True test of faith.THE purpose of education is to teach people to think. In practical terms, this means equipping e·quip tr.v. e·quipped, e·quip·ping, e·quips 1. a. To supply with necessities such as tools or provisions. b. them with the intellectual tools to survive and make a living in a tough world. The main intellectual tool we should give to children is the desire to ask: Why? Curiosity may have killed the cat but it is the defining quality of the human mind. Good schools, having fired that innate curiosity, provide children with a workbench upon which to test the theories of knowledge. I say theories, because all knowledge is theoretical. That there are no 'facts', only hypotheses. Perhaps it isn't surprising that a recent Mori survey 973 Britons showed that 54% of them felt that creationism creationism or creation science, belief in the biblical account of the creation of the world as described in Genesis, a characteristic especially of fundamentalist Protestantism (see fundamentalism). and intelligent design should be taught in science lessons. It isn't surprising, but it's profoundly depressing - a disconcerting dis·con·cert tr.v. dis·con·cert·ed, dis·con·cert·ing, dis·con·certs 1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass. 2. plunge back into the Dark Ages. One might as well argue that the Moon is made of green cheese - which I did, in this column, without a murmur murmur /mur·mur/ (mur´mer) [L.] an auscultatory sound, particularly a periodic sound of short duration of cardiac or vascular origin. anemic murmur a cardiac murmur heard in anemia. of dissent An explicit disagreement by one or more judges with the decision of the majority on a case before them. A dissent is often accompanied by a written dissenting opinion, and the terms dissent and dissenting opinion are used interchangeably. , last April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day First day of April, named for the custom of playing practical jokes on that date. Though it has been observed for centuries in several countries, including France and Britain, its origin is unknown. but one, incidentally. The idea that creation came about through glorious chance, and that evolution explains everything from fossils to our genetic structure, is unprovable. The idea that the cosmos came into being at the direct command of a supreme being is also unprovable. But the former lends itself to endless experiment. The latter does not. It is a matter of faith, of opinion. It can't be tested. That is why creationism and intelligent design has no place in a science lab. CAPTION(S): * TRIED AND TESTED: A school science lab |
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