Optimism in Evolution

From the New York Times Opinion Page
August 12, 2008
By OLIVIA JUDSON

When the dog days of summer come to an end, one thing we can be sure of is that the school year that follows will see more fights over the teaching of evolution and whether intelligent design, or even Biblical accounts of creation, have a place in America’s science classrooms.

In these arguments, evolution is treated as an abstract subject that deals with the age of the earth or how fish first flopped onto land. It’s discussed as though it were an optional, quaint and largely irrelevant part of biology. And a common consequence of the arguments is that evolution gets dropped from the curriculum entirely.

This is a travesty.

It is also dangerous.


Judson then discusses three reasons why evolution should be taught in science classes:

"First," she says, "it provides a powerful framework for investigating the world we live in. Without evolution, biology is merely a collection of disconnected facts, a set of descriptions."

I agree wholeheartedly. As noted biologst Theodosius Dobzhansky once said, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." Science is not just a matter of making observations. Its also a matter of trying to make sense of those observations by developing theories. Evolution by natural selection makes sense of biology. No other idea that does has ever been published.

Second, "... the subject is immediately relevant here and now. The impact we are having on the planet is causing other organisms to evolve — and fast. "

She's not just talking about bacteria and viruses developing resistance to drugs, either. Her examples include fish that are evolving to a smaller size because we are catching the large ones and bighorn rams that now grow smaller horns because of trophy hunting. These are just two of many examples she could have given.

"In short," she says, "evolution is far from being a remote and abstract subject. A failure to teach it may leave us unprepared for the challenges ahead." Chllenges like preserving endangered species and even maybe saving ourselves from disease or starvation.

Her third reason is more philosophical. "It concerns the development of an attitude toward evidence. In his book, 'The Republican War on Science,' the journalist Chris Mooney argues persuasively that a contempt for scientific evidence — or indeed, evidence of any kind — has permeated the Bush administration’s policies, from climate change to sex education, from drilling for oil to the war in Iraq. A dismissal of evolution is an integral part of this general attitude. "

She then continues with a fourth reason for studying evolution, her personal favorite: "But for me, the most important thing about studying evolution is something less tangible. It’s that the endeavor contains a profound optimism. It means that when we encounter something in nature that is complicated or mysterious, such as the flagellum of a bacteria or the light made by a firefly, we don’t have to shrug our shoulders in bewilderment.

"Instead, we can ask how it got to be that way. And if at first it seems so complicated that the evolutionary steps are hard to work out, we have an invitation to imagine, to play, to experiment and explore. To my mind, this only enhances the wonder."

Absolutely!

Science has been accused many times of taking the wonder and beauty out of nature. I disagree vehemently. Understanding something to whatever extent we can only makes it all the more wonderous.

Those who find something difficult to understand and just say "God did it." can learn no more. If God did it, then what else is there to learn? Can they question God to find out how and why He did it, and what else He is likely to do. If not, then it is an end of learning. From there on is only ignorance.

But those who understand evolution can -- at least in principle -- figure out how it happened and make valid predictions based on their knowledge. They can keep learning.

It was Jerry Gels, a science teacher at Lloyd Memorial High School in Erlanger, KY, who said, "It's imperative that my students understand the concept of evolution If they don't understand evolution, they're not going to be very successful in the realm of science. If they're ignorant of evolution, they're not going to be ready for college."

Darwin's thery of evolution by natural selection has been described many times as one of the most important concepts in the history of science. No, Darwin didn't get everything right. How could he? After all, he had never even heard of genetics; and only a few relevant fossils had been discovered in his time. Now we have many times more evidence, from many areas of science that didn't even exist in Darwin's time, and have integrated it to form a better theory. Not a new theory, but a revision and improvement of the original.

It is vital that evolution be taught in science classes everywhere. Omitting it leaves students ignorant of one of the simplest but most important things they should learn.