Posted on 11/28/2005 6:54:46 AM PST by Right Wing Professor
Intelligent design — already the planned subject of a controversial Kansas University seminar this spring — will make its way into a second KU classroom in the fall, this time labeled as a “pseudoscience.”
In addition to intelligent design, the class Archaeological Myths and Realities will cover such topics as UFOs, crop circles, extrasensory perception and the ancient pyramids.
John Hoopes, associate professor of anthropology, said the course focused on critical thinking and taught how to differentiate science and “pseudoscience.” Intelligent design belongs in the second category, he said, because it cannot be tested and proven false.
“I think this is very important for students to be articulate about — they need to be able to define and recognize pseudoscience,” Hoopes said.
News of the new class provided fresh fuel to conservatives already angered that KU planned to offer a religious studies class this spring on intelligent design as “mythology.”
“The two areas that KU is trying to box this issue into are completely inappropriate,” said Brian Sandefur, a mechanical engineer in Lawrence who has been a vocal proponent of intelligent design.
Intelligent design is the idea that life is too complex to have evolved without a “designer,” presumably a god or other supernatural being. That concept is at the heart of Kansas’ new public school science standards — greatly ridiculed by the mainstream science community but lauded by religious conservatives — that critique the theory of evolution.
Hoopes said his class would be a version of another course, titled Fantastic Archaeology, which he helped develop as a graduate student at Harvard University.
The course will look at the myths people have created to explain mysterious occurrences, such as crop circles, which some speculate were caused by extraterrestrials.
The course will explore how myth can be created to negative effects, as in the case of the “myth of the moundbuilders.” In early American history, some people believed the earthen mounds found primarily in the area of the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys were the works of an ancient civilization destroyed by American Indians. The myth contributed to the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which relocated American Indians east of the Mississippi to lands in the west, Hoopes said.
“It was that popular explanation that then became a cause for genocide,” Hoopes said.
That example shows the need to identify pseudoscience, he said.
“What I’m trying to do is deal with pseudoscience regardless of where it’s coming from,” he said.
But Sandefur said intelligent design was rooted in chemistry and molecular biology, not religion, and it should be discussed in science courses.
“The way KU is addressing it I think is completely inadequate,” he said.
Hoopes said he hoped his class stirs controversy. He said students liked to discuss topics that are current and relevant to their lives.
“Controversy makes people think,” he said. “The more controversy, the stronger the course is.”
>>>Are they going to relegate the big bang to this “pseudoscience" as well? Last I heard, it can't be tested or proven false either...well, other than by logic.<<<
LOL. The "Big Bang Theory" proves that so-called "Scientists" have no regard for science. LOL.
And then the 14th Amendment came along.
What is a specie jump? Be specific.
There's no empirical data used to support ID.
What is a specie jump?
That's what space monkeys use instead of hyperspace.
>>>That we're apes? That's a fact.<<<
Now that you mentioned it, the placement of my thumbs do look like those of apes!
These created the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington. Did some field trips through there in grad school. Very interesting features. But too early for the biblical flood, though, and not nearly global enough.
You know, I don't so much mind that scientists have dogma they take on faith...what bothers me is that they deny they do so.
number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.
I think it is 35.
"Now that you mentioned it, the placement of my thumbs do look like those of apes!"
That's not what makes one an ape, any more than it is what makes you a mammal.
Humans and chimps and gorillas share some DNA retroviruses. Show me an endogenous retrovirus that is present in the gorilla and human genome, but not the chimp genome. The theory of evolution predicted that there would be none before the genomes were sequenced (because chimps are more closely related to humans than gorillas are, and matching endogenous retroviruses are inherited from a common ancestor). That prediction was a test of the theory of evolution, which the theory of evolution met, as expected. Prior to the genomic mapping projects creationists predicted that molecular evidence along such lines would falsify evolution. They were wrong, it vindicated it.
I had a great geology teacher one year. It's pretty interesting stuff.
Try googling cosmic microwave background for a demonstration that big bang is not taken on faith. CMB was a prediction of big bang theory.
Something curious going on here. Some creationists assert that big bang theory is a triumph of religious science, that proves that God exists. Other creationists deride it as unscientific. Both groups cannot be right. (in fact neither group is right)
I really enjoyed my geology courses too. Did a great field-trip to the Isle of Skye. The difficulty of accurate field-observations filled me with respect for the 18th and 19th century pioneers of the subject.
>>>Astronomy and geology are consistent with an earth that is billions of years old.<<<
No problem there. The Bible supports the earth being billions of years old.
>>>Organic chemistry is consistent with the structure of DNA that supports common descent.<<<
Or a common Designer.
>>>To deny evolution is to deny all the evidence from all of science that supports the theory.<<<
That is the first nonsensical statement you have made. No offense, but by your statements you do not come across as someone who knows it all, so why claim you do?
>>>Creationists are not only anti science, but when you pin them down, many are openly anti-reason. This isn't good for conservatism.<<<
Evolutionists are anti-science cultists who absolutely refuse to allow anyone to question the fundamental teachings of their cult. More generally, Evolutionists fall into the "Flat-Earth" category; Behe is their Gallileo.
This lady had been a state geologist for 11 years (need I point out that she was a devout Christian too), but she just exuded enthusiasm on the subject and made us excited about it too. She is one of my most favorite teachers ever.
Someone suggested that and I skimmed a bit on it. yes, background radiation...have proof what it's related to? Perhaps a second big bang that had the same effect? Just for comparison purposes.
Something curious going on here. Some creationists assert that big bang theory is a triumph of religious science, that proves that God exists. Other creationists deride it as unscientific. Both groups cannot be right. (in fact neither group is right)
That does address the real question...what caused the big bang, and where did the matter involved in it come from? Matter does not spontaneously spring into existence from nothing...at least not in a way science can possibly test. So one is left with the conclusion that something is eternal...either matter or a creator. Unless the big bang has undergone some serious revisions (which is not outside of the realm of possibility...it seems to get revised fairly often...except in our textbooks) then considering the models of the big bang tracked back for an infinite amount of time before the big bang the whole model unravels.
I went to school with a guy who looked like a Neanderthal - hugely muscular, brow ridge, rather short and compact, very hairy. Also totally brilliant, claimed to be a descendant of Thomas Jefferson.
>>>The irony is that I am an atheist who spends a lot his of time responding to unthinking attacks on Christians (and Christianity) from smug, condescending idiots who don't understand its value or depth.<<<
My brother-in-law claims to be an athiest, too; but he cannot answer this simple question: where did the heaven, the earth, and all its host come from? Can you answer it?
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