists believe that whales evolved from a land mammal. The problems is that
there are no clear transitional fossils linking land mammals to whales. If whales did have land-dwelling ancestors,
it is reasonable to expect to find some transitional fossils. Why? Because the anatomical differences between the
two are so great that innumerable in-between stages must have paddled and swam the ancient seas."
Yes, evolution predicts that there should have been transitional forms linking swimming mammals with land
mammals. And their absence, Pandas argues, is good evidence that evolution is wrong. Well, guess what? In the past
10 years not one, not two, but three true intermediate forms have been discovered. Up until 1986, the oldest known
fossil whale had been Basilosaurus, dating to about 40 million years before present (a sketch of Basilosaurus is
shown in Pandas). However, fossil-hunters have now found 3 intermediates that link Basilosaurus to land-dwelling
ancestors. They are:
Pakicetus inachus - 52 myr.
Ambulocetus natans 50 myr.
Rodhocetus kasrani
46 myr.
The actual fossil forms were described in a 1994 article in the journal Science (JGM Thewissen, ST
Hussain, M Arif (1994) "Fossil evidence for the origin of aquatic locomotion in archaeocete whales." Science 263:
210-212.). A less technical account of these intermediate forms and their importance for understanding cetacean
evolution was written by Stephen Jay Gould in Natural History magazine ("Hooking Leviathan By Its Past," Natural
History (April 1994), p. 12).
Pandas, in teaching students that such intermediate forms would, indeed, could
never be found, compounds its earlier misrepresentations of fossil history with an outright falsehood, a
misperception of reality which has no place in authentic scientific education.
...
Science is an open
enterprise, and scientific inquiry thrives precisely because no scientific theory or idea is ever immune from
criticism, examination, or testing in the crucibles of experiment and observation. When I first opened the pages of
Pandas and read the fine words presented by its authors in the name of free and open inquiry, I expected a text that
might genuinely challenge students to examine the assumptions of what they had learned and evaluate scientific
theory in an objective manner. To say that I was disappointed is to put it mildly. What I found instead was a
document that contrived not to teach, but to mislead.
Pandas mis-states evolutionary theory, skims over the
enormous wealth of the fossil record, and ignores the sophistication of radiometric dating, How sad it would be,
given the need to improve the content and rigor of science instruction in this country, for this book to be offered
as part of the educational solution. There is a great deal that we do not know about the origin of life on this
planet, but that does not mean that science is obliged to pretend that it knows nothing, or to engage in a kind of
scientific relativism, pretending that all speculations about the origin of our species are equally correct. The
most compelling reason to keep this book out of the biology classroom is that it is bad science, pure and
simple.
http://www.kcfs.org/pandas.html
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 07:26 PM
Nice posting, AKA.
The
term "intelligent design" obviously contains theological assumptions. So it is plainly false to say it's not
teaching religion in science class.
My biggest pet peeve about this is the "evolution is just a theory"
thing. There is no excuse for educators to mislead students about the meaning of the term, "theory" in science.
If they really want to show that strict Darwinian evolution is not the last word, there are far better candidates
for plausible alternatives besides this thinly veiled creationism, as you say.
The whole argument is absolutely
silly; and turns entirely on a mindless "literal" interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis combined with
reading a lot of dogma from between the lines. Unless you hold to the silliest, most extremist interpretation of
Genesis, there is absolutely no reason to see any conflict whatsoever between evolution and theism. It's not only
bad science, it's bad philosophy; and indeed, bad theology.
This is about a struggle for power by the
religious right, a bid to rule our minds and our public policy -- the same thing that killed off Plato, Aristotle,
and the entire field of philosophy in the Middle Ages. The Church has always found it necessary to attack
non-religious knowledge, always to the detriment of humankind. Without a doubt, religious fundamentalism, in all
its guises, is one of the few most destructive forces on Earth. To wit:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/23/ir
aq.main/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/23/iraq.main/index.html)
DumLuc
01-23-2005, 07:49 PM
On January 13, teachers will be
required to read a statement saying that Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs
from Darwin's view, and that if students want to read more about it, they can read a book called "Of Pandas and
People" which they can find in the school library.
