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Monday, November 07, 2011

How to Explain Creationism to People Who Don't Think Critically

 
Uncommon Descent isn't really the very best that Intelligent Design Creationism has to offer and Denyse O'Leary isn't in the same league as William Dembski and David Klinghoffer.

Nevertheless, from time to time Denyse comes up with a good example of IDiot thinking. A few days ago she asked the following question: How do you get ideas about design in nature across to people who are not learning critical thinking?.

That's easy. You write books like The Myth of Junk DNA, The Edge of Evolution, and Signature in the Cell. Non-critical-thinkers just love that sort of stuff.


5 comments :

Nullifidian said...

Lovely comment from Robert Byers:
"The difference today might not be teachers abilities or general learning structures from the top.
It might rather just be more kids get into university.
Including more women and ethnic people who in the pas were not up to it intellectually.
In the past the kids were smarter and came from smarter circles.
They came from a smaller percentage of the population and that from the top.
Today the average high school kid can easily get into and pass university.
however the averageness of the kids is revealed in other ways."

I think I strained the extraocular muscles with my eye rolling.

Clearly what we need to do to enhance education is ensure that universities once again fill their traditional role as outposts for the scions of the white and wealthy. The education of the ladies can clearly be adequately handled by reintroducing finishing schools and then the Grand Tour when they turn twenty. What, what!

Allan Miller said...

Yes, I nearly choked on my pizza at this one myself:

more women and ethnic people [get into university] who in the pas [sic] were not up to it intellectually.

Good job they are up to it now - we'd hate to have to have to be both sexist and racist in the one sentence these days.

UD comments can be absolutely hair-tearing - especially if one tries to actually debate with them.

SLC said...

Re Nulifician

They came from a smaller percentage of the population and that from the top.

Like Charles Darwin.

PNG said...

Denyse used to come on the old ASA e-mail discussion list and harass everyone about not "thinking critically." I could never see that that had any meaning for her other than "agrees with Denyse."

Anonymous said...

http://www.trueorigin.org/evomyth04.asp

[snip]

The following suggested Origins of Life policy is a realistic, practical and legal way for local and state school boards to achieve a win-win with regard to evolution teaching. Even the ACLU, the NCSE, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State should find the policy acceptable:

"As no theory in science is immune from critical examination and evaluation, and recognizing that evolutionary theory is the only approved theory of origins that can be taught in the [school district/state] science curriculum: whenever evolutionary theory is taught, students and teachers are encouraged to discuss the scientific information that supports and questions evolution and its underlying assumptions, in order to promote the development of critical thinking skills. This discussion would include only the scientific evidence/information for and against evolutionary theory, as it seeks to explain the origin of the universe and the diversity of life on our planet."

Never discussing scientific information that questions evolution is to teach evolution as dogma.