Sunday, March 29, 2009
Good decision from Texas schoolbook board
The Texas curriculum board, which has national influence, has reached a good compromise on various questions. Good for true science, that is ... not good for the pure advocates of "Darwinism" (which has very little to do with Darwin) and not good for the pure advocates of creationism.
Well, there are genuine weaknesses in the theory, arguable on scientific grounds, and it appears that the board recognizes this:
Good enough. ¶ 1:24 PM
The board voted to remove a longstanding requirement that students analyze the "strengths and weaknesses" of the theory. Mainstream scientists resoundingly reject that language, saying there are no weak links in the theory of evolution, which has been corroborated by discoveries in fields ranging from genetics to geology.
Well, there are genuine weaknesses in the theory, arguable on scientific grounds, and it appears that the board recognizes this:
The curriculum will require that students "in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate and critique scientific explanations ... including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student."
"Texas has sent a clear message that evolution should be taught as a scientific theory open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can't be questioned," said Dr. John West, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, a Seattle think tank that argues an intelligent designer created life.
Good enough. ¶ 1:24 PM
