{"id":363,"date":"2007-12-31T13:50:25","date_gmt":"2007-12-31T17:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=363"},"modified":"2008-08-05T20:23:28","modified_gmt":"2008-08-06T00:23:28","slug":"has-it-hit-you-where-you-live-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=363","title":{"rendered":"Has it hit you where you live yet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The battle over evolution continues at a fierce pace, as we discover in the Palm Beach Post today<\/a>. Three new counties are now added to our watchlist<\/a>: St Lucie, Palm Beach, and Martin. However, we need to keep our eyes on the ball. The real fight that we must concentrate our energy on is at the state level.<\/p>\n

There are a number of good quotes in that story, though:<\/p>\n

The current standards, which are used as the basis for school curricula and standardized testing, refer only to biological “changes over time.”<\/p>\n

That’s not enough, said Mary Jane Tappen, executive director of the state Office of Mathematics and Science.<\/p>\n

“If you look in any biology textbook, you’ll see a chapter or more on the theory of evolution,” Tappen said. “There is a disconnect here. If we really want to be clear, the accurate terminology should be part of our standards.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

[Middle School science teacher Gerard] O’Donnell said evolution is essential to many aspects of what he teaches and he never has heard a complaint from a parent.<\/p>\n

” ‘Why does mom have brown hair and I have blond hair?’ ” O’Donnell said. ” ‘Why does a giraffe have a long neck?’ “These are questions that are begging to have answers for.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“There has been the growing realization that our Florida graduates are not competing with students in just … Atlanta or New York,” said Jim Warford, executive director of the Florida Association of School Administrators and former state public schools chancellor. “They’re competing with students around the world.”<\/p>\n

The decisions about what is good science should be left to the scientific community, Warford said.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

Intelligent design has not gone through the rigorous testing and scientific criticism to warrant time in science classrooms, he [Wesley Elsberry, a marine biologist and Michigan State University researcher studying the evolution of intelligent behavior] said.<\/p>\n

“This is not something that is accountable,” Elsberry said. “Our students, in their limited time in a science class, they need to receive the information that has received scrutiny through the scientific process.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On that news story page is a sidebar on the left that says “Know your theories” and goes on to very briefly describe evolution and intelligent design. That prompted me to write the following e-mail to the story author:<\/p>\n

Mr. Jordan,<\/p>\n

First of all, I want to express my gratitude for the work you put into today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Evolution furor flares on Florida science proposals.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious that you and Niels Heimeriks put a lot of time and effort into the story. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great to see where various education decision makers stand on this issue, and all the people you interviewed added quite a bit of depth to the piece.<\/p>\n

However, there is one issue in the story that is important to address. There is an error in fact in the story, specifically in the sidebar that briefly explains evolution and intelligent design. The word theory has a definition in science that is far removed from the word\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commonly used meaning. Most people use the word theory to refer to their best guess or idea. Someone might have a theory as what horse is going to win a race. However, in science a theory means something much more concrete. A theory is an explanation for a set of facts, observations, and evidence. That theory undergoes rigorous testing and experimentation. Once it withstands the test of time and testing, it accumulates the weight of the consensus of the scientific community. Essentially, a scientific theory is the furthest thing from a guess, idea, or hunch.<\/p>\n

Evolution is a scientific theory. I welcome you to call Dr. Elsberry again in order to discuss this point. Even though he is no longer living in Florida, he still has ties here and he is an active member of my organization, Florida Citizens for Science, via e-mails and phone calls. On the other hand, intelligent design is not a scientific theory. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even a viable hypothesis. It has virtually zero acceptance or even interest in the scientific community, let alone a consensus, especially among scientists who use knowledge of evolution in their day-to-day work. Beside Dr. Elsberry, I also invite you to call up any major university here in Florida and discuss the matter with working scientists in their life sciences departments. Furthermore, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure biotech companies like Scripps also would have scientists working there who work with an understanding of evolution every day.<\/p>\n

The reason I am devoting so much of this letter to the definition of theory and what is and isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a theory is that such confusion over the term fuels the fire in this public and political debate. There is no debate in the scientific community over the viability of evolutionary theory. But there is a huge debate in the public and political spheres. A lot of it has to do with lack of scientific knowledge among citizens and decision makers. To call evolution \u00e2\u20ac\u0153just a theory\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a gross mischaracterization of science. And to elevate intelligent design to the same theory status of evolution is quite simply an error in fact.<\/p>\n

This is not my personal opinion, and I encourage you to verify what I have written here by talking to those who would know: the scientists. I believe that a correction needs to be printed to clarify this important matter.<\/p>\n

