Countering Public Misconceptions about the Nature of Evolutionary Science

Authors

Abstract

Challenges to modern evolutionary science are often rooted in fun­damental misconceptions about the nature of science itself. Among the public, there is a widespread perception that the focus of science on natural cause-and-effect explanations is a thinly disguised effort to promote a godless worldview, rather than an inherent methodologi­cal limitation. Furthermore, the general public often view theories as merely unsubstantiated guesses, rather than as the unifying concepts that give our observations coherence and meaning. Theories within the historical sciences, in particular, are seen as being inherently untestable without an objective basis for assigning validity. Science for many is simply an encyclopedic accumulation of unchanging observational "facts." The dynamic nature of science with the con­tinual revision of theoretical constructs becomes for them evidence of the fleeting validity of scientific "truth." The future of scientific literacy will depend on how we respond to these misconceptions as scientists and educators.

Recommended Citation

(2005) "Countering Public Misconceptions about the Nature of Evolutionary Science," Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 63, No. 2, Article 8.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol63/iss2/8