It probably doesn't help much that virtually all scientists don't know how
either.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: psci-com: on public engagement with science
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alexander Hellemans
> Sent: 19 September 2008 02:33
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] Royal Society in the news
>
> I think the basic problem is that a majority of the public
> doesn't know how to distinguish science from non-science or
> faith-based doctrines.
> Post-modern approaches to explaining what science is
> (relativism) have helped this situation to occur and Alan
> Sokal was right to stir up things.
>
> Alexander Hellemans
> On Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:07:28 +0100, "Ian Russell"
> <[log in to unmask]> said:
> > Discussion of the rights and wrongs of his resignation
> needs to stay
> > focused on what Prof. Michael Reiss actually said or intended. It
> > seems to me that a key sentence in his written abstract
> > http://www1.the-ba.net/bafos/press/showtalk2.asp?TalkID=301 is:
> >
> > "I argue that a belief in creationism is better understood not as a
> > scientific misconception that can be ... corrected by the
> presentation
> > of evidence but as an alternative worldview that is much more
> > resistant to change."
> >
> > I regularly give talks about the problems of anti-evolution
> > campaigning to church groups and his suggestion entirely matches my
> > experience.
> > Obviously,
> > anti-evolutionism is a scientific misconception. He's not
> denying it.
> > But the proposition here - and certainly my experience - is that
> > misconceptions based on religious prejudice are seldom corrected by
> > the mere, cold-blooded presentation of scientific evidence.
> Presenting
> > the evidence is crucial and central, but simply not enough
> on its own.
> >
> > Before effective communication can begin, it is necessary
> to connect.
> > With
> > people. With prejudices. In this way I personally see many, many
> > sensitive victims of anti-evolution propaganda quietly come to an
> > acceptance of evolution. Whatever hardline Darwinian
> 'bulldog' the RS
> > now prefers to appoint, I predict she or he will achieve poorer
> > results with this important target group. And this affair
> has already
> > made my own communication work just that little bit harder.
> >
> > [log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
> > *
> > Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
> > Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
> > *
> > Ian Russell
> >
> >
> >
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