Evolution, Intelligent Design, and Education
This article first appeared as an editorial I wrote for the Valley News on 4 September 2005. I thought it was probably a good time, given the bills currently before the New Hampshire legislature, to post it again.
**********************************************
What is science, and what is science trying to accomplish? The goal of science is to investigate what we as humans can empirically know but do not yet understand about the workings of nature. Scientists do this by constructing sets of hypotheses (based on what we have already learned) about some feature of nature that we do not understand, testing these hypotheses by making observations and performing experiments, and then updating our understanding based on which hypotheses are supported and refuted by these observations and experiments. This results in a never ending cycle of hypothesis generation, testing, and updating of our understanding.
Having been raised a Methodist and now being a member of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, I know the power of God in people’s lives. Also, my scientific training and my career as a practicing scientist show me that nothing in science denies the existence or actions of God. In fact, science can only be mute on these issues, since we cannot empirically test the existence, actions or methods of God. Read the rest of this entry »
Phenomenon Versus Theory – Juxtaposing Evolution and Gravity
The phrase “theory of evolution” is sometimes used pejoratively by people who do not want to acknowledge that populations and species of biological organisms evolve. In fact, the legislature of the state in which I reside – New Hampshire – is now considering legislation (e.g., see here and here) “requiring the teaching of evolution as a theory in public schools”. As any scientist will tell you, the meaning of the word theory in science is very different from its common usage.
Pondering this difference got me to thinking about how the theory of evolution stacks up to other more readily accepted scientific theories, at least in the public’s mind. We all have an intuitive understanding of many physical phenomena, and so I wanted to compare how the theory of evolution stacked up against our scientific understanding of something as familiar as, say, gravity.
Baseball!!
This never gets old,
no matter how many times you see it!
Science Exposed
Asif Mambi & Jon Stewart have it:
RINOs
I’m a proud RINO. I’ve been called that a lot, and I like it and am proud to be called so. After the founders, my political heroes are people like Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. These political leaders understood the necessity of government providing the playing field for the nation’s economy: not to run the economy, but to provide the infrastructure and rulebook to have the private economy flourish.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why are Carrots Orange?
The Next Nature website has a cornucopia of information about how humans have modified our foods through artificial selection, the process that partially inspired Charles Darwin to realize that nature does the same thing on its own. For example, they tell the story of how all carrots came to be orange in the 17th century to honor William the Orange by Dutch growers for founding a free Netherlands. Before that, carrots were various shades of white, yellow, red and purple.
An adult returns
Again, an adult in the room!
What is the relationship between economic performance and the highest income tax rate?
I am a scientist. The fundamental basis of science is empirically testing the assumptions, hypotheses and theories for how one thinks something works. Given the debates about taxes, economic growth and the countries’ debt and deficit over the past 10 years, I decided to do a scientific test of one major premise. Does having a lower top marginal tax rate (i.e., the tax rate on those with the highest incomes) correspond to a better economy? Read the rest of this entry »
George Carlin – The Earth and Humans
George Carlin really understood the relationship between humans and the Earth!
He must have been a paleontologist.
A Commentary on Theology and Biology
From a letter by Michael Jinkins:
“If sophomore biology threatens your faith, your theology has bigger problems than Charles Darwin.”