3 ms·

I guess the dream of a scientocratic society proactively punishing ignorance won't materialise. Denying evolution? 10 lashes!

• pif 12y ago
  Just a matter of vocabulary: "dismissal of scientific evidence" != "ignorance".
• allendoerfer 12y ago
  Evolution is indeed just a theory - the one every scientist sees as the most likely - but still a theory. Edit (reply-limit): Thanks readerrr and cremno, valid points, will consider it in the future. What I meant was, there have been theories before the current theory of evolution. For example Lamarck's one, which is long considered false but lately some aspects of it are reintroduced. If we would punish everyone for denying evolution we would be unable to advance it. And of course this has nothing to do with teaching children biology. Of course children need to be taught evolution there.
  • readerrr 12y ago
    You are using an incorrect definition of the word. Theory used in science[0] means: a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena and not: a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact We have a separate word for the latter: a hypothesis. [0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory
  • cremno 12y ago
    http://www.notjustatheory.com/ http://www.notjustatheory.com/
  • Luc 12y ago
    I feel kind of bad mentioning it since everyone's bound to pile on, but evolution is a readily observed fact (e.g. breeding of dogs), while it's natural selection that's the theory...
  • imescent 12y ago
    Because science isn't about generating indisputable facts. If that's what you're doing, what you're doing isn't science. The epitome of good science is a predictive and well-supported theory like evolution. Adding the word "just" implies a misunderstanding of how the scientific method works, because it doesn't get any better than a good theory.