McAteer 1 Adam McAteer Kate Kimball ENC 1101 15 November 2013 Evolved or Created?

For most of human histor man!ind has believed that throu"h some #rocess$ either rooted in su#ernatural #o%ers or #rocesses be ond our current com#rehension$ %e %ere created to live and thrive on this earth& 'n the 1(th Centur $ a man b the name of Charles )ar%in #ut for%ard a revolutionar alternative* that %e instead evolved accordin" to our environment$ and are no different from the animals around us besides a more develo#ed sense of consciousness& +he debate over %hich of these %orldvie%s is correct is one that ra"es to this da $ and man #eo#le feel that it is one that %ill never full be settle as creationism is a !e tenant in man #eo#le,s reli"ious identities& -e"ardless of individual beliefs thou"h$ it is societ ,s res#onsibilit to educate the oun"er "enerations in such a %a that the are best #re#ared for the %orld& Mainstream science and technolo" drive the %heel of #ro"ress for modern societ $ and both o#erate %ith evolution as an assumed belief& .ecause of the combination of these t%o facts$ there is onl one #ossible stor of human ori"ination that %e should teach in #ublic education* scientific evolution& +hose %ho disa"ree and ar"ue for the teachin" of creationism often use the ar"ument that evolution is sim#l a theor and not a #roven fact$ so %e should allo% e/#osure to alternative models of human ori"ination& 0hat man of these critics don,t understand is that evolution is a theor in the same %a that "ravit is a theor * somethin" that is assumed to be accurate$ but %ill be revised if evidence is found that su""ests the theor is %ron" in some

McAteer 2 fashion& 1ust as no one has found evidence that contradicts "ravit $ there has been no evidence found that directl contradicts biolo"ical evolution$ and the theor is as solid as an other that %e commonl refer to as 2scientific fact3& +o full understand the debate bet%een %hich ori"in stor to teach$ it is im#ortant to first understand each ori"in stor $ and the im#lications that the have for the %a %e vie% ourselves and teach our children& Evolution is the idea that s#ecies chan"e and evolve accordin" to the environment the live in$ and are al%a s ada#tin" to best ensure their s#ecies, survival& Creationism is the idea that some su#ernatural force or bein" created the diversit of life on Earth$ and that after creation there %as no chan"e or ada#tation in life& +here are a number of different s#ecific stories about the creation of life on Earth$ differin" %ith nearl ever reli"ious tradition$ but the ma4or characteristics are the same$ so in this essa the %ill be treated as a sin"le collective idea& From the ver outset of scientific #ro"ress$ humanit has stru""led to reconcile our e/#erimental findin"s %ith a richl develo#ed m tholo"ical histor & 5everal times over the course of histor $ there have been #eo#le %ho denied scientific findin"s in order to maintain the same vie% of the %orld as the "enerations before them& 0hile it is understandable to see! familiarit in inter#retin" the %orld$ the fact of the matter is that #ro"ress can onl come b %antin" to revise our #erce#tion %ith ever ne% discover in the effort to ma!e it as accurate a #erce#tion as #ossible& 5#ecificall %ith res#ect to the 6uestion of evolution$ %e must #ut for%ard the theor that can allo% for the "reatest #otential #ro"ress for humanit & 'n this case if %e,re ta!in" biolo"ical evolution and natural selection into account as fact$ %e can #roduce an entire chronolo"ical histor of all livin" thin"s on our #lanet$ includin" humans& +a!in" the

McAteer 3 creationist stance$ %e can sa little more than 2%e %ere created$3 and even that is %ithout a definite startin" date& +he #roblem then is that evolution allo%s for the continued #ro"ress in a number of fields7 #harmaceuticals$ for instance$ ta!e into account "ene evolution %hen desi"nin" dru"s in order to ma!e them more effective in the lon" run& Medicine$ as a %hole$ is affected b the research ans science behind evolution& ' believe in medicine and the #o%er of medicine and understand that it can have an immense im#act on humanit & 'f modern chemistr o#erated accordin" to the creationist idea thou"h$ this #rocess %ould #roduce dru"s that onl %or!ed for current viral strains$ and not the ones that %ill evolve as a conse6uence of continued #harmaceutical use& +his is 4ust an e/am#le in a sin"le field of %hat the conse6uences of teachin" a theor other than evolution in #ublic schools %ould be* a "eneration of scientists$ en"ineers$ and %orld leaders %ho are several ste#s behind %hat %e are alread accom#lishin" under the assum#tion of evolution& 't is im#ortant to ma!e the distinction that the ar"ument in the essa is that evolution is the best thin" to teach in #ublic schoolin" for the stor of human ori"ination$ and not that evolution is the correct stor for human ori"ination& ' believe that it is more effective and morall correct to teach truth in schools rather than s#eculation& +his a##lies to most as#ects of our lives$ %h not a##l it to our education s stem? +he fact of the matter is that mainstream science and develo#ment believe in evolution$ and so to become more 6ualified in these 4ob mar!ets 8%hich is %hat education,s #ur#ose is9 %e should teach the theor & +he teachin" of evolution also "ets rid of a some%hat mess hole that creationism %ould create if tau"ht in #ublic schools because it encoura"es an em#hasis on the un!no%n& +he creationist theor of human ori"ination relies on some sort of su#ernatural intervention 8be it Christian$ Muslim$ etc&9$

