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filkertomYou know, the one from yesterday.
Whether you personally believe in it or not, evolution is a fact.
Biological species evolve. Period. The evidence of that is vast and conclusive.
There are two misnomers which, I think, pollute the whole debate.
First, it's always referred to as "the theory of evolution", implying somehow that it's not settled. The proper term is Darwin's theory of natural selection, which is the leading explanation of the primary mechanism of evolution. I happen to think that natural selection is that mechanism, again based on a huge amount of well-tested evidence.
Second, the difference between the actual definition of "theory" and the common interpretation of what that word means. The key is the word "hypothesis", which means "a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it."
In other words, a hypothesis is speculation. A scientific hypothesis is speculation which comes with a clear notion of how it can be proven or disproven through experimentation. A theory, which in modern science refers to scientific theories, is the final result of that experimentation.
As demonstrated through the testimony of the Scopes trial (and dramatized in Inherit the Wind), there really isn't very much in the theory of natural selection that's incompatible with the Christian Creation myth. Science, by necessity, deals with the mechanics of things, and natural selection is clearly the mechanic by which species evolve.
The fear that Bill Nye has, one that I share, is that the education of the next several generations of American students may be based upon beliefs, rather than upon science and the scientific method. To eschew long-verified facts, indeed the very concept of verifying facts, is to literally deny reality. And there's a big problem with reality: It doesn't have a political or religious agenda. It does what it does.
Being unprepared for reality because you believe it doesn't conform to your philosophy is dangerous madness.
Whether you personally believe in it or not, evolution is a fact.
Biological species evolve. Period. The evidence of that is vast and conclusive.
There are two misnomers which, I think, pollute the whole debate.
First, it's always referred to as "the theory of evolution", implying somehow that it's not settled. The proper term is Darwin's theory of natural selection, which is the leading explanation of the primary mechanism of evolution. I happen to think that natural selection is that mechanism, again based on a huge amount of well-tested evidence.
Second, the difference between the actual definition of "theory" and the common interpretation of what that word means. The key is the word "hypothesis", which means "a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it."
In other words, a hypothesis is speculation. A scientific hypothesis is speculation which comes with a clear notion of how it can be proven or disproven through experimentation. A theory, which in modern science refers to scientific theories, is the final result of that experimentation.
As demonstrated through the testimony of the Scopes trial (and dramatized in Inherit the Wind), there really isn't very much in the theory of natural selection that's incompatible with the Christian Creation myth. Science, by necessity, deals with the mechanics of things, and natural selection is clearly the mechanic by which species evolve.
The fear that Bill Nye has, one that I share, is that the education of the next several generations of American students may be based upon beliefs, rather than upon science and the scientific method. To eschew long-verified facts, indeed the very concept of verifying facts, is to literally deny reality. And there's a big problem with reality: It doesn't have a political or religious agenda. It does what it does.
Being unprepared for reality because you believe it doesn't conform to your philosophy is dangerous madness.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-08-28 05:49 pm (UTC)Well...
Date: 2012-08-29 07:46 am (UTC)have registers, so that the same
word can have different meanings
in different fields or in
everyday use. "Theory" in
everyday use means "just an idea."
But in science it means "as sure
as we can be, unless further data
comes in." If not everybody
understands that there are two
definitions, this kind of confusion
results. Lawyers make whole
careers out of protecting their
esoteric register.