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Science (by which I assume we all mean European science) needs only be
falsifiable because scientists have accepted a belief system that holds
that as a core value.  There is nothing inherently more truthful about a
falsifiable explanation.  This world, including us and all our
falsifiable ideas, could have been created, memories, history, and all,
just a few moments ago.  We have no way to know if that is true or if
the world has in fact been ticking along for 4.5 Ga. or something else
altogether.

I (and most of this list, I wager) accept the belief system that if it
isn't falsifiable, it shouldn't be taught as science, but many
creationists do not.  You can argue all you want about the lack of
falsifiability of Intelligent Design, but the only people you will
convince are the people who already accept falsifiability as a valid
value and very few, if any, of them are going to accept ID in the first
place.  You can expend a lot of energy making this argument to no end
except to reinforce the existing dichotomy.

If we just want to be clear about which side we have chosen up on in
this intellectual color war, then we can circle the wagons, declare our
fealty to the values of Western science and prepare to fight off
everyone outside the circle.  There is some value to this.  I certainly
don't want ID taught as a canonically scientific alternative using my
tax dollars.  

If, on the other hand, we actually want to make some progress toward
(perhaps uneasy) coexistence, then we need to step away from classifying
everything rigidly as scientific or not, and begin to look at the world
through lenses that allow for a variety of ways of gathering knowledge.
The Amazonian shaman's incredible knowledge of tropical ecosystems and
pharmacology is integrally interwoven with supernatural spirituality.
We make a grave mistake when we ignore that knowledge because what we
believe to be the medicinal effects of a plant are attributed by the
shaman to spirits.  That doesn't mean we have to throw away falsifiable
theories as an important way to gather knowledge, but it does mean we
have to be open to other ways as also being valid ways to gather
knowledge and particularly as valid ways to gather knowledge about the
natural world.

In our increasingly global and interconnected society, I would like to
argue that a very important role of the science center is to help
broaden people's view of science beyond the canonical view.

David L Smith
Director of Professional Development 
Da Vinci DiscoveryCenter of Science and Technology
http://www.discovery-center.org

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