Welcome to Evolutionary Biology
(840:142)
• http://faculty.cns.uni.edu/~spradlin/evolution
/home.html
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So.
You thought it sounded like a good
idea to take an “evolution” class.
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A pretty significant portion of the public thinks
you are wasting your time…
Public Acceptance of Evolution, Miller, Scott, Okamoto, Science 11 August 2006
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Acceptance of Evolutionary Theory by
Country
3 Statistically important
reasons for differences in
views of Americans and
Europeans:
•Religion
•Frontier history (not
university based) for
churches
•Education
•Fewer than half of
American adults can
provide a minimal
definition of DNA.
•Politics
•"I have no chimpanzees
in my family”, Ronald
Reagan
Adults were asked
to respond to the
statement:
"Human beings, as
we know them,
developed from
earlier species of
animals." The
percentage of
respondents who
believed this to be
true is marked in
blue; those who
believed it to be
false, in red; and
those who were
not sure, in yellow.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060810-evolution.html
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1980’s
• Arkansas and Louisiana “Balanced Treatment”
laws
– Teach neither or Teach both—Other states local action (e.g., Jen in KS)
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Fig. 2-1 in Freeman
and Herron
= “YEC”
•2005 Gallup poll: 53%
of Americans agree:
“God created human
beings in their present
form exactly the way
the Bible describes it”
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Creationism is not one point of view,
it is many
• Different cultures have different creation stories
• There are many “degrees” of creationism (i.e.,
levels of acceptance of science) even within
Christianity
Geological evidence (pre-Darwinian)
Good references:
•Eugenie Scott, National Center for Science Education
•Ronald Numbers, The Creationists, UW-Madison
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“Balanced Treatment”
• Struck down by Supreme Court in 1987
– Whose creation story do you teach?
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1990’s -- 2000’s
• Balanced Treatment
• “Teach the controversy”
Cobb County, Georgia Textbook Disclaimer, 2002
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Another Suggested Textbook
Disclaimer 
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Teach the “Controversy”
in Evolution?
• No controversy among biologists on big picture:
–
–
–
–
Genetic change occurs over time in populations
Genetic change can lead to speciation
Genetic change can lead to adaptation
Organisms alive today are related to each other and to
organisms alive previously
• Controversy lies in the details…
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“Teaching the Controversy”
• Intelligent design—The theory of intelligent
design holds that certain features of the universe
and of living things are best explained by an
intelligent cause, not an undirected process such
as natural selection. (http://www.intelligentdesign.org/)
• In other words, looking for signs of a creator in
nature. (Paley, Natural Theology, Watchmaker, 1802).
• Federal court ruled unlawful to promote ID in
public classroom (Kitzmiller v. Dover School District,
2005). (Teach science in the science classroom).
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The Separation of Church
and State Science
• Science  deals with the natural
• Religion  deals with the supernatural
• Gould described science and religion as
“Nonoverlapping Magisteria”
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Scala Naturae
Middle Ages
no separation between “natural and supernatural”
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Today, scientists don’t get to invoke God in our
explanations of nature…
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Naturalism (2 flavors):
• Methodological vs. Philosophical Naturalism
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Naturalism
• e.g., AIDS 1981, HIV 1984
– Non-scientific point of view (can invoke supernatural)
– Philosophical Naturalists’ view
– Methodological Naturalist’s view
"AIDS is not just God's punishment for
homosexuals, it is God's punishment for the
society that tolerates homosexuals."
Jerry Falwell, 1933-2007
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Naturalism
• Assignment
• Grad students’ assignments
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Summary
• “Balanced Treatment” is unconstitutional:
– Whose creation story do you teach? = religion
• “Teach the Controversy” is nonsense:
– There isn’t a controversy
– ID involves supernaturalism, so isn’t science
• Naturalism is important in science:
– Can be methodological naturalism
– Can be philosophical naturalism
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