102, NATS Sect. 13 Fall 2008
Announcements
Project #4 DUE TODAY!
Reading: mainly websites (see suggested reading in the lecture)
F M W Dec. 5 Dec. 8 De 10 c. UFOs: Are they real? Media and Critical Thinking - Evaluations Re w S ssion vie e
20 18
Projects 2 and 3
# Students
16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 10
Pr. 2
Pr2
Pr3
Pape S itte rs ubm d: 111 112 C Ave : lass rage 68 70 Me dian Grade 71.5 75.5 : Highe S : st core Lowe S : st core A's: C and above 's : 99.5 99 10 21 16 12 83 84
# Students
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
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100
Grade
20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Pr. 3
Grade
Genetics and the Human Genome
Ge tics studie how traits and dise s arepasse along fromonege ration of ne s ase d ne living organism to thene s xt DNA: nucle acid containing all theinstructions ne de to dire theactivitie of ic e d ct s living ce lls Ge e an organism com tese of DNA, varying in sizefromabout 600,000 nom : 's ple t nucle otidepairs for thesm st fre -living organism (bacte to som 3 billion alle e s ria), e for hum and m ans ice I de ntification of thehum ge eprovide m be fits: an nom s any ne - finding a link be e hum and othe organism twe n ans r s - unde rstand variations and m utations - allow to de lop ne the ve w rapie for m com on dise s s any m ase
What is Evolution?
Defined in class:
The change in the genetics of a population over time (from one generation to the next) It is an observed process
Defined in dictionaries:
- The doctrine according to which higher forms of life have gradually arisen out of lower.. - Chambers - The development of a species, organism, or organ from its original or primitive state to its present or specialized state; phylogeny or ontogeny - Webster's -The gradual process by which the present diversity of plant and animal life arose from the earliest and most primitive organisms, which is believed to have been continuing for the past 3000 million years - Oxford Concise Science Dictionary
Alternatives to Evolution
Creation Science, or moreappropriately "Young Earth Creation
S nce cie " "The is no re re ason NOT TO BELI EVE that God cre d our unive , e ate rse arth, plants, anim and pe just as de als, ople scribe in thebook of Ge sis!" d ne
Intelligent Design, a morerecent (sophisticated?) version of the
form r e "I nte nt cause arene ssary to e llige s ce xplain thecom x, inform ple ation-rich structure of biology and the cause aree pirically de ctable s se s m te " (no cle e phasis on a C ar m hristian God)
Creation Science Beliefs
Natural se ction works for "m le icro-e volution" (variation within a typeof organism )
ally volution, just an e phasis of alre pre nt traits ove othe m ady se r rs - But it is not re e
"Macro-e volution" (fromoneorganismto anothe is be r) yond theability of m utation couple with natural se ction d le Thege ologic colum cite as physical e nceof e n, d vide volution, is be r e tte xplaine as d there of a de sult vastating global flood which happe d about 5,000 ye ago, as ne ars de scribe in theBible d Evolution is a the contrary to the2 Law of The odynam ory rm ics
"Defeat" of Creationism
1987: The Supreme Court of the United States ruled (again!) that creationism is unconstitutional in public school science curricula (case of Edwards v. Aquillard) Motivation: To require the teaching of "creation science" alongside evolution is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution Establishment Clause of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof "
Intelligent Design Basics
I nte nt cause areNEC S llige s ES ARY to e xplain thecom x structure of ple s biology
Inte nt de the llige sign orists don't re quire that Earth was cre d a fe thousand ye ate w ars ago as de scribe in Ge sis and som e n d ne e ve
acce e pt volution-- with a de signe input r
(foundation of I D is in theBible ) Inte ctual fathe of inte nt de the lle rs llige sign ory: - Phillip E. Johnson (law professor) scienceshould allow spacefor supernatural cre ation l he - Michae Be (biochemistry professor) concept of irreduciblecomplexity m - WilliamDe bski (math professor) concept of complex specified information (anything with 1 in 10150 chanceof occurring by natural chance )
Ne York Tim s (April 8, 2001) w e
Likecre ationists, inte nt de followe aretrying to changepublicllige sign rs school scie curricula, but with an im nce portant diffe nce the area le re : y ad by "acade ics and inte ctuals" with ne "m sophisticate ide m lle w, ore d" as
Beautiful example of evolution, or "survival of the fittest"...
Using theword "God", ope theC ationismm m nt to criticismthat is it ns re ove e inde d an atte pt to te re e m ach ligion in theclassroom Theuseof a m ge ric "I nte nt C " to e ore ne llige ause xplain ce rtain fe ature of the s Unive and living things provide theappe rse s aranceof a scie ntific approach and the foreof a viablescie re ntific the ory 1989: Thebook "Of Pandas and Pe " is thefirst book prom ople oting inte nt llige de sign com d to an e r draft, "inte nt de pare arlie llige sign" has substitute theword d "cre ationism throughout thebook "
Kansas Evolution Hearings (2005)
Hearings held by the Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee to change how evolution and origin of life would be taught in the state's public high school science classes
8 Nove be 2005: theBoard approved thefollowing changes to its sciencestandards: m r
ission state e a goal that scie e m nt nce ducation should se k to "inform e " Add to them finition of scie that doe not pre nce s cludesupe rnatural e xplanations Providea de llige sign se d rnativee xplanation e to volution Allow inte nt de to bepre nte as an alte as pre nte in m se d ainstre biology te am xtbooks, without e ndorsing it tate volution is a the and not a fact ory S that e quireinform stude of purporte scie ing nts d ntific controve s re rsie garding Re e volution
It sounds like a political battle!
