The creationist ignoramuses on the Florida Board of Education officially upheld evolution yesterday when they voted to approve “the scientific theory of evolution” as the “the fundamental concept underlying all of biology.” Presumably, they thought that the inclusion of the word “theory” is a slight to science – demonstrating an utter ignorance of the scientific process. In the battle against theocracy, this episode reinforces the lesson that a proper epistemology is more desperately needed than knowledge of any particular theory. Hopefully, students will now learn the meaning of “scientific theory” in addition to evolution.
Talk about life imitating art! This type of discourse and brazenly faulty logic is a big component of my podcast called Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot. Flores Girl is an adventure novel about the discovery of a living Homo floresiensis tribe and one of the main characters reminds some of the creationist foes that they appear to have no trouble observing the Theory of Gravity.
Needless to say some of the listeners to my podcast were not happy with my take regarding evolution and religion. They are very quick to attack me when given an opportunity! I have to remind them this is a work of fiction! Frankly, a quick examination of opinion polls will tell you that the scientific community has done of poor job of educating the American public in regards to both science and evolution.
Erik Jon Bertel