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WOW!

You need a pulpit Nik! That was brilliant.

Amanda


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nik Charov" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 5:11 PM
Subject: Re: opinion piece on evo/cre


> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>
****************************************************************************
*
>
> Using Kuhn to bolster the "imminent" ID paradigm shift is, to me,
> simultaneously laughable and infuriating (although I should have expected
as
> much from the Alan Keyes website).  This is bass-ackwards: isn't Darwin
one
> of the poster children for scientific revolutions?  From what I remember,
he
> [and Alfred Wegener of the plate tectonics "theory"] couldn't be more
> Kuhnian.  Are we witnessing the birth of a new "structure of scientific
> revolutions," involving all the insidious forces Amanda illuminated below,
> instead of the scientific method?  How terrifying.
>
> But so what?  Screw it.  Reading ID propaganda for the past month has
given
> me nothing but migraines.  Let's just let them have their pet theory,
their
> day in the sun.  Why not, if they're going to dispense with facts and
truth,
> if they're going to avoid the rules?  I'd take my colleague Martin Weiss's
> advice and ignore them and their ignorance, I'd walk away... except for
one
> thing:
>
> Pseudoscience is harmful.  Sagan and Dawkins are right.  Pseudoscience
> ground down Galileo, it bolstered racism, it kept Victorians layered in a
> "protective" layer of grime.  Pseudoscience can kill: Lysenko's misguided
> experiments with wheat genetics in Stalin-era Russian* caused the deaths
of
> millions through starvation.  Behe and Dembski, et al, thankfully aren't
in
> any position to dictate agricultural policy, but what about the students
who
> grow up under their delusive paradigm?  They will not benefit from the
doubt
> sown in them by alternate "theories," nor can they learn about science by
> studying the work of charlatans.  God forbid one of them grows up to be
> President of the United States and gains the power to approve the
censorship
> of climate reports and stem cell research that can actually affect policy
> and save lives.
>
> I don't think we can afford to let the Intelligent Design mob dictate the
> terms of the debate.  I believe that, as science educators, we have a
> mandate: the evolution must be televised.  I only hope that the National
> Science Foundation agrees.
>
> Nik Charov
> New York Hall of Science
>
> * For more on Lysenko's blunder, there's a nice synopsis at
> http://nocredentials.blogspot.com/2004/09/history-lesson.html
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date:    Fri, 10 Jun 2005 06:13:13 -0400
> From:    Amanda Chesworth <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: opinion piece on evo/cre
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
****************************************************************************
> *
>
> This I find a disturbing, but all too common, opinion among creationists.
> Its time to remind people, I think, that it is in fact creationism and
IDers
> who fight not with evidence but with all kinds of tactics that should have
> little relevance on the teaching of science and on the question of "what
is
> science?" Tactics such as planting sympathizers into boards of education
and
> other powers where these decisions are ultimately made; using charisma and
> all manner of persuasion to alter public opinion; taking advantage of the
> public's lack of understanding in science; notoriously spreading
> misinformation and taking soundbites out of context to advance their own
> agenda; thinking that nitpicking at the "wrongs" or "errors" of science,
the
> gaps in our knowledge, and so on, constitutes evidence for their ideas -
> completely misunderstanding the methodologies of science and how an
> hypothesis is taken seriously; fabricating various publications, experts,
> data to claim credibility, peer-review, and other aspects of the
scientific
> method... etc., etc., etc.
>
> Amanda
>
> ---------------
>
> The evolution establishment fights with power, not evidence
> http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/hutchison/050609
>
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