Charles Darwin
200 Years Later
Considering the breathtaking speed at which our understanding of (and mastery over) nature has matured over the last one hundred years, it's almost impossible to understand there is still a debate about the merits of biological evolution one hundred fifty years since the publication of the Origin of Species and mountains of (conclusive) evidence (and zero counter-evidence).
Perhaps it's not too difficult to see why the debate still rages on. It appears everyone (the farmer, the politician, the elementary school science teacher, the preacher, the nurse, etc.) these days is suffering from a mass delusion, a sort of superiority complex thinking they know more about such subjects as Genetics and Molecular Biology than career scientists in these fields.
I've never heard of a cab driver or an office clerk expressing opinion on quantum electrodynamics or general relativity. Nobody at the airport seem to argue about thermodynamics. When it comes to evolutionary biology, however, it seems everyone believes they have sufficient knowledge in the subject that their views are as valid or even more valid than that of the biologist (I find it curious that these way of thinking about evolutionary biology does not apply when it comes to one's health--who disputes drug resistance?).
Now, if I were to say "I do not believe in quantum mechanics," no one would pay attention to me. Scientific theories are not upheld or discarded by anyone's subjective feelings or state of mind. Neither does one's lack of understanding establishes grounds for rejecting a scientific theory.
Alas, the rules for evolutionary theory are different. If Jack the Plumber can't understand ("see") how human beings and primates share common ancestry, evolutionary theory must be wrong. Heck, Jack could just outright deny evolutionary theory because he blinked once, blinked twice and figured he just does not believe in it. And in the land of government for the people by the people, enough Jacks could bring to power someone who does not even understand technology and power are synonymous in the planet we call home.
Perhaps it's not too difficult to see why the debate still rages on. It appears everyone (the farmer, the politician, the elementary school science teacher, the preacher, the nurse, etc.) these days is suffering from a mass delusion, a sort of superiority complex thinking they know more about such subjects as Genetics and Molecular Biology than career scientists in these fields.
I've never heard of a cab driver or an office clerk expressing opinion on quantum electrodynamics or general relativity. Nobody at the airport seem to argue about thermodynamics. When it comes to evolutionary biology, however, it seems everyone believes they have sufficient knowledge in the subject that their views are as valid or even more valid than that of the biologist (I find it curious that these way of thinking about evolutionary biology does not apply when it comes to one's health--who disputes drug resistance?).
Now, if I were to say "I do not believe in quantum mechanics," no one would pay attention to me. Scientific theories are not upheld or discarded by anyone's subjective feelings or state of mind. Neither does one's lack of understanding establishes grounds for rejecting a scientific theory.
Alas, the rules for evolutionary theory are different. If Jack the Plumber can't understand ("see") how human beings and primates share common ancestry, evolutionary theory must be wrong. Heck, Jack could just outright deny evolutionary theory because he blinked once, blinked twice and figured he just does not believe in it. And in the land of government for the people by the people, enough Jacks could bring to power someone who does not even understand technology and power are synonymous in the planet we call home.