Comments on: You Don’t Have to Believe in Evolution

By: Paulie

Paulie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:45:37 +0000

My wife is an infectious disease doc, and she sees evolution at work in resistant bugs all the time. But that is not really the hardest problem she has to solve. The risky behaviours of her patients are relatively insoluble. People don’t want to change their ways.

By: Stephan

Stephan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:04:53 +0000

Adam,

Well I certainly hope things have changed. My high school evolution education was literally about the fossil record and a few moths. I think hands-on natural selection experiments on microorganisms would be a good addition to the classroom. The utility of actually seeing evolution was my main point.

By: Richard Nikoley

Richard Nikoley — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:04:16 +0000

Steve:

I'm using it in a very general, wide integration sense. I meant to say universe, as I've meant when I've used it for 15-20 years.

Adam. Fair enough. I wonder how things differ between your experience and those of, say, people in, say, the southern US.

Naomi: nope. I think it's far more important to eat real food, in good variety and your sensitivity to salt adjusts real quick anyway (I cannot take salted butter anymore, for example). Sometimes I salt stuff, often no. I like to use a lot of hot spices like peppers, curries and so forth, and I find adding salt quite pointless in that instance. Eggs? Gotta have some salt & pepper.

I'm not up on acid-base balance, though I was on prescription for acid reflux for years and years and now am off, now with only the occasional heartburn discomfort.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:53:13 +0000

Richard, I'm wondering- do you pay any special attention to your salt intake or acid-base balance?

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:52:53 +0000

"American teachers have been tying their hands with the same wimpy anecdotes for decades"
I am not sure when the last time Stephan was in a high school classroom but I am in one every day and the vast majority of biology teachers are very current on their examples of evolution. We have been talking to students about antibiotic resistance (caused by rapid evolution) for years.
This kind of post that Stephan has produced is just as bad as what the mainstream media (man’s selective pressure) does on a daily basis. Using statements like, “Evolution is not just about the fossil record and a few moths somewhere…” is a typical media tactic where they use a common piece of information and make it sound irrelevant or even infantile. If a student has never actually seen evolution take place then the peppered moth example is simple, obvious and poignant.
We often feel the need to share what we feel is important, but lets try to be fair and as accurate as possible.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:37:24 +0000

…the universe is heliocentric and not geocentric…

I'm guessing you meant solar system.