Posted: Mar 10, 2010 7:10 pm
Lazar wrote:dionysus wrote:Yes, let's also teach holocaust denial, 9/11 conspiracies, that the Moon landing is a hoax, and that our politicians are all reptilian aliens in history class. Teach the controversy!
EDIT: Why is it that stupid people always seem to get their way? If it wasn't for the fact that they're going to be harming children (specifically their chances of getting a career in any scientific discipline AND their chances of continuing to live on a lively, green planet), I'd say fuck 'em and let 'em wallow in their ignorance.
Jerry Coyne:What’s next? Teach the “controversy” about Western medicine? After all, lots of people believe in homeopathy, spiritual healing and the like. How about vaccination? And shouldn’t history classes debate the controversy about whether the Holocaust actually took place, or whether the Turks committed genocide against Armenians?
Yup, exactly. It may seem like a slippery slope, but it's legitimate in this case because once our nation's youth get the idea that science can't be trusted and that even the best supported and foundational theories don't mean jack shit compared to ideology, there's really no limit to what "controversy" people will want to teach. Suddenly, any group that is sufficiently large enough and loud enough can attack any valid theory that they want. Granted, I don't think our current scientific understanding should be taught as gospel and I want our students aware of the fact that everything isn't written in stone, but the point of science class is for kids to learn about science, not to decide which theories to accept and which ones to reject despite having absolutely no expertise in the subject. It's comparable to making grade school math students balance our country's budget. If these idiots want to "teach the controversy and let the students decide", they should also be willing to let these same students run the nuclear reactors in their state and run their hospitals because giving them the power to decide what constitutes valid science and what doesn't is just as stupid, though, of course, not as immediately threatening.