So if the Pandas are full of carp, let the student find out
for themself. Keeping them in the dark as to the world of idiots out there isn't going to do them any good.
They're not being force fed, they are just being told that there are fast foods AVAILABLE IN THE LIBRARY if they
want to ruin their intellectual health. Is that so awful?
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 08:16 PM
It would not be awful if they
were fairly representing the debate in biology and science in general. They are falsely presenting intelligent
design as an equal alternative, when it is a fringe, extreme view with little scientific or rational basis. They are
indeed force feeding this distorted picture of human knowledge to them, even if a kid misses that class and finds
out about it indirectly.
The damage is already done by the time they refer kids to the library. It's a bad
academic reference, when presented in isolation as representing the field, in an introduction to that field. It's
presenting idealogical, religious indoctrination under the guise of education. It is a violation of trust, and a
form of mind rape. It is a lie. It is a power play by religious fundamentalists to control kids' minds with
taxpayer money, despite their choice to attend a public, secular school.
Given all this, it is teaching that
religion is a fair alternative to reason, and fertilizing tender minds for the ubiquitous and annihilatory idea that
religion should usurp reason.
If that idea is correct, then Zarqawi cannot be logically refuted. (See
link just above.) Moreover, even if religion is merely an equal alternative to reason, as in the current teaching,
Zarqawi still cannot be refuted. Even under this scenario the world cannot but be a war of idealogies, with no
hope of rational mediation. This is cementing and exacerbating the one most threatening disease of current life
on Earth.
Other than that it's OK. :)
DumLuc
01-23-2005, 08:38 PM
I remember when I was in high
school. I can just see me now, sitting there, staring at the blackboard, wishing the class was over already. And
then an administrator walks in and tells me that I can head out to the library after class and do some extra
curicular no credit reading, oh yeah like that's gonna happen.
It is a power play by religious fundamentalists
to control kids' minds with taxpayer money, despite their choice to attend a public, secular school.
That may
be true, but my feeling is that it is doomed to failure. Kids ain't dumb!
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 08:41 PM
I was a very dumb kid
though, and will probably always be recovering from decades of religious brainwashing, and its concomitant emotional
abuse, despite much personal work on the issue. They succeeded with me.
The smart kids who aren't in the
least influenced or fooled by fallacious things caretakers, role-models, teachers, and other trusted grownups
say will merely learn to mistrust everything taught to them in school. I'm not one of those who believe kids
benefit from that mindset toward the significant adults in their lives. Kids need to trust like they need food and
water.
DumLuc
01-23-2005, 08:57 PM
Ouch! That hurts;but I'm not so
sure the problem began with a book in a high school library. It is sad and dangerous when "belief" becomes
"thought" control;however you seem to be doing a good job of recovering and I'm sure you didn't do it by dodging
issues. Let's give these kids their chance to overcome ignorance. They are going to come up against a bunch of it
as they grow older and maybe this will innoculate a few of them to a form of diatribe. At least we can hope.
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 09:20 PM
My grandpa abruptly slapped my
dad in the face one morning at the breakfast table, and explained, "There, that'll get you ready for what the
(Catholic) brothers will do to you at school if you don't behave!"
Does mentally abusing kids just a
little "inoculate" them from the unmmitigated mental abuse they'll get from the real world?! Shouldn't their
home and classrooms be oases from that, where they grow strong to face the world? Can't kids have any safe places
any more?
The psychological fact is that kids tend to believe grownups; and therefore lying to them about the
world is damaging.
Can't deception by trusted mentors, teachers and role-models leave kids more vulnerable to
futher deception?
Is teaching with integrity making kids "dodge issues"? Is lying to kids helping them "face
issues"?
In other words, wouldn't it be different if science teachers informed kids about the
religion-based socio-political controversy regarding evolution; separate from scientific debates about
natural selection, wherein no such controversy exists? Would that not be a more honest presentation of the real
world issues?
DumLuc
01-23-2005, 10:25 PM
These are high school kids were
talking about. Do you think they believe grownups?
Wouldn't it be more deceptive to censore the fact that there
is such a book as Panda?
I don't see the mental abuse, lying or lack of integrity that you do, but then I
don't have your background.
