ID not OK in UK 26 Jun 2007 The Register is reporting that the UK government has ruled that intelligent design is not acceptable in science classes. [via Slashdot] Evolution General Science Politics Social evolution
General Science Ah, look at all the lonely planets 19 May 2011 Epsilon Cygni Picked up a spin from a passing hot Jove Expelled from its star Wanders the galaxy Cooling its surface to 273 below Floats very far All the lonely planets Where do they all come from? All the lonely planets Where do they all belong? Ahhh, look at all… Read More
Social evolution We are natural villagers 20 Jul 2009 We are natural villagers. For most of mankind’s history we have lived in very small communities in which we knew everybody and everybody knew us. But gradually there grew to be far too many of us, and our communities became too large and disparate for us to be able to… Read More
History On the decline of the humanities 11 Apr 2008 I’ve been pretty preoccupied this week with lectures and meetings, so this is my first post for a bit. Yesterday I attended a meeting at my university which pretty well aimed to wind up the disciplines of my school (history, philosophy, religion and classics) and present a single school with… Read More
It’s not just the UK that is not seduced by the hokum of ID or creationism; the Council of Europe has a strong document saying that creationism is dangerous in education: http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/documents/workingdocs/doc07/edoc11297.htm Although the Christian creationism movement looks strong in the US (and possibly Australia too), I think Americans often don’t understand how little impact it has had in post-Reformation Europe; people just don’t buy it and don’t buy literalist worship of the Bible. The Council of Europe document recognises the dangers inherent in letting Islamic creationism take root too. In the UK, Islamic “faith schools” are a worrying trend in promoting irrationality. We need to be vigilant, but we don’t need to be paranoid!
The British are unique in their irrationality. The same people who can be so sensible about things like evolution can still go gaga over reported ghost sightings.
“In their rationality, all nations are alike. In their irrationality, all nations are unique.” Comment.
“In their rationality, all nations are alike. In their irrationality, all nations are unique.” Comment.
….The same people who can be so sensible about things like evolution can still go gaga over reported ghost sightings. Posted by: Alan Kellogg It’s simple really; we know the difference between science and religion plus we love a mystery.
….The same people who can be so sensible about things like evolution can still go gaga over reported ghost sightings. Posted by: Alan Kellogg It’s simple really; we know the difference between science and religion plus we love a mystery.
I would imagine that in Europe Islamic creationism, as part of a trend towards the isolation and Islamistization of European Muslims must be a prime concern, and that by giving Creationism as a general claim the boot from schools, they tidily get rid of a few local loons, as well as justifying putting a stop to a much more troubling trend. But don’t for a moment forget that there is a small but often vocal English ultraconservative community which isn’t all that different from the sort to be found in the US. They have tacit allies among the more mainstream British conservatives, who now seem on a quest to undermine British public education. The Telegraph’s editorial section usually has one of these types at least once a week.