Unintelligent Designs

I actually really honestly believe with the Krazy Kristians for once. Really. I can't believe it either.

Americans who question evolution are testing a new tactic in Ohio, arguing that schools should be required to discuss all controversial issues from creation to stem cell research and global warming.

In what critics on Wednesday called a new attempt to bring religion into the classroom, the Ohio State Board of Education will consider a proposal next week that would oblige schools to teach critical thinking in all subjects.

I noticed this article on Digby's blog, where blogger Poputonian referred to it witheringly as "lovely." I have to say, though it's obvious that these idiotic theocrats want to inject their silly, decidedly unscientific interpretation of Da Bible into our nation's classrooms, I dont' think the idea itself is so horrible.

I've been arguing on this blog for years about teaching "media literacy" to kids in school. All I really mean is "critical thinking" skills, the ability to look at information in context as a way to interpret it or judge its merit. We're all inundated by information constantly, particularly corporate media. I recently got into a conversation/argument with an old college friend on this very issue. I argued that everything we do in America today, every action we take, interfaces in some way with a corporation or corporate product. I think I'm right.

He offered having a bowel movement as something he does, on his own, independantly of corporate interference. While it's a bit gross, I went ahead with the thought experiment - the food he's, erm, "passing" was more than likely mass produced. My friend's not a vegan who only eats organic pesticide-free vegetables or anything. He'd been drinking domestic beer and eating, like, hot dogs and burgers all day.

You see my point. But people get lazy about paying attention to this stuff on a day-to-day level. We assume we hear things through the grapevine because they are true or because they represent what other random people without agendas think. I get customers in the store all the time asking me what movies to trent. Sometimes, they'll ask me what I personally liked, but just as often, they will say: "What's supposed to be good?" It's this whole notion of buzz...But where does that buzz come from? Movie magazines! Studio advertising! Websites paid for exclusively via movie advertisements!

I think we'd have a much calmer, saner populace that made more informed, measured decisions if only people understood how 21st Century communication technology functions and how information can be disseminated to the masses. And why anyone would have reason to do so. All of these ridiculous memes are just floating around out there - from "there's no such thing as global warming" to "socialized medicine doesn't work" to "unions are all corrupt and evil" to Iran poses an immediate threat to our national security" to "racial profiling works" - and they have no relation to reality. People just hear them and think, yeah, that must be right!

So, anyway, back to this article. The Krazy Kristians want to teach critical thinking skills, which works out really really poorly for them in the long run. It would, if taught correctly, encourage kids to consider the sources of information. So, let's take, just as an example, the evolution "debate." Entire world scientific community on the one hand, Krazy Kristians on the other. Guess what, guys? You lose that argument!

I don't think they really want kids to learn critical thinking skills at school. Let's face it, they want them to believe in Noah's Ark and dinosaurs living alongside human beings. Critical thinking skills are the last thing you want to foster. More like "continual drinking" skills. That would be helpful.

John West, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design, said the proposed new policy was "good pedagogy and good for students" because it would teach them how to sift and analyze evidence."

Students don't like to be told that there are some questions they don't have the right to raise."

Is this guy insane? Unless every teacher promises to teach this "class" with a strong pro-Bible bias, how will these kids come up with the conclusion that there's no evolution? Kids are kind of dumb, but they're not that dumb.

I get it, I get it, I really do. This will in an underhanded way force teachers to mention Creationism. Because how can you bring up this point, that you should analyze where the message comes from, without mentioning that there is this entirely alternative message that comes from a different source. That's just...say it with me now...strong cirtical thinking skills and media literacy.

But I still think it's the wrong approach if you want to teach kids that evolution is wrong. You don't want to encourage them to actually weigh evidence, you want to teach them to ignore evidence when it suits them. That's why I think it would be better to force kids to write essays about topics they know are wrong. See if they can contruct arguments for obvious crap by leaving out all the contradictory sources.

Kind of like a reverse book report. Like, "Johnny, I want you to discuss how Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird argues strongly for harsher punishments on black men convicted of touching white women. Be sure to include examples from the book that reflect Atticus Finch's deep-seated racism and justify the community's prejudce towards Boo Radley. Try to bring in other, like-minded examples, like Uncle Tom's Cabin and the works of Richard Wright."

"In 1984, George Orwell subverts expectations by telling the story entirely from the perspective of the heroic Big Brother, nobly sniffing out opposition and quashing it so as not to disrupt the peaceful serenity of day-to-day urban life. Support this contention using examples and quotations from the text."

"Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States introduced a new kind of American historiography. Finally, the perspective of rich white men was taken into account, with their particular struggles highlighted for the first time. Describe Zinn's depiction of hapless, put-upon whites, paying particular attention to the role of reverse-racism in keeping the Cracker Man down."

Write a couple of those papers, then you're ready to defend Creationism against all comers!