And finally: In other words, wouldn't it be different if science teachers
informed kids about the religion-based socio-political controversy regarding evolution; separate from
scientific debates about natural selection, wherein no such controversy exists? Would that not be a more honest
presentation of the real world issues?
Of course it would, but I'm not so sure that that isn't what they are
in some way attempting to do.
Well, you asked what we thought, I've given you my opinion. This may turn out to
be the cancer spot that spreads through our entire school system, but I think it's being watched to closely for
that to happen.
I think there are worse things are going on with the mental formation of our youth;one of which
puts me in mind another subject which would make an interesting thread. Anyway its been an interesting discussion.
Thank-you for the debate, the floor is yours.
DrSmellThis
01-23-2005, 10:42 PM
No one has ever talked about
"censoring" the Panda book. Not teaching something as representing the best of human knowledge on a subject
is not the same as censoring.
Despite the mass obliteration, hate and ignorance being caused by the parent
problem of religious fundamentalism, I agree that there are more pressing concrete problems facing kids than lies
about evolution; and encourage you to start that thread.
Thanks for representing your viewpoint. I'm sure a
lot of others would say similar things. It is valuable to hear. You have done the topic a service by raising the
issues you raised. Thanks for making me think about them.
Thanks also to AKA for taking the time and effort to
review the Panda book.
a.k.a.
01-23-2005, 11:12 PM
Thanks also
to AKA for taking the time and effort to review the Panda book.
Oops. I should have put the whole
post in quotation marks. That was Kenneth R. Miller's review. The link is at the bottom of the post. I've never
read "Of Pandas and People".
But I have read "The Book of Life", in which leading scientists give a colorful
and jargon free summation of current trends in evolutionary theory. It's edited (with a preface) by the late great
Stephen J. Gould, whose theory of Punctuated Equilibrium is probably the most serious challenge to Darwin's theory
of Natural Selection.
tim929
01-24-2005, 02:39 AM
I for one have had quite enough
of both sides in this creationism Vs. evolution argument in our public schools.There realy isnt much point in
teaching either system in public k-12 education,since many students cant even find Iraq on a map and couldnt begin
to tell you the first letter in the name of the capitol of the state they live in.And these are the graduating
seniors.I have the dubious privilage of working closely with a number of resonably inteligent seniors and recent
high school graduates.Our local schools are considered some of the best in the state of washington.And they are
TOTALY CLUELESS regarding just about everything that matters.Social issues=clueless.Political
issues=clueless.Math=clueless.English language=clueless....and the list goes on and on...Many have been firmly
indoctrinated in the socialist/communist agenda that many teachers in our public schools support.The same doctrines
that I was forced to swallow...the same doctrines that got people locked up in the 1950's for sedition.I realy dont
think helping our public school students to understand "inteligent design" Vs. evolution is all that terribly
important since most couldnt even recite the preamble of the constitution...a document that means more than all the
other books put together.And a document that NONE of them are expected to know by heart.
Sorry...one of the
several voices in my head goes by the name Rush Limbagh...:frustrate I will hop down off my soap box now...even tho
I like feeling taller.
belgareth
01-24-2005, 04:44 AM
Really? A conservative in
Washington? Have they tried to deport you yet?:POKE:
Welcome to the forum. We'll probably disagree about a
large number of things but I'll be looking forward to seeing your point of view.
tim929
01-24-2005, 10:01 AM
Howdy...conservative is a ways
off what I qualify as.I am more of a radical left wing conservative moderate libertarian.Okay...moderate might be
giving myself too much credit.But yes,there are conservatives in Washington state and no,We are not ususaly alowed
to speak.You might find...that even though I am a republican,we probably don't disagree as much as you might
think.
belgareth
01-24-2005, 10:18 AM
Sorry Tim, I was joking. Please
excuse my sense of humor. It's a little hard for me to take politicians, political dogma and political parties
seriously. That's ok though, they take themselves seriously enough to compensate for my irreverence. :)
If you
have read much of what I have written here about politics you'll know that I think the whole system is screwed up
too badly to simply fix it.(do you know the term FUBAR?) Bandaids have been ineffectual in the past and will
continue to be in the future. Instead, it needs a major overhaul which includes completely discarding current
political beliefs and methods of doing business. IMO, nothing short of that is going to fix all the things wrong
with what we call a system.
