Living in the middle in the Ark-la-tex, arguably the least educated, and most fundamentalist region of the country, my perspective might be a little different. Here, understanding is not the problem. Most of these folks are fully capable of understanding. A large chunk choose not to listen or to understand out of fear it will somehow lead them down the path to Hell. This attitude engulfs the education systems here, in that certain demoninations have a strong foothold on all education including college. Heck, we held graduation in the church of one denomination opened with a prayer by the preacher of that church. The general excuse was that there was no where else to do it, never mind the stadium at the fairgrounds, a theater, and other places. I recall one search committee in which one of the members badgered the interviewee about his religious views and another questioned his sexuality (this was a person who did research on homosexuality and appeared to be homosexual). This kind of behavior was excused under the auspices that these folks would not like living in such a conservative community. In otherwords, if one is to believe that part of the role of a university is to introduce students to the diversity of the real world, the goals of a few dominant denominations in this community/region was quite the opposite. Consequently, teaching evolution is really a problem at the COLLEGE LEVEL!!!! I taught it and got little backlash from students, but much from faculty/admin who were tied to these denominations.
So, no, I don't think how anyone is explaining many issues including evolution is the problem. The problem is that you have many close minded people who don't care what you say, will not listen, and will discount anything you offer with the response...its not in the bible. Never mind that they have only read an english version and never gone back and read orginal hebrew or greek texts which are typically mistranslated in key areas anyway. On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 8:12 AM, Erin Cleere <[email protected]> wrote: > 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. > -- 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.
