Correcting Misperceptions About Evolution

Beagle writes "The science of evolution is often misunderstood by the public and a session at the recent AAAS meeting in Boston covered three frequently misapprehended topics in evolutionary history, the Cambrian explosion, origin of tetrapods, and evolution of human ancestors, as well as the origin of life. The final speaker, Martin Storksdieck of the Institute for Learning Innovation, covered how to communicate the data to a public that 'has such a hard time accepting what science is discovering.' His view: 'while most of the attention has focused on childhood education, we really should be going after the parents. Everyone is a lifelong learner, Storksdieck said, but once people leave school, that learning becomes a voluntary matter that's largely driven by individual taste.'"

Comments

Re:Define "Alive"

[Snakefoot]

I realize most prefer to not "waste" mod points on AC posts, but the parent truly deserves a +10 Insightful. I just wish he/she/it had posted under a real /. login name. When I read, "There are self-replicating objects that do not seem to be alive, but they do grow and expand to fill their niche," I immediately thought of crystals. And although a much-hackneyed argument, the questions about when a human "product of conception" receives a soul, and how far removed from the human genome a primate must be to not have a soul, reminded me of why I abandoned religion in favor of reason, rational thought, and skepticism. Bravo, AC. You made my day.