Creationism vs. Evolution. Why?
This is from an answer I did on Yahoo! Answers. It was a bit lengthy, poor questioner, so I thought I was worthy for Blogging. Enjoy or be dismayed. . whatever
The Question: Why do Creationist try to debate evolution without understanding it?
Creationists are trying to facilitate a wider campaign of undermining reasoned, scientific thought by attempting to destabilize widely held, known scientific understanding. They aren't attacking evolution so much as the principle of scientific theory and the idea that the reason something is accepted in the scientific community is because there is more empirical evidence to support it.
Review any of the Creationist vs. Evolution debates and you will see that none of them present any scientific data that supports the idea that Creationism is true. Creationists believe that the complexity of biology is fundamental proof of a creator (the watch comparison). The flaw to that thought is that the complex things that humans make are entirely done by the hands of humans, and none grow, replicate or construct themselves from the molecules and atoms around them. We can readily observe the the biological creation of life every day, and it looks nothing like the creation of a watch or a jumbo jet. Living things start from a single cell which divdes. On their own power and by their own ability they grow into more complex forms from less complex forms, and it is all dependent on the available chemical resources around them. We know the properties of cells as facts; we know the properties of the genetics that drive those cells as facts; we know the properties of chemicals that form those genes as facts; and we know how those properties interact to develop complex living things. There are no hands involved. Creationists also can't substantiate their view scientifically because the entire point of a religious belief is to have faith and not ask questions. While science with the theory of evolution can account for billions of years using available empirical evidence, creationists start their timeline at the point of whatever religious texts they are using and however they chose to interpret it They say it all "just happened." But they can't account for how, why or where the entity that created everything came from. Creationist belief is no more substanitive than that of the Greek or Roman gods. Creationists also make a fundamentally flawed assumption that if evolution can't account for or complexity (or if they can get people to believe that) we default to a creationist belief. This is entirely untrue. In science the default is always the theory with the most empirical substantiation, and there is still no other theory with more data than evolution, even with their attacks. Creationists only want to undermine the theory of evolution even though the theory has decades of scientific data behind it.
But why would creationists and those who perpetuate this view wish to do so? Because it's good for business. If people start distrusting science and the scientific process, then they will be more likely to turn to whatever else says they have all of the answers. Would they do that if science was made to seem unstable? Certainly, look at American politics or any governing system, as there is less trust in the system more people turn away from it or become apathetic (the huge number of non-voters). No longer thinking that empirical evidence is fundamental, which scientific thought requires, there is no longer a reason to distrust them, even if they're making the whole thing up. People become more easy to manipulate and with the involvement of politics in the US as they are an organized group like the Christian Right has much to gain from perpetuating this. It is this political organization that is attempting to change scientific standards in states to perpetuate a poorer understanding of science. Look at the Kansas BOE, they reduced their definition of science to essentially include any idea independent of empirical evidence. We already have a school of belief for that, and it is philosophy. If kids can't understand it then they are more easily persuaded to apathy or fundamentalism.
But not ALL Creationists are consciously going this path. It is those who run the Creationist centers and those who give them money are perpetuating an obviously flawed logic. Others get caught up in it because it plays off of deeply emotional ideas such as fear of the eternal and unknown which can make people blank out any rational argument. They can do this even though the medication they take; insulin they use; and food they eat are all products of the understanding of evolution. Evolutionary psychology has shown us that self-denial is a palpable component of human psychology which allows humans to ignore the most fundamental facts to feel better.
The Question: Why do Creationist try to debate evolution without understanding it?
Creationists are trying to facilitate a wider campaign of undermining reasoned, scientific thought by attempting to destabilize widely held, known scientific understanding. They aren't attacking evolution so much as the principle of scientific theory and the idea that the reason something is accepted in the scientific community is because there is more empirical evidence to support it.
Review any of the Creationist vs. Evolution debates and you will see that none of them present any scientific data that supports the idea that Creationism is true. Creationists believe that the complexity of biology is fundamental proof of a creator (the watch comparison). The flaw to that thought is that the complex things that humans make are entirely done by the hands of humans, and none grow, replicate or construct themselves from the molecules and atoms around them. We can readily observe the the biological creation of life every day, and it looks nothing like the creation of a watch or a jumbo jet. Living things start from a single cell which divdes. On their own power and by their own ability they grow into more complex forms from less complex forms, and it is all dependent on the available chemical resources around them. We know the properties of cells as facts; we know the properties of the genetics that drive those cells as facts; we know the properties of chemicals that form those genes as facts; and we know how those properties interact to develop complex living things. There are no hands involved. Creationists also can't substantiate their view scientifically because the entire point of a religious belief is to have faith and not ask questions. While science with the theory of evolution can account for billions of years using available empirical evidence, creationists start their timeline at the point of whatever religious texts they are using and however they chose to interpret it They say it all "just happened." But they can't account for how, why or where the entity that created everything came from. Creationist belief is no more substanitive than that of the Greek or Roman gods. Creationists also make a fundamentally flawed assumption that if evolution can't account for or complexity (or if they can get people to believe that) we default to a creationist belief. This is entirely untrue. In science the default is always the theory with the most empirical substantiation, and there is still no other theory with more data than evolution, even with their attacks. Creationists only want to undermine the theory of evolution even though the theory has decades of scientific data behind it.
But why would creationists and those who perpetuate this view wish to do so? Because it's good for business. If people start distrusting science and the scientific process, then they will be more likely to turn to whatever else says they have all of the answers. Would they do that if science was made to seem unstable? Certainly, look at American politics or any governing system, as there is less trust in the system more people turn away from it or become apathetic (the huge number of non-voters). No longer thinking that empirical evidence is fundamental, which scientific thought requires, there is no longer a reason to distrust them, even if they're making the whole thing up. People become more easy to manipulate and with the involvement of politics in the US as they are an organized group like the Christian Right has much to gain from perpetuating this. It is this political organization that is attempting to change scientific standards in states to perpetuate a poorer understanding of science. Look at the Kansas BOE, they reduced their definition of science to essentially include any idea independent of empirical evidence. We already have a school of belief for that, and it is philosophy. If kids can't understand it then they are more easily persuaded to apathy or fundamentalism.
But not ALL Creationists are consciously going this path. It is those who run the Creationist centers and those who give them money are perpetuating an obviously flawed logic. Others get caught up in it because it plays off of deeply emotional ideas such as fear of the eternal and unknown which can make people blank out any rational argument. They can do this even though the medication they take; insulin they use; and food they eat are all products of the understanding of evolution. Evolutionary psychology has shown us that self-denial is a palpable component of human psychology which allows humans to ignore the most fundamental facts to feel better.
posted by bob at 15.7.06
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