ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. ***************************************************************************** Well, to jump in and cause people to strongly disagree with me, one needs to be careful about saying science is "truth". Good science is based on testing theories and unbiased conclusions. Growing up in the 50s and 60s, some of "our" heroes were people, such as Galileo, who stood against the accepted facts of their time. But let us be clear, many of today's scientifically accepted theories are presented as facts not to be questioned. Anyone in the scientific community or science education community who questions these theories is marginalized. If you do not believe this, just question the "fact" that an asteroid collision with Earth caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Another example, the idea that birds are dinosaurs makes as much sense as the anti-evolution propaganda of the 19th century that men were descended from apes. Most science is our current best guess. Normally I do not list any of my background on these posting, but in this case I have. Tom Lesser, Ed.D. Astronomy book reviewer for AAAS’ Science Books & Films former Senior Lecturer, American Museum-Hayden PlanPlanetarium, former Executive Director, The Dinosaur Society On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 9:04 AM, Stephen Uzzo wrote: > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology > Centers > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related > institutions. > > ***************************************************************************** > > This gets us back to the Levi-Strauss' problem of why truth (science) > and fiction (myth) are equivalent in people's minds. There is no > imperative for truth in evolution unless it improves fitness. But > there may be an imperative for seeking cause for effect (which might > be adaptive-something, according to Michotte, is evident in the > behavior of even infants). So in looking at what the real process > caused the effect of the earth (geologic or creationistic), its > unclear what advantage knowing this conveys upon fitness. In the > absence of doubt, as people build their ontologies and identify a > cause (the Earth moving closer to the Sun), that satisfies the effect > (climate change), the tension is relived and there is no further need > to deepen inquiry. Unless you're a geologist, oil or mining company, > or earth science teacher, the benefit of knowing the age of the earth > might be hard to quantify. > One of the things we don't do well is give learners permission to be > skeptical, nor do we provide them with useful mechanisms to deepen > inquiry around skepticiism over an idea. If we did, then the > Creationistas would have no purchase in the minds of our youth to cast > doubt on geology because it would only stimulate them to more quickly > reveal their fakery. I think its healthy to doubt anything you don't > completely understand, but until we equip learners with the right > truth-seeking thinking tools we should expect this kind of > intellectual con game to continue unabated. Rubio is merely reflecting > the ignorance of his constituency, he is not the cause of it. This has > been the state of humanity since Aristotle. We are not going to fix > the problem by claiming truthier truth, but by being serious about > educating our youth--to stop just throwing our truth at them to see > what sticks (evidently, very little). > > Stephen Miles Uzzo, PhD. > VP, Science & Technology > New York Hall of Science > 47-01 111th Street > Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY 11368 USA > V +1.718 595.9177 > F +1.718.699.5227 > > > > > > On Nov 20, 2012, at 10:12 PM, Eric Siegel wrote: > >> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology >> Centers >> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related >> institutions. >> >> ***************************************************************************** >> >> ps. an acquaintance of mine told me that global warming is happening >> because the earth is moving closer to the sun. after i picked my jaw >> up off the ground, I weighed the benefits of schooling her with the >> futility of the attempt. I tried to explain what we know about the >> physics of the solar system since newton. >> >> e >> -- >> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: >> >> This message is intended solely for the addressee(s) in the first >> instance and may contain confidential information. Please do not >> forward this email without the consent of the sender. >> >> >> *********************************************************************** >> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers >> and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org. >> >> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at >> www.exhibitfiles.org. >> >> The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from >> L-Soft. 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