[SFRA-L] Science and Science Fiction

[Easterbrook, Neil]

Joan-

Hope you didn't think I was suggesting that evolution and creationism be given equal treatment, as in the former president's statement that "there are two sides to every issue." That's not my intent. My point is that placing systems of thot into direct contrast would be very useful to the citizens of the US. B/c religion seems generally "out of bounds" in high school curricula, and few students ever study science with any sort of rigor, most Americans don't know the difference between a scientific theory and a bit of religious speculation, hence they say things like "evolution is just a theory."

Science is radically incompatible with biblical literalism (or any sort of religious literalism), but 50% of Americans think our planet is between 6 and 11 thousand years old; almost 70% say the bible is literally true. In such cases, you get birthers, and not just because of the confirmation bias or Dunning-Kruger, but b/c our system of education has failed the public good. What I have in mind would be something like a class in the philosophy of science or epistemology, supplemented by a big dose of intro to logic.

--N

Neil Easterbrook
Professor
Department of English
TCU
TCU 297270
Fort Worth, TX 76129
office: 817-257-6251
fax: 817-257-6238
n.easterbrook at tcu.edu

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