Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

jrlewis's picture

The links you posted seem to

The links you posted seem to highlight the complex nature of the debate about teaching evolution.  The question is not whether to teach evolution, but how to teach evolution.  What elements of the theory will teachers present to their students?  Different components of the story of evolution are problematic for different groups.  For example, some people recognize evolution as the change of forms of organisms over time.  In this model, it is possible to find a place for a god.  Another perspective includes the concept of randomness and the significance of natural selection in evolution.  In his book, "Darwin's Dangerous Idea," Daniel Dennett admits that the randomness implicit in the concept of natural selection is not inconsistent with all notions of a god.  So maybe the problem with teaching evolution is deciding which components of the theory to give salience to... Some components are more controversial than others.  How do we weight the potential outcry against the valuable information?  What version of evolution should be taught? 

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
2 + 1 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.