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Turkey Will Stop Teaching Evolution in Secondary Schools

DavidFirth

Well-Known Member

Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I actually like the idea. The entire TOE is just a theory. Until the entire TOE can be shown to be true it should not be taught as truth like it is in the USA.

It's a model/theory and should always be presented as such, similar to relativity and other similar topics (quantum mechanics, etc.). That means it is a model for a behavior, but not the behavior itself - that's to say it seems right, but deviation should be possible. DNA doesn't really make it past 10,000 years, so that is the largest problem in proving "evolution". Then there is the runner up problem - very little modern day examples of this happening in front of our eyes.

Anyway, I'm on board as long as it stuff we can prove (DNA) if it's anything else it's speculation... Right now things are taxonomically grouped based primarily on APPEARANCE. That's not science, that's just guessing. :D
 

Nietzsche

The Last Prussian
Premium Member
Anyway, I'm on board as long as it stuff we can prove (DNA) if it's anything else it's speculation... Right now things are taxonomically grouped based primarily on APPEARANCE. That's not science, that's just guessing. :D
Taxonomical grouping is literally a historical relic. We keep it out of inertia and, well, a new system would be extremely difficult to make universal, time-consuming, and only mildly more effective.

It's a model/theory and should always be presented as such, similar to relativity and other similar topics (quantum mechanics, etc.). That means it is a model for a behavior, but not the behavior itself - that's to say it seems right, but deviation should be possible. DNA doesn't really make it past 10,000 years, so that is the largest problem in proving "evolution". Then there is the runner up problem - very little modern day examples of this happening in front of our eyes.
Tell me. What would be the point of this? What would be gained other than giving creationist drivel and their legions of morons a false feeling of victory?
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
I actually like the idea. The entire TOE is just a theory. Until the entire TOE can be shown to be true it should not be taught as truth like it is in the USA.

Wait...so...you think something should be proven fact before it's taught in a science class????
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Turkey will stop teaching evolution in schools, education ministry says

Turkish schools to stop teaching evolution, official says

Turkey is apparently trying to challenge home-schooling for the lowest standard of education. Please discuss.

Their justification seems rather odd:

“We have excluded controversial subjects for students at an age unable yet to understand the issues’ scientific background,” Mr Durmus said.

“As the students at ninth grade are not endowed with antecedents to discuss the ‘Origin of Life and Evolution’ section in biology classes, this section will be delayed until undergraduate study.”

They're saying it's too controversial and that the students are too young to understand it. But I don't see anything wrong with teaching it on a basic and elementary level - something easier for younger students to understand, while the more advanced concepts and complexities can be studied at the higher levels of education.

But the article also suggests that this was done under pressure from religious groups. I never could understand why they can't just accept the science of evolution and simply say "God did it." Even if someone believes that God created everything, why does studying this "creation" be such a problem for those who believe?

If we assume that God created the land masses of the Earth, would drawing a map of those land masses somehow "taint" the Creation?
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
I actually like the idea. The entire TOE is just a theory. Until the entire TOE can be shown to be true it should not be taught as truth like it is in the USA.

Scientific theories aren't "just a theory", and it has shown to be true.

"A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world." - Scientific theory - Wikipedia
 

The Holy Bottom Burp

Active Member
Deeply depressing stuff, puts in me in mind of the Islamic revolution in Iran, once a secular country also. Books were burned, academics were attacked and abused. This is what happens when the men in frocks get a sniff of power and influence in society. I hope this passes, and the Turkish intelligentsia send the men in frocks back to where they belong - preaching their backward drivel inside mosques, not making rulings on what happens in the real world.
 

The Emperor of Mankind

Currently the galaxy's spookiest paraplegic
Deeply depressing stuff, puts in me in mind of the Islamic revolution in Iran, once a secular country also. Books were burned, academics were attacked and abused. This is what happens when the men in frocks get a sniff of power and influence in society. I hope this passes, and the Turkish intelligentsia send the men in frocks back to where they belong - preaching their backward drivel inside mosques, not making rulings on what happens in the real world.

It's a good thing Turkey won't be getting into the EU any time soon. The last thing we need is a Trojan horse of regressive barbarians worming their way into Europe.
 

Terese

Mangalam Pundarikakshah
Staff member
Premium Member
We aren't discussing those. When a country says they can't be taught I'll discuss them with you.
But they are both "theories". The reason he is mentioning them is because they are also considered theories just as much as the theory of evolution. And to clarify this situation, a scientific theory is different from the average definition of theory.
 

DavidFirth

Well-Known Member
But they are both "theories". The reason he is mentioning them is because they are also considered theories just as much as the theory of evolution. And to clarify this situation, a scientific theory is different from the average definition of theory.

I changed my post.

Turkey has elected to teach Creation theory as truth rather than teach evolution while in the US evolution is taught as truth while Creation theory isn't taught at all.

I prefer Turkey's way.
 

The Holy Bottom Burp

Active Member
It's a good thing Turkey won't be getting into the EU any time soon. The last thing we need is a Trojan horse of regressive barbarians worming their way into Europe.
Dunno if it is a good thing or bad thing mate, the more isolated a country becomes and the less exposure the natives get to other cultures, the more there is scope for theocrats to take over. Cultural diversity makes it harder for one religion to take hold and dominate.
 
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