From: Bertvan@aol.com <Bertvan@aol.com>
>Following are excerpts from an essay by a physics professor. I urge you to
>read it in its entirety.
>
>http://www.aip.org/pt/opin600.htm
A very interesting article. It points out how, in teaching a subject where
the students are not in a position to weigh the evidence for themselves, an
appeal to authority cannot be avoided.
"So I, like all my colleagues, teach the way I do because I have little
choice. But it is brainwashing nonetheless. When the dust settles, what I am
asking my students to do is to accept what I say because I, as an accredited
representative of my discipline, profession, and academia, say it. All the
reason, logic, and evidence that I use simply disguise the fact that the
students are not yet in a position to sift and weigh the evidence and arrive
at their own conclusions."
This should be no comfort to those who want to replace or supplement school
lessons about evolution with debates. If university science education is
based on the authority of the scientific community and not on debate,
because the students are not in a position to arrive at their own
conclusions, then this is all the more so when it comes to teaching science
in schools.
"So I salute you Jamal and Doug, wherever you are, and say now what I should
have said to you then: ãListen carefully and courteously to what
knowledgeable people have to say, and be able to use that information when
necessary. Weigh the arguments for and against any issue but, ultimately,
stand up for what you believe. Donât ever feel forced to accept something
just because some ãexpertä tells you it is true. Believe things only when
they make sense to you and you are good and ready for them.ä "
I would agree with the advice to "stand up for what you believe". But I
would also add some advice to apply rational, critical thought to *all* your
beliefs, something which Jamal appears not to have done, since he rejected
the scientific case for the age of the Earth because it conflicted with his
religious beliefs.
Richard Wein (Tich)
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