August 2005: On theissueof teaching intelligent
de Pre nt Bush state sign side d: "I think that part of e ducation is to e xpose pe to diffe nt schools of thought... ople re You'reasking m whe r or not pe e the ople ought to bee xpose to diffe nt ide d re as, theanswe is ye r s."
August 1, 2006: 4 of the6 conservativeRepublicans who approved theCritical Analysis
of Evolution classroomstandards lost the se in a prim e ction ir ats ary le
Fe bruary 13, 2007: theBoard voted 6 to 4 to reject theamended sciencestandards
e nacte in 2005; thede d finition of scie was onceagain re nce turne to these d arch for natural e xplanations for what is obse d in theunive rve rse
Or a religious one!
TV Evange Pat Robe list rtson, founde of theC r hristian Broadcasting Ne twork and C hristian C oalition told citize of Dove Pe ns r, nnsylvania, that the had y re cte God by voting the school board out of je d ir officefor supporting "inte nt de llige sign" and warne d the not to besurprise if disaste struck be m d r cause the vote God out of the city y d ir (C He NN adline Nov. 10, 2005) s, 167 C ntion of theEpiscopal Dioce of Missouri onve se
Embracing Science and Religion...
Brother Guy Consolmagno, Jesuit priest, Vatican astronomer (PhD at UofA!):
"S epe think the can usescie to proveGod. om ople y nce And that puts scie ahe of God; that m s nce ad ake scie m powe than God. That's bad nce ore rful the ology. I n fact, som philosophe havesaid that's what le to athe in the e rs d ism e ighte nth ce e ntury - thefallacy of the God of thegaps. You say, "I haveno ide a how this could havehappe d. I t m havebe n God's de ne ust e sign." And the fifty n ye late som body e ars r, e xplains how it did happe and you say, "I don't ne d God n, e anym ." I f your faith is base on scie , that's a ve shaky kind of faith. " ore d nce ry
(Astrobiology MagazineS pt. 19, 2005) e
What Am ricans think e
A 2001 Gallup poll shows that: e lie ate an ings tty about 45%of Am ricans be vethat "God cre d hum be pre m in the pre nt format onetim within thelast 10,000 ye or so." uch ir se e ars e lie an ings ve d r about 37%of Am ricans be vethat "Hum be havede lope ove m illions of ye fromle advance form of life but God guide this ars ss d s , d proce ss." e lie an ings ve d r about 14%of Am ricans be vethat "hum be havede lope ove m illions of ye fromle advance form of life but God had no part in ars ss d s , this proce ss."
An inte sting fact: re
ople gre s pt volution 74%of pe with postgraduatede e acce e
National Academy of Science
"Theclaimthat e quity de ands balance tre e of e m d atm nt volutionary the and ory spe cre cial ation in scie classroom re cts a m nce s fle isunde rstanding of what scie is and how it is conducte nce d." "C ationism inte nt de re , llige sign, and othe claim of supe r s rnatural inte ntion rve in theorigin of lifeor of spe s arenot scie be cie nce causethe arenot te y stableby them thods of scie . The claim subordinateobse d data to state e e nce se s rve m nts base on authority, re lation, or re d ve ligious be f. " lie
S nceand C ationism cie re : A Vie fromtheNational Acade y of S nce w m cie s S cond Edition (1999) e
Your Instructor's Viewpoint
S I ENC ISTHE S I ENTI FI CMETHOD a proce for C E C ss e valuating e pirical knowle - and theorganize body of m dge d knowle gaine by this proce dge d ss A be f that doe not m te lie s ake stablepre dictions is not a scie ntific the ory Base on this de d finition both C ationismand I nte nt De re llige sign haveno placein a scie curriculum nce The would work we in theconte of Philosophy or The y ll xt ology
Bad Science...
1. Failure to apply the scientific method 2. Use of supernatural causes when needed 3. Distortion of reality: data, experiments, methods
Alternative theories...
"Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster"
(http://www.venganza.org)
August 2005, open letter to the Kansas State Board of Education: "I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence."
The FSM
C ate as a satirical prote to thede re d st cision by theKansas S Board of Education to tate re quirethete aching of inte nt de as an alte llige sign rnativeto biological e volution
S theinte nt de m m nt use am ince llige sign ove e d biguous re re s to an unspe d fe nce cifie 'I nte nt De llige signe to avoid court rulings prohibiting thete r' aching of cre ationismas a scie , this pre ably le ope thepossibility that any im nce sum ft n aginablething could fill that role .
Data inte tation anyone rpre ?
"You m beinte ste to know that global ay re d warm e ing, arthquake hurricane and othe s, s, r natural disaste area dire e ct of the rs ct ffe shrinking num rs of Pirate sincethe1800s " be s (ope le r to Kansas S n tte chool Board)
What do you think?
For MoreI nform ation: S upporting e volution: http://www.re ligioustole rance .org/e v_noway.htm http://e volution.be le du/ rke y.e http://www.actionbioscie .org/e nce volution/nhm ag.htm l S upporting cre ationismor I D: http://www.cre ationism .org/ http://www.crsc.org/ For inte sting discussions fromboth ID and e re volution supporte rs: http://www.naturalhistorym ag.com / http://www. talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-m ustre ad.htm l