Frankly, I've been avoiding political discussion lately. There are a number of
reasons for that, most of which I'm not going to get into for fear of starting a battle. I really don't like to
upset people so just won't talk about it until things have calmed down a bit.
In any case, glad to have another
thoughtful person contributing here, regardless of whether we agree or not.
tim929
01-24-2005, 10:44 AM
Sorry? Don't be sorry...I am
almost impossible to offend...and you are right...the system is very,very broken.An overhaul has been over due for
quite some time...As for political discussions...I try to avoid them when I can unless its with my brother.getting
him spun up and bent out of shape is alot of fun.It's realy fun when he walks away muttering to himself.But on a
forum like this its sort of hard not to occasionaly pipe up and say something:lol:
belgareth
01-24-2005, 10:52 AM
Going back tio the topic,
neither side of the debate is being very reasonable but the fundamentalists are way off base on this one. As
somebody else mentioned, creationism would be a great subject for a philosophy class but it in no way can be called
science so shouldn't be brought into a scientific discusion. I'm all for the freedom to discuss your point of view
endlessly if you want but giving kids BS about the realities of science or any other position is wrong and should
never be permitted. If they want to present their side of it, fine! Do it honestly and in the appropriate forum.
tim929
01-24-2005, 11:26 AM
Your absolutly right bel....there
are appropriate forums for debating creationism vs. evolution.Schools need to stick to whats important in regards to
teaching children what the need to know to be productive adults and quit wasting time with philosophy and
religion.Having once been a fundamentalist christian(my choice as a young adult,not indoctrination) I have seen both
sides of this rather insidious battle and I can tell you...it's not good for our kids.It's realy about adults
battling over control of other peoples decisions.Evolution and creationism arent mutualy exclusive.
Another
example is the public library...the place escapes me now...that refused to display a Christmas tree for fear of
offending someone.But in the same library you can surf the internet for porn all you want.The argument realy boils
down to over sensetive people arguing over "My beliefs are better than your beliefs!"When it realy doesnt matter in
a public school...what matters is weather or not a student can read and write and not fall down while trying to chew
gum and walk at the same time.Each side is making a very concerted effort to control what our children believe in
regard to moral and or religious tennents.Those are the sorts of things that should be left to the parents to teach
at home.
belgareth
01-24-2005, 02:01 PM
I agreee with you...if only the
parents would teach it! And if only the parents would express outrage and indignation over the waste of our
education money and our children's time already allocated for education.
If only the people who it really
affects would get up and let these jackasses know that this is not acceptable.
DrSmellThis
01-24-2005, 03:02 PM
Yep. The debate isn't
typically about a concern for science and teaching kids. It's like those sports dads who brawl at the little league
games over a questionable call. They tell themselves they're beating the crap out of each other for the kids.
An accurate view of cutting edge science leaves an unbelieveable, infinite amount of room for spirituality. I
don't know why parents have to get bent out of shape about teaching science. Do their ministers put them up to
it?
tim929
01-24-2005, 03:22 PM
An accurate view of cutting edge
science leaves an unbelieveable, infinite amount of room for spirituality. I don't know why parents have to get
bent out of shape about teaching science. Do their ministers put them up to it?[/QUOTE]
Interestingly,what usualy
motivates the religious zelots is insecurity in thier own faith.That insecurity tells them that any difering
oppinion is a threat to them.God on the other hand states in his criticly acclaimed,best selling book,"The Bible,"
that he needs no man to defend him and that he is no respector of men.He also questions the intentions of those who
"strain to see the speck in thier brothers eye,while ignoring the plank in thier own eye."Something that christians
regularly forget.I know...I was there and did it my self.Faith the feels threatend by the techings of another
doctrine isnt faith.And it's that sense of threat that leaves so many of them so rabbid regarding things like
abortion,sex education,evolution and so forth.On the flip side of the coin,there are those groups who out of
resentment and bitternes aginst the church use these very things as a tool to assalut the church and the faith of
the people there in.Its sad that our children have to suffer for the stupidity of thier parents.
DrSmellThis
02-01-2005, 01:54 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01
evo.html?oref=login (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01evo.html?oref=login)
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