Evolution and ideology in schools

twopence
Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:55:24 +0000

Great link above. I especially like the Gould quote:

Evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein’s theory of gravitation replaced Newton’s, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered.
—Stephen Jay Gould, Evolution as Fact and Theory

Also, not sure how “conservative” and “evolution” are mutually exclusive. . . perhaps the anti-Santorum person knows.