Re: Is Evolution a Fact - I Don't Know

Penny Nickels wrote:
>  I'm a high school science teacher. 

I'm a teacher-college science teacher.  Physicist primarily,
but I teach evolution as well every now and then.

> Our textbook has less than
>  half  a  page about  evolution.

Then you should get a serious textbook instead.
One that hasn't been bowdlerized by publishers
attempting to appease religious nuts.

> When my  students ask whether
>  I believe in evolution, I just tell them it isn't about me, it's your
>  decision.

Do you tell them that about any scientific subject that
they ask about?  Do you tell them that if they ask
whether you believe the earth goes around the sun or
vice versa?  Or do you single out evolution for
special treatment?

> You must make up your own minds _after_ studing
>  all sides.

Even though one side consists of deliberate desinformation
spread by charlatans and religious nuts with an agenda?

You are not doing your students a service, and frankly,
you're not doing your job, if you just send them out to
sink or swim in that debate, without providing them
with a proper grounding in the subject, providing them
with the tools to sort the wheat from the chaff.

When my students ask me whether I believe in evolution,
I tell them that it's not something that one should
believe as a matter of faith.  Belief in that sense
has no place in science.  Instead I _accept_ evolution
as by far the best explanation for the diversity of life
and the origin of species, including humans, and I accept
it _because_ .... [ and the I go on with a shitload of
evidence, adapted to the level of the student ].

And no, I don't single out evolution in this regard.
I frequently get the question whether I believe in
some theory or another, which I answer in the same
style regardless of what theory it is.  (Of course,
modified according to the strength of the relevant
evidence).

[A problem I've found on occasion is that when there
is insufficient evidence one way or the other,
many students refuse to accept that I simply suspend
judgement until the evidence is in.  They seem to think
that I have to either believe or disbelieve.]

-- 

Best regards,
Sverker Johansson
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"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy,
education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would
indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of
punishment and hope of reward after death."  -  Albert Einstein
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