McAteer : %hich lies in direct contradiction to the 2se#aration of church and state&3 Critics often sa that onl teachin" evolution is the state claimin" su#remac over the church in the affairs of education$ and that it should be tau"ht as a 2#ossible e/#lanation$3 alon"side creationism& 0hile teachin" the theor of evolution does discredit the reli"ious ar"ument for some$ the institution of #ublic education is a matter of state from the start$ so to teach a theor that is one that the state subscribes to is not an unconstitutional act& Another do%nfall to teachin" creationism as an e/#lanation for human life is that it is essentiall 2closed off3 as a scientific theor & 0hat this means is that no scientific e/#eriment can be done to collect evidence that %ould dee#en our understandin" of creation due to the ver nature of the creationist ar"ument& 5ince our ince#tion %as divinel ins#ired$ and thus be ond the "ras# of humans$ %hat advances and findin"s could reall be made to revise the model of creation? 0hereas evolution is a constantl evolvin" theor that relies on a mountain of evidence from fossils$ anthro#olo"ists$ and historical biolo"ists$ creationism has remained the same theor 8differin" onl b the 2creation date3 and the bein" res#onsible for creation9 since it %as first formulated& 'f a ne% fossil %ere found of a creature that behaved in %a s %e currentl thin! im#ossible$ evolution %ould have to com#ensate and e/#lain the inconsistenc %ith the model$ but creationism can sim#l sa that it is another creature that %as created b a su#ernatural bein" and leave it at that& -e"ardless of %hich of these ideas is ri"ht$ one of them ins#ires humanit to continuall loo! at its surroundin"s in order to better understand the %orld around it$ %hile another leads onl to a !ind of contentment in the !no%led"e that 2%e could never !no%&3 +he "enerations of the future should not be encoura"ed to settle for dead ends in theories$ but should

McAteer 5 al%a s be tau"ht to better the %orld for the "ood of ever one& For these reason also$ #ublic education should teach evolution rather than creationism& 0hen discussin" the teachin" of evolution in #ublic schools$ it should be remembered in %hat class that the theor is tau"ht* science& 5#ecificall $ it is normall covered in a hi"h school biolo" course$ %hich is the student,s science course for the ear& +a!in" this into account$ it onl ma!es sense to teach the scientific a##roach to human life in a science class& 'f ou %ere to teach a math class a theor that %as 4ust to be assumed as truthful on faith rather than b ri"orous #roof$ ou %ould be fired in a heartbeat& +o su##ose that science teachers are the one e/ce#tion to this rule is ridiculous& -eli"ious inter#retations of human ori"ins are #erfectl valid thin"s to learn about$ even in #ublic education$ but in classes that are on reli"ion& +o #ass off the reli"ious theor of creationism as science sim#l because of its %ides#read #o#ularit in America is not onl doin" a disservice to our children$ but to the evolution of American education as %ell& 't is im#ortant that %e !ee# the science classrooms full of scientificall verified facts and not 4ust beliefs that are held b lar"e #ortions of the #o#ulation& 'n conclusion$ thou"h the debate continues to ra"e over %hat to teach students about the ori"ins of human life$ mainstream science #rovides us %ith a verifiable set of ideas that have been around for nearl 150 ears* evolution& Evolution #rovides an e/#lanation for the vast diversit of life on Earth$ is not contradictor to other scientific theories$ and can neatl sum u# the stor of human ori"ination& 't relies on no su#ernatural reasonin"$ and is entirel inde#endent of cultural u#brin"in"& +his allo%s for a "lobal consensus over the issue$ %hich #rovides a universal foundation for biolo" and other fields that are concerned %ith human ori"ins& 't also fits nicel %ithin the frame%or! that the rest of #ublic education falls %ithin* stressin" conce#ts

McAteer ; li!e e/#erimental accurac and em#iricism& 't allo%s fields li!e #harmaceutical develo#ment concernin" virus evolution and historical biolo" to continue to thrive as viable scientific studies rather than bein" seen as unnecessar endeavors&