Re: Student perceptions re evolution

From: John W Burgeson (jwburgeson@juno.com)
Date: Thu Aug 28 2003 - 13:34:20 EDT

  • Next message: John W Burgeson: "Re: Student perceptions re evolution"

    David wrote: "Ironically, I just received an e-mail from the Discovery
    Institute looking for additional PhDs to sign on their petition
    questioning evolution. The original is at
     
    http://www.discovery.org/articleFiles/PDFs/100ScientistsAd.pdf

    I do not know what proportion of their 100 are in the life sciences or
    related fields, but it does point to one specific source of misleading
    information about the general views among scientists (by not reporting
    how many disagree with their statement)."

    The problem here may turn on the phrase "questioning evolution." It seems
    to me that questioning the "fact" of evolution is quite different than
    questioning the fact of gravitation, or the (roughly) spherical earth, or
    even the general concepts of relativity and quantum mechanics. All of
    these are demonstratable empirically, by experiments and observations in
    the present time. But the GTOE (Grand Theory of Everything) that the word
    "evolution" often points to is not of this nature -- the evidence is much
    more circumstantial. Even if "evolution" just means "common descent from
    a single ancestor," I suggest that it can be questioned -- polygenic
    ancestry has not been disproven.

    The other problem is, of course, people citing the results of such a
    petition with the assumption that anyone "questioning" must consider the
    evolutionary theories as being of no use. This, of course, isn't so.

    Burgy

    www.burgy.50megs.com

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