A Darwinian Victory – Teaching of Evolution Accepted in Texas
Darwin's original idea (source: http://mimosvet.wordpress.com/category/biology-evolution/)
If John Thomas Scopes was alive today he would be all smiles! The National Centre for Science Education announced Friday that the Texas Board of Education has officially accepted the use of scientifically accurate biology textbooks in their high school curriculum, while rejecting supplements backed by creationists.
An original copy of "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" by Charles Darwin (source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/charles-darwin
Scientific supplements were presented by a panel of scientists and educators while creationist supplements were submitted by International Databases. After reviewing the submissions, the board sided with evolution, accepting the scientific supplements and rejecting those of the creationists by a lop-sided vote of 14-0. Disturbingly, until now, the teachings of Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory have been strictly prohibited from being taught to the young, bright minds of Texas.
Even more alarmingly, the teaching of evolution is still rejected in other states. Recent polls suggest that more than 40% of Americans accept the literal accounts of genesis and disregard any evidence or idea regarding evolution. Don’t misinterpret this post as a form of bashing Christianity or any other religion for that matter; I am merely alluding to the absurdity of continuing to deny students the right to learn about topics such evolution which are founded in such overwhelming scientific evidence. In such states science and religion should at least be taught hand-in-hand; let the student decide what to believe. But let the factors in the debate be displayed evenly. This disregard for evolutionary theory is not just happening in the southern United States, but is happening to varying degrees all around. Many high school curricula briefly mention evolution and the theory behind it, but typically don’t teach it to the extent and depth it deserves and requires.
A popular misconception regarding evolutionary theory. This image depicts a human evolving directly from a chimpanzee, however, we know that evolution is not progressive, but is a branching out of species. We did not evolve from chimpanzees, we share a common ancestor with them. Source: http://ablebrains.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341ca86d53ef0133f1a5f4f5970b-popup)
As avid atheist Richard Dawkins (whose 200 2Ted-talk “On Militant Atheism” is below) would agree, evolutionary theory is at the core of modern biology and should without a doubt be emphatically tackled in the high school biology classroom – but it isn’t. Evolution deserves an entire section of the high school biology curriculum and typically gets no more than a “hello-goodbye” treatment. As such, the misconceptions and false statements regarding evolution are persistent throughout the world and are often used by the church as arguments against evolution and its credibility.
Something has to be done. The complete disregard for evolution and insufficient attention in the classroom has been denying the world of potentially great scientists for over 150 years. It’s time for a change. Evolutionary theory is essential to the understanding of life as we know it today and needs to be delivered early on in detail. The acceptance of evolution into Texas high schools is a big step in the right direction and is a huge victory for science and knowledge. Hopefully with this, more states will follow suit. So raise your glasses and give yourselves a pat on the back biologists, to a victory for science!
This chart (it's in German) shows the evolution of our planet earth over its 4 1/2 billion year history. Source: http://lowbird.com
Yes you're correct. My editors must have inserted the wrong date. Thank you for pointing that out.
I would also like to briefly mention the idea of anagenesis, which is the formation of a new population of species from an ancesteral population. This is a widely accepted spin on Darwin's original proposal of evolution by means of natural selection. In anagenesis, new species are not formed through a single event, rather over time, when a population undergoes a mutation enough so that this mutation becomes stable and the new population is significantly different from the ancestral population. There is no "branching-out" of species in anagenesis (as alluded to in the figure caption). The important thing to take away from this comment is that in anagenesis, an entire population becomes different from the ancestral population such that the ancestral population can be considered extinct. The converse of anagenesis is cladogenesis, which is the basic underlying idea of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. A common ancestor "branches out", giving rise to two or more different species.
"...officially accepted the use of scientifically accurate biology textbooks in their high school curriculum." So what kind of science do they teach the kids then? Hello, America, it's 2011...
Thus far, somehow, they've been neglecting to teach high school students the theory of evolution and proper scientific accounts. They have been forcing creationism on these students. Universities on the other hand have been able to get around this and teach proper scientific information. However, this isn't remotely close to sufficient. Students are coming out of high school, not only in Texas, but in many other states as well, not knowing a thing about evolutionary theory. These states are depriving the scientific world of smart, bright people who could potentially contribute outstanding knowledge to the scientific community. This change in Texas is a HUGE leap forward, but much more needs to be done! I agree with your comment, come on America, it's 2011..
and about time ... welcome to science...must be weird for them!!
next stop... kansas!
I'm actually... dare I say... giddy...
Dawkin's speech is 2002.
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