Campus Campaign 2.0 - Bringing Science Programming into Classrooms
Published 16 Nov 2009, 10:40 am -
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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s new memoir, Going Rogue is a best seller even before it hits the stands tomorrow. The New York Times’ review of the book revealed some interesting, if unsurprising aspects of the woman who could have been this nation’s Vice President. The evangelical Christian Palin admits she “didn’t believe in the theory that human beings — thinking, loving beings — originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea” or from “monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees.” Palin is alluding to the notion of “creationism,” the religious concept that human beings and other living creatures were created in our present state by a divine being. It rejects the best established of all scientific theories: that human beings evolved from simpler species. Well this year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of one of the most important scientific works of all time: The Origin of Species, the seminal work by biologist Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution forms the basis of our understanding of all life. Natural Selection, by which species of living creatures evolve to adapt to their surroundings, is supported by evidence everywhere we look: fossils, carbon dating, gene mapping, animal domestication, plant breeding, paleontological digs, and simply the enormous similarities among species and across species. Despite the decades of scientific literature that has confirmed Darwin’s theory, and tweaked and improved on it, a shockingly large percentage of people, especially Americans, resolutely refuse to accept it. A Gallup poll earlier this year revealed that only 39% of Americans accept the theory of evolution to explain how humans came to be. That number is considered a victory by the American right-wing that has for years, vehemently fought the teaching of evolution in public schools.
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jeri on 17 Nov 2009 at 9:00 am: 1
Living in WV I’m not at all surprised that most Americans refuse to believe in evolution.
We are a scarily ignorant country.