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Jos Gibbons's Avatar Jump to comment 1 by Jos Gibbons

[The bill] would encourage teachers to discuss âthe advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories,â including âevolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning.â
What do you mean, advantages and disadvantages of theories such as human cloning? What theory? It's not been done yet, and we all agree on that. We know of no reason why it would be impossible, and we agree on that too. What theory is up for grabs there? Do they mean the ethics of it? This is very badly worded.
Texas Board of Education adopted language requiring that teachers present all sides of the evidence on evolution and global warming
If we're talking about evidence, then there aren't multiple sides.
âCarbon dioxide is not a pollutant,â the resolution said, âbut rather a highly beneficial ingredient for all plant life.â
Which is rather like saying that oxygen is a pollutant due to plants. Look: each gas has multiple effects. Right now, we have more atmospheric CO2 than at any point in the last 15 million years, principally due to human industries, whose annual output of atmospheric CO2 is double the current rate of atmospheric CO2 increase; the rest is dissolving in the sea, acidifying it. I shouldn't need to expand on the implications of that. As for what does get into the atmosphere, it's causing very rapid heating of the Earth. (The fastest ever, unless I'm very much mistaken.) Life cannot be expected to adapt to such rapid change.
We think analyzing and evaluating scientific evidence is a good thing
Apparently you trust school students to do it better than the experts.
âOur kids are being presented theories as though they are facts,â he said.
Theories and facts are not mutually exclusive. Gravity is both theory and fact. The only way students will learn what terms like this mean is from paying attention in science classes.
Political correctness means fibbing to avoid offending certain groups of laypeople. If anyone is not doing it, with hilarious if depressing results, it's evolution's defenders in the science classroom.

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:24:00 UTC | #446701