R
rdean
Guest
How have anti-evolution tactics evolved over time? They’ve gotten sneakier.
Phylogenetic analysis is a huge part of understanding evolution. These analyses are how we get the family trees that show us how different species descended from a common ancestor. Scientists use the DNA and physical traits of different living (and extinct!) things to figure out where they intersect, spinning the web that connects everything on the planet back to our single-celled ancestors.
For his latest study, Matzke swapped out genomes and morphological traits with text from legislative proposals designed to keep evolution out of schools and let creationism in. While creationism has taken on many pseudoscientific overtones to sneak its way into public schools, the school of thought is purely religious in motivation. The efforts to push creationism as a valid alternative to evolutionary biology can be traced back almost a century, when teaching evolution was banned, but Matzke analyzed only the 65 bills proposed in the past decade.
Many of these bills are basically copied from one state to another, making it easy to analyze the slow shifts in language and tactics.
"They are not terribly intelligently designed," he said in a statement.
98 percent of scientists connected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science say they believe that humans evolved over time, only 66 percent of Americans surveyed by Pew believe that science has reached a consensus on the issue. Nearly a third of Americans reject evolution entirely, and around half of those who accept it as good science still believe that a higher power played a part in the process.
Debunking the myth that evolution can’t explain eyeballs
Whoops! A creationist museum supporter stumbled upon a major fossil find.
Newly discovered fossil could prove a problem for creationists
New study reaffirms the link between conservative religious faith and climate change doubt
Phylogenetic analysis is a huge part of understanding evolution. These analyses are how we get the family trees that show us how different species descended from a common ancestor. Scientists use the DNA and physical traits of different living (and extinct!) things to figure out where they intersect, spinning the web that connects everything on the planet back to our single-celled ancestors.
For his latest study, Matzke swapped out genomes and morphological traits with text from legislative proposals designed to keep evolution out of schools and let creationism in. While creationism has taken on many pseudoscientific overtones to sneak its way into public schools, the school of thought is purely religious in motivation. The efforts to push creationism as a valid alternative to evolutionary biology can be traced back almost a century, when teaching evolution was banned, but Matzke analyzed only the 65 bills proposed in the past decade.
Many of these bills are basically copied from one state to another, making it easy to analyze the slow shifts in language and tactics.
"They are not terribly intelligently designed," he said in a statement.
98 percent of scientists connected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science say they believe that humans evolved over time, only 66 percent of Americans surveyed by Pew believe that science has reached a consensus on the issue. Nearly a third of Americans reject evolution entirely, and around half of those who accept it as good science still believe that a higher power played a part in the process.
Debunking the myth that evolution can’t explain eyeballs
Whoops! A creationist museum supporter stumbled upon a major fossil find.
Newly discovered fossil could prove a problem for creationists
New study reaffirms the link between conservative religious faith and climate change doubt