Topic: Alabama Refuses to Remove Textbook Disclaimer Calling Evolution "Controversial"
Anonymous A started this discussion 10 years ago #50,977
For the past decade, every student in Alabama has been greeted by the same paragraphs-long disclaimer in the front of their bio textbooks claiming that evolution is a “controversial theory” that has “not been directly observed.” And after putting it to a vote last week, the state Board of Education decided that that the Bible Trumps Intelligence.BIOLOGY TEXTBOOK INSERT A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
The word “theory” has many meanings. Theories are defined as systematically organized knowledge, abstract reasoning, a speculative idea or plan, or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations.
Many scientific theories have been developed over time. The value of scientific work is not only the development of theories but also what is learned from the development process. The Alabama Course of Study: Science includes many theories and studies of scientists’ work. The work of Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein, to name a few, has provided a basis of our knowledge of the world today.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is a controversial theory that is included in this textbook. It is controversial because it states that natural selection provides the basis for the modern scientific explanation for the diversity of living things. Since natural selection has been observed to play a role in influencing small changes in a population, it is assumed that it produces large changes, even though this has not been directly observed. Because of its importance and implications, students should understand the nature of evolutionary theories. They should learn to make distinctions between the multiple meanings of evolution, to distinguish between observations and assumptions used to draw conclusions, and to wrestle with the unanswered questions and unresolved problems still faced by evolutionary theory.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life. With the explosion of new scientific knowledge in biochemical and molecular biology and exciting new fossil discoveries, Alabama students may be among those who use their understanding and skills to contribute to knowledge and to answer many unanswered questions. Instructional material associated with controversy should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.
The word “theory” has many meanings. Theories are defined as systematically organized knowledge, abstract reasoning, a speculative idea or plan, or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations.
Many scientific theories have been developed over time. The value of scientific work is not only the development of theories but also what is learned from the development process. The Alabama Course of Study: Science includes many theories and studies of scientists’ work. The work of Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein, to name a few, has provided a basis of our knowledge of the world today.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is a controversial theory that is included in this textbook. It is controversial because it states that natural selection provides the basis for the modern scientific explanation for the diversity of living things. Since natural selection has been observed to play a role in influencing small changes in a population, it is assumed that it produces large changes, even though this has not been directly observed. Because of its importance and implications, students should understand the nature of evolutionary theories. They should learn to make distinctions between the multiple meanings of evolution, to distinguish between observations and assumptions used to draw conclusions, and to wrestle with the unanswered questions and unresolved problems still faced by evolutionary theory.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life. With the explosion of new scientific knowledge in biochemical and molecular biology and exciting new fossil discoveries, Alabama students may be among those who use their understanding and skills to contribute to knowledge and to answer many unanswered questions. Instructional material associated with controversy should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.
FuckAlms !vX8K53rFBI joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 2 hours later[^] [v] #661,586
Who cares?
Adam Jensen joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,588
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 18 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,595
RWBY Rhubarb? !!iNo3FkiZx joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,596
@661,586 (FuckAlms !vX8K53rFBI)
Me. Insofar as I can care about events so far removed from me, anyway.
While they phrase it all surprisingly open-mindedly, they're still distorting educational resources. The part about the lack of some sort of "direct observation" being a hole in evolutionary theory is especially misleading. And this being done to suit a very questionable, very ideological agenda.
Me. Insofar as I can care about events so far removed from me, anyway.
While they phrase it all surprisingly open-mindedly, they're still distorting educational resources. The part about the lack of some sort of "direct observation" being a hole in evolutionary theory is especially misleading. And this being done to suit a very questionable, very ideological agenda.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 10 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,601
@previous (RWBY Rhubarb? !!iNo3FkiZx)
Q: Why did O. J. Simpson want to move to Alabama?
A: Everyone has the same DNA.
Q: What new law was recently passed in Alabama?
A: When a couple gets divorced, they're still brother and sister!
Q: Did you hear that the governor's mansion in Alabama burned down?
A: Almost took out the whole trailer park.
Q: Why are there so many unsolved murders in Alabama?
A: There are no dental records and everyone has the same DNA
Q. Why did they build the Mercedes plant so close to the University of Alabama?
A. Because they have an endless supply of crash test dummies right down the road.
Q: Why did O. J. Simpson want to move to Alabama?
A: Everyone has the same DNA.
Q: What new law was recently passed in Alabama?
A: When a couple gets divorced, they're still brother and sister!
Q: Did you hear that the governor's mansion in Alabama burned down?
A: Almost took out the whole trailer park.
Q: Why are there so many unsolved murders in Alabama?
A: There are no dental records and everyone has the same DNA
Q. Why did they build the Mercedes plant so close to the University of Alabama?
A. Because they have an endless supply of crash test dummies right down the road.
Sheila LaBoof joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 28 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,608
Bibles to have sticker "this might all be made up" on the front
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 2 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,609
Anonymous G joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 1 hour later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,630
@OP
Another triumph for the Flat Earth Movement. This is common knowledge.
Another triumph for the Flat Earth Movement. This is common knowledge.
Big Daddy Derek !Uvm54ORbmo joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,631
Anonymous I joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 4 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,635
When will we euthanize all Christians?
Anonymous G replied with this 10 years ago, 1 hour later, 6 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,665
@661,631 (Big Daddy Derek !Uvm54ORbmo)
I am unfamiliar with Retardchan. Does it actually exist, or are you making an attempt at sarcasm?
I am unfamiliar with Retardchan. Does it actually exist, or are