I can only speak to my personal experience, which is that I have encountered many people--non-scientists, scientists, and biology students (among others)--who do not understand the basics of evolution. When I was a TA, there were undergraduate biology majors (these were freshmen and sophomores for the most part) who only understand evolution to be: survival of the fittest. In their minds though, "fittest" meant organisms that are the strongest physically (for the record, they never claimed that evolution is a lie or that they had religious beliefs contrary to scientific theories). It was eye-opening to try to instruct past their confusion and misconceptions. A lot of these students were hard workers, intelligent and thoughtful--so who can be blamed for their ignorance? Their high school teachers? The curriculum the high school teachers are forced to use? I'm worried that as much as proponents of Intelligent Design can further muddy the waters, this ignorance about evolution also stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of it that, at most, has only a partial basis in religious beliefs. There also seems to be a condescending judgement of education majors that they can't or won't work to understand basic science--and therefore they are largely responsible for student's lack of knowledge. Apologies for stating what is fairly obvious, but full responsibility rests with all parties--teachers to present the information, students to work to understand it (and ask when they don't), school administrators to insist that science and religion do not cross when determining curriculum in public schools, and scientists (teachers included) to help better disseminate and explain new developments in theories, expound upon current theories and hypotheses, etc. Erin Cleere, M.S.
"The ultimate measure of a man or woman is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother or sister to a higher and more noble life." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. --- On Thu, 6/2/11, malcolm McCallum <[email protected]> wrote: From: malcolm McCallum <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Science Communication to the nonscience population Re: [ECOLOG-L] Plant To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011, 9:09 PM I wonder how many people who "don't understand" actually have "understood" at some point, but choose not to "understand" publicly due to political or other reasons. People who choose to to ignore facts and information are easily confused with those who are truly ignorant of those same facts and information. Malcolm McCallum On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 6:19 PM, Jason Hernandez <[email protected]> wrote: > Re: the question: "Is the fact that a "huge percentage of our population > don't understand (or at least can't articulate) the basic mechanisms of > evolution" their fault or the fault of the scientific establishment?" I would > say neither. As was pointed out earlier in the thread, in the U.S., over > half the population does not believe there ARE mechanisms of evolution. I > would say this is due mostly to the fact that certain faith-based agendas > actually get a hearing in school boards, so that religious dogmas dressed up > as science get presented as though they were actual science. Children in > those school districts are thus preconditioned to hear the pseudoscience and > accept it as fact. And because actual science disagrees with said religious > dogmas, the people who believe in them are turned off to listening to actual > science, which they already see as godless and the enemy of their deeply-held > faith. The scientific establishment does its best to > break through this wall of dogma, but if people are brought up from > childhood not to accept science, the best efforts of the scientific community > are bound to meet with limited success at best. > > > Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 21:21:22 -0700 > From: Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> > Subject: Science Communication to the nonscience population Re: [ECOLOG-L] > Plant roots matter Re: [ECOLOG-L] Communication Science to Public Plant Roots > > PS: Is the fact that a "huge percentage of our population don't = > understand (or at least can't articulate) the basic mechanisms of = > evolution" their fault or the fault of the scientific establishment?=20 > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
