SoylentNews

February 12 is Darwin Day and Evolution is Still Controversial

posted by janrinok on Monday February 11 2019, @03:29PM   
from the monkey-business dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Darwin Day is a celebration of Charles Darwin's birthday, the theory of evolution and science in general. This year marks his 210th birthday and 160 years since the publication of The Origin of Species. Those looking to celebrate or learn more about Darwin and evolution will find a wealth of events going on, or if you'd rather not leave the house, try a Darwin Day card with designs generated by simulated evolution.

Recently, an important finding in man's evolution was announced; the so-called Missing Link was confirmed. Australopithecus Sediba fossils were found in 2010 but it took a decade of research and debate for scientists to confirm that this was indeed the missing link that connects man's evolution in an unbroken chain back to primate ancestors.

Not everyone is down with Darwin. The Pew Research Center reports, "In spite of the fact that evolutionary theory is accepted by all but a small number of scientists, it continues to be rejected by many Americans. In fact, about one-in-five U.S. adults reject the basic idea that life on Earth has evolved at all." In Indiana, senator Dennis Kruse introduced a bill that would, among other things, "require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science."

---

Original Submission

• Darwin awards are better Darwin awards are better (Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Monday February 11 2019, @03:42PM (2 children)

  by looorg (578) on Monday February 11 2019, @03:42PM (#799543)

  I prefer the Darwin awards instead, that said one clearly isn't possible without the other. But it's more Darwinism in practice and action instead of just the theory. Real life examples that people can clearly see and understand.

  Still it's always interesting to see and note that that Darwinism and creationism (or whatever) are apparently somehow on equal footing. That said I'm sure we could find that about 1-in-5 in more or less every country believes in something crazy or abnormal for their country. Still to believe that the Flintstones are a documentary is clearly a bit out there.

  require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science.

  I'm unfamiliar with the standard US curriculum but isn't there some class where you are taught about the various world religions and their tenets? Evolution is more of a Biology subject and not really for the glory of God-man (or whatever magical man in cloud .. or elephant ... or ...)

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+2
  Interesting=2, Total=2
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		4

• Re:Darwin awards are better (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @06:46PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @06:46PM (#799676)

  Obviously the Flintstones isn't a documentary, stone-radio-waves weren't preserved in the geological record.

  Think of it as a reenactment - like the civil war.

  Parent

• Re:Darwin awards are better (Score: 4, Insightful) by meustrus on Monday February 11 2019, @10:40PM

  by meustrus (4961) on Monday February 11 2019, @10:40PM (#799796)

  I'm unfamiliar with the standard US curriculum but isn't there some class where you are taught about the various world religions and their tenets?

  World religion classes sometimes exist, but they get squeezed out of course catalogs for various reasons:

  • It's not on the standardized tests, so its budget gets stolen by the "core" subjects;
  • High schoolers tend to think too much that they are the center of the universe to believe in a higher power;
  • Evangelical Christians tend to insist that the Bible is not to be questioned, which doesn't make for good class discussions;
  • Evangelical Christians also tend to view everybody else's faith as invalid, and sue schools for teaching other religions;
  • Some non-Christian religious groups also tend to view everybody else's faith as invalid, and typically sue schools for teaching Christianity.

  In the end, most schools decide it's simply not worth the heartburn to teach religion. Even if they did, the evangelicals would be very upset about the way it would taught. There's more than one reason why Intelligent Design is hopelessly vague, and they all boil down to one problem: the people pushing it want students to learn it without thinking critically about it.

  --
  If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?

  Parent