Hope for Education

I’ve nearly finished the reading assigned for this week of class; I found myself, only a few pages into Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, so interested in the author’s argument that I didn’t want to put the book down. (Alas, other classes demand my time as well.) I’m not sure, in retrospect, that Dennett has told me anything that I didn’t already suspect – nothing groundbreaking, at least – but the way in which he presents his conclusions fascinates me, and I find myself agreeing more often than not. (I particularly enjoy the analogies that he employs, even if I do suspect that they are included in a sort of fan-boyish emulation of On the Origin of Species.)

If nothing else, reading this book has me convinced that a better understanding of evolution is possible, and that it could, perhaps, even be taught in schools with some degree of efficacy. If one person is inclined to explore the idea so deeply, why not everyone? I wrote my first web paper over the less-than-stellar treatment evolution receives in the public school system; I wish that I had begun to read this book before I wrote it. I would have suggested that prospective teachers be introduced to a more philosophical side of of evolution, as well.