[meteorite-list] Kansas: Creation, Evolution and Intelligent Design

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri May 13 10:07:55 2005
Message-ID: <pgc98151seu1h3nni021ps40fq5p7bjhbn_at_4ax.com>

On Fri, 13 May 2005 06:17:13 -0500, "MARK BOSTICK" <thebigcollector_at_msn.com> wrote:

>So now they are going to force their will on the school board, so we are
>having a "debate". They have also redefined to the meaning of science in
>Kansas, literally. Not word for word, but it was something like "facts
>about the world and enviroment around us" to "attempts to explain the world
>and enviroment around us." Again, not word for word, but it is easy to see
>where this going.

Actually, when I read the redefinition of science, I really don't have a problem with it. The
change is from:

"seeking natural explanations for what we observe around us,"

to

"continuing investigation that uses observation, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation,
logical argument and theory building to lead to more adequate explanations of natural phenomena."

Which, if taught and followed will give students a toolkit to see what a load of tripe the
creationist agenda really is.

I think that science classrooms should take the CSI approach to teaching about evolution-- show them
the parallels between how forensic scientists determine how someone died hours or days or months ago
and how paleontologists try to determine how, when, and why organisms lived and died in the more
distant past. Both fields (forensic science, paleontology) rely on much the same assumptions-- that
the laws that apply in the present applied in the past.

They should also be given, as required reading with a test aftwards, Carl Sagan's The Fine Art of
Baloney Detection (I REALLY suggest everone follow and read this link)

http://rucus.ru.ac.za/~urban/docs/baloney.html
Received on Fri 13 May 2005 10:10:08 AM PDT