If there is anything else my organization or I can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact us.<\/p>\n

Brandon Haught
\nFlorida Citizens for Science
\nBoard Member \/ Communication Director<\/p>\n

[post edited to add the following]<\/p>\n

I heard back from the reporter. He had spoken with his editor about my letter and decided that a correction was not in order. However, I agree with their reasoning, part of which was that a correction would barely be noticed. They instead suggested that I chop down my above e-mail into a 250-word letter to the editor. I have now done so and shipped it off just a few minutes ago. Furthermore, they suggested that I correspond with the newspaper’s ombudsman. I have also done that and will await a response.<\/p>\n

Here is my shortened letter to the editor:<\/p>\n

Re: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Evolution furor flares on Florida science proposals\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Dec. 31, 2007. Mr. Jordan and Mr. Heimeriks did a wonderful job on this in-depth story.\u00c2\u00a0 However, there is an error in fact in the story, specifically in the sidebar that briefly explains evolution and intelligent design. The word theory has a definition in science that is far removed from its commonly used meaning. Most people use the word theory to refer to their best guess or idea. Someone might have a theory as what horse is going to win a race. However, in science a theory means something much more concrete. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an explanation for a set of facts, observations, and evidence. That theory undergoes rigorous testing and experimentation. Once it withstands the test of time and testing, it accumulates the weight of the consensus of the scientific community.<\/p>\n

Evolution is a scientific theory. On the other hand, intelligent design is not a scientific theory. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even a viable hypothesis. It has virtually zero acceptance or even interest in the scientific community, let alone a consensus. I invite you to call any major university here in Florida and discuss the matter with working scientists in the life sciences departments. Furthermore, biotech companies like Scripps also have working scientists whose work is based on an understanding of evolution every day.<\/p>\n

To call evolution \u00e2\u20ac\u0153just a theory\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a gross mischaracterization of science. And to elevate intelligent design to the same theory status of evolution is quite simply an error in fact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The battle over evolution continues at a fierce pace, as we discover in the Palm Beach Post today. Three new counties are now added to our watchlist: St Lucie, Palm Beach, and Martin. However, we need to keep our eyes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6,3,7],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-5R","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":349,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=349","url_meta":{"origin":363,"position":0},"title":"Evolution: it’s on the test. Someone should tell the school board members!","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Northwest Florida Daily News published a story about evolution in the new draft of the state science standards. (Make sure to click through all three pages of it.) There are a lot of positive, reasonable quotes in the story, such as: Evolution is already tested on the ACT and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "In the News"","block_context":{"text":"In the News","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":375,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=375","url_meta":{"origin":363,"position":1},"title":"New newspaper blog jumps in","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The St. Petersburg education blog, The Gradebook, has been tracking the state science standards story in a very dedicated way. Now the Palm Beach Post adds their voice to the blog world with their own education blog, Extra Credit. The writers promise to be all over the science standards story,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Analysis\/Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Analysis\/Commentary","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":302,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=302","url_meta":{"origin":363,"position":2},"title":"Orlando Sentinel: Let there be light","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"October 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Columnist Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel writes in today's paper that evolution is getting quite a bit of support in the draft science standards. We are moving toward intelligently designed science curriculum in public schools. And by that I mean we are leaving intelligent design out of classrooms. By\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Analysis\/Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Analysis\/Commentary","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":369,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=369","url_meta":{"origin":363,"position":3},"title":"8-0","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"So far, eight Florida daily newspapers have written editorials in support of evolution. None have supported \"alternatives.\" Either the reality of the situation is that obvious, or it's just a liberal media conspiracy. I'll take reality. Here's the eighth editorial, which appeared today in the Palm Beach Post. Evolution is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Analysis\/Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Analysis\/Commentary","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1747,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1747","url_meta":{"origin":363,"position":4},"title":"Science, Still Florida’s Red Headed Step Child?","author":"Jonathan Smith","date":"November 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, The Consortium of Florida Education Foundation,gathered for a regional session to focus on what businesses and industry leaders say they need in future workers and how the education system is changing to meet those needs. The meeting focused on\u00c2\u00a0\"The new Common Core Curriculum\" which\u00c2\u00a0will align with national standards designed\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":378,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=378","url_meta":{"origin":363,"position":5},"title":"Miramar: the morning after","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"OK, so we got one nasty shocker out of the way last night when the Associated Press clued us in to Taylor County's anti-evolution resolution. Let's move on to see what's in store for us the day after the final public meeting about the new draft of the state science\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "In the News"","block_context":{"text":"In the News","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}