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.”
>>>Do you have any evidence to show that Homo erectus did not lead to Homo sapiens.<<<
I have as much evidence as you have to the contrary, which is none.
Natural quartz crystals:
Synthetic quartz crystals:
Or are they? Did I label them correctly? Which set are the the artificial crystals?
It occurs by many small incremental changes over time that lead to microevolution, and then BAM!!! - you give birth to a new kind, type, ilk, variant,........
I see. So you hardly even notice it happens. It's kind of like aging. What I see in the mirror doesn't change from day to day, but over longer periods of time....
I agree(except for hyperbole theocracy). Keep at it K.U., smoke'm out.
>>>This was true until July 9, 1868.<<<
Incorporation was an unconstitutional power grab. You really do need to read Holy Trinity vs. United States of 1892.
>>>There are no theories in Behe's theories.<<<
LOL. That is funny. Right Wing Comedian, I presume?
You should really study the difference between "holding" and "dicta" - the part that you'd like everyone to read has absolutely no legal weight whatsoever, and no value at all as precedent.
Wrong answer. There is a lot of scientific evidence out there which documents that Homo erectus led to Homo sapiens.
Nobody can make you look at it or believe it, but when you deny that the evidence exists you show your bias.
I wish I knew how many answers there were
"I wish I knew how many answers there were"
I wish I knew all the questions.
>>>I'm not afraid of it. I just don't want it taught in science class, because it doesn't meet the basic standards of science; observation, predictions, falsifiability.<<<
Nor does evolution. It is a mere hypothesis, disguised as a theory. Therefore, it should be taught only in psuedo-science or philosophy classes.
If not, you might want to reconsider your simplistic dichotomy.
It wasn't my dichotomy, it was RWP's.
RWP Post 18 "Certainly, if you think it's driven by randomness, you are seriously misinformed."
GB Post 339 "Then what drives evolution then, Prof? You either have chance or design. Unless you have come up with a third way?"
RWP Post 345 "If I throw a ball onto a roulette wheel and it lands on 24, is that chance or design?"
GB Post 369 "It is the one-time result of having thrown a ball one-time on a roulette wheel."
My question was a rhetorical one based on RWP's comment that evolution was not driven by randomness.
"I wish I knew how many answers there were"
I wish I knew all the questions.
I understand what you are saying. I've been there too. It's now time to come back.
"Contrary to popular belief, Unix is user friendly. It just happens to be selective about who it makes friends with."
Do you know what RWP was talking about?
It seems as if we have all found a point of agreement.
An ape is not a species
I worked in Unix (with vi) for two years near the end of my programming career. The first year was tolerable but Unix seemed standoffish and hard to work with. The second year was OK, but not great. I suspect my experience was typical of the kind of person who becomes a Unix enthusiast after four years. I just never got the last two years in.
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