Quotations, Memes, and Jokes - Evolution Disclaimer Stickers

[jack]

Evolution disclaimer stickers

Apparently some american states put disclaimer stickers on textbooks mentioning evolution. This is someone's interpretation. I found many amusing, most especially the last one.

I should warn that some of the stickers are ruder about some of my friends' beliefs than I would put on a public textbook, but the stickering system settled on seems such a bad compromise that I felt justified in posting this. But I will try not to argue about religion, or politics.

Comments

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

Actually I think the first one (the genuine sticker) is far more offencive than most of the others. But that's just me.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

And I failed in my resolution after the first post. Oh well. Yes, I too find the genuine sticker bad, but it seems plausible that it's born of misunderstanding, or botched compromise, as opposed to the deliberate sleaze attack based on a misreprentation of the word 'theory'.

Actually, I don't disagree with the content sticker at all. Many similar disclaimers say 'just' a theory, which I do disagree with most strongly, as I find the evidence for evolution as convincing as it would be possible to be. But IMHO all things should be approached with an open mind and treated as a theory.

What I do find very objectionable is that evolution is singled out: these stickers aren't put on every fact, giving the impression that evolution is a lot less proven, and deliberately using 'theory' omitting any explanation of what it means in a scientific context, which is a lie when talking to children, not scientists.

However, in responding to this, I worried that some others cross a line. For instance, "many people believe that myths.. are fictional" when refering to god -- as a parody of the original it works whether you think god is a myth or not, but it also reads as a suggesting that God is a myth, which while I believe, I wouldn't want to joke about with non-close-friends :)

And *some* of my friends belive the earth is c. 6000 years old, which we find difficult to discuss calmly, which posting a sticker saying "Scientists rejected a supernatural explanation for life in the 1800s, and still do today" might not help.

For myself, I'd try to word a disclaimer based entirely on facts, explaining what 'most scientists' thought both professionally and personally, and mentioning that all scientific theories admit they may be superceded, though evolution is no more shakey than anything else we can't observe directly, and that . But I think that this (1) isn't neutral enough yet -- I don't think the authors of the original would be happy with it and it still show's my bias (2) doesn't tackle the main problem, that many people think the evidence against evolution is conclusive -- we'd really need a good summary of both arguments on a factual, as well as 'but god could make it look like that' level, which'd be unweidly.

Oops. This subject appears to be a hot button with me.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

*chuckles and is intensely amused* I might have to print them out and stick them on things...