From the article:
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Four Common Myths About Evolution
Evolution is poorly characterized by certain commonly used phrases. Properly
communicating how evolution works requires careful attention to language and
metaphor.
Charles Sullivan and Cameron Mcpherson Smith
Nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin published On The Origin of Species, the
theory of evolution is still widely misunderstood by the general public.
Evolution isn't a fringe theory, and it's not difficult to understand, yet
recent surveys reveal that roughly half of Americans believe that humans were
created in their present form 10,000 years ago (Brooks 2001, CBS 2004). The
same number reject the concept that humans developed from earlier species of
animals (National Science Board 2000).
But the evidence is clear that no species, including humans, simply "popped up."
Each life form has an evolutionary history, and those histories are intricately
intertwined. If we don't understand that complex evolution, we will make poor
decisions about our future and that of other species. Should we genetically
modify humans? How about our food crops? What effects will global warming have
on human biology? None of these questions, nor many others of immediate concern
to humanity, can be usefully addressed unless we understand the evolutionary
process.
In examining how evolution is portrayed in the mass media, we found many
problems; chief among them was the use of inaccurate expressions. In this
article we examine the commonly-used phrases "evolution is only a theory," "the
ladder of progress," "missing links," and "only the strong survive."
These expressions are misleading at best, and simply wrong at worst. Most of
these phrases have ancient roots, describing biology as it was understood
centuries ago. They lead to a distorted picture of what evolution is and how it
works.
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Read it at http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-05/evolution.html
J. Spaceman
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My email address (notreally@jspaceman.homelinux.org) is fake. Email sent to it
will only get caught in my spam tarpit.
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