If people need good stories or illustrations for evolutionary theory, I highly recommend the Scientific American Frontiers video about the Gallapaogos, narrated by Allen Alda. It's really nice. It would be hard for anyone to see the material on that tape and remain closed minded.
>(Sorry for not reposting the original question. My delete finger works >faster than my brain these days). > >You can have students read the 2 (not 1) creation stories from Genesis, >though this may not have much of an impact. The other thing to do is >separate the fact of evolution from theories as to how it happens. Most >people, at most times in human history, must have realized evolution >occurs because dog and cat breeders have been doing it for thousands of >years. Darwin devotes a chapter or more on "artificial selection" - as >he called it. In fact, most of the flap about Darwin was over the >mechanisms of evolution, not the fact that it occurs (though some >British clergy took Genesis literally). It was the random, unplanned, >chance aspect of Darwin's natural selection theory that offended. We >want to believe there is a plan to the universe - but in his theory it's >all just rolling dice. > >Btw, if you need a good story illustrating how Darwinian evolution >works, about 2 years ago I read Nathaniel (?) Philbrick's _In the Heart >of the Sea_ about the ill fated vogage of the Nantucket whaler _Essex_ >in 1811 or 1812. They were rammed by a sperm whale far off the South >American coast (NE of the Tahiti Islands I think). This was the >"original" story that ultimatelty transformed into Melville's Moby Dick. >It's a gritty story because the ship sank and about 20 men had to make >it back to South America in 3 small whaling boats, mostly against the >winds (they decided to head to South America because they heard stories >about cannibalism on the Tahiti and Tomatoe Islands to the West). It >took them months, many died, and they cannilalised the dead. Philbrick >at one point speculates that this was probably how the Pacific Islands >were inhabited. Asian people set sail, many died along the way, and the >only ones still left alive were those fit for life under these >conditions. So no wonder the Pacific Islands are short squat people with >efficient metalolisms (my words, not Philbricks). Many of the first to >die on the whalers were Black, though it was not because they were short >changed rations. The Nantucket whalers were fiercely proud of their >egalitarian philosophy, and many adventerous blacks became whalers for >that reason. I don't recall Philbrick explicitly saying the survivors >were of the short and squat, but that was the implication. It's a nice >story that reminds us that Darwinian adaptation doesn't occur at the >level of the individual. Individuals to not adapt. Rather, those that >weren't fit for that environment simply died. > >-- >------------------------------------------------------------------ >John W. Kulig [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig >Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468 >Plymouth NH USA 03264 fax: (603) 535-2412 >------------------------------------------------------------------ >"One word of truth outweighs the whole world." > Russian proverb >------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
