ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

 
In response to Clifford, who in articulated our frustration, has exposed  
some of our underlying shaky premises:

There is  a big difference between science and religion: no one gets to  
choose  which science they believe in.  Science is a rigorous  process.   
We can choose a theory to put forth, but the theory  that fits the facts  
the best is the present science we must all  follow.   There is no  
wiggle room.   


I'd like to think this, too, but I've seen too much evidence to the  
contrary. 
 
Many of us choose which parts to ignore, focusing only on what is directly  
relevant to our work or lives, leaving other parts unexplored or in storage 
with  a bunch of dogma from a variety of sources. Growing up in the Midwest, I 
met  many farmers and some ag researchers who knew genetics, selection,  
hybridization, the lineage of cattle and horses and peaches and blueberries;  they 
understood pathogen vectors and knew to anticipate potential effects of  
chemical exposure among field researchers and farm workers -- but they  still did'nt 
accept human evolution. It didn't directly affect their lives or  their 
practice. Likewise, I have spoken with physicians, pharmaceutical  researchers and 
bioengineers who know and work with parts of what most of us  consider a 
unified theory of evolution, without accepting other parts of it. I  may not 
understand how they are able to do that, but that's my problem. I also  don't think 
most of them chose the religious beliefs to which they subscribe. 
 
Yes, academic institutions are under attack from those who wish to censor  
ideas that do not conform to their beliefs. But we don't do ourselves any favors 
 by rising to the bait in confrontations designed to undermine our 
credibility --  not our scientific credibility, but as institutional citizens that 
respect the  rest of society's institutions. We also have to get over the idea that 
you can't  be scientifically literate or practice science unless you accept 
the whole  package (I know it's a struggle to accept this, but I see the 
evidence). If we  are as smart as we think we are, we certainly can develop 
strategies that  generate a demand for what have to offer, to which we can respond 
with what we  do best.
 
As always yours,
 
Charlie
 
Charles Stout
Media Arts Manager
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
Ann Arbor, MI

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]