Kansas can now teach Intelligent Design

[Edge]

TOPEKA, Kan., Nov. 8 -- The Kansas Board of Education voted Tuesday that students will be expected to study doubts about modern Darwinian theory, a move that defied the nation's scientific establishment even as it gave voice to religious conservatives and others who question the theory of evolution.

By a 6 to 4 vote that supporters cheered as a victory for free speech and opponents denounced as shabby politics and worse science, the board said high school students should be told that aspects of widely accepted evolutionary theory are controversial. Among other points, the standards allege a "lack of adequate natural explanations for the genetic code."

Full text at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...110801211.html

So, what do you think about this move?

[Tormod]

Note: I edited your text because it's illegal to post copyrighted material. An excerpt with a link is fine.

As for the decision my comment is that it simply shows the sorry state of science in the US, and the iron grasp that religious fanaticism is holding on the citizens in a country which claims to have a separation between church and state.

[pgrmdave]

Free speech doesn't really come into play with science. Science isn't political, it is about searching for (a certain type of) truth. I think that evolution is true, and Intelligent Design, while an interesting hypothesis, is wrong. More importantly, evolution is good science, and Intelligent Design is bad science, in the manner in which the differing theories go about collecting evidence and analysing it. Evolution follows the scientific meathod, Intelligent Design tries to be intuitive and emotional, neither of which are good proofs for a theory.

[rockytriton]

Ok, I do believe that a supreme being created the universe, and I think that evolution is a part of this being's creation. Science is for science class, ID is for religion/philosophy class.

[rockytriton]

Originally Posted by Tormod

Note: I edited your text because it's illegal to post copyrighted material. An excerpt with a link is fine.

As for the decision my comment is that it simply shows the sorry state of science in the US, and the iron grasp that religious fanaticism is holding on the citizens in a country which claims to have a separation between church and state.

Remember that this isn't the whole US, it's Kansas, which is in a place that we call "The Bible Belt", it's one of the "red" states, not one of the "blue" states. A funny thing is, if you take a map showing the states with the highest level of education in blue and the lowest leves in red, then it matches the red/blue states who vote republican/democrat.

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by rockytriton

Remember that this isn't the whole US, it's Kansas

I am aware of that. But I am also aware of a recent survey which showed that most Americans (regardless of state) do not believe evolution to be true.

Here are some other interesting stats:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm

Funnily, statistics also show that more than half of the US population thinks the moon landings were faked, and a similar number thinks that UFOs are real.

Statistics can and do lie, but I don't think that the ID discussion is a Kansas-only thing. If so, it wouldn't be so popular here at Hypography, unless we have an unproportionally large amount on members from Kansas.

[Tormod]

Some people's avatars make my head spin when they post in the same thread.

[rockytriton]

Well, don't believe those types of things. People know how to fudge the numbers to match what they want them to match. They asked the evolution question in all 50 states for people with all ethic and educational backgrounds, right after they walked out of church. The moon landing question they probably asked to people right out of a conspiracy theory meeting.

[Tormod]

Good one, Rocky.

Next you're going to tell me that they asked Americans who they voted for after they came out of the ballot offices.

[lindagarrette]

An excellent book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank tells how the political right manipulates the public. It's not just about Kansas, Kansas just happens to be the demographic model for the nation, in many ways, including the choice for advertising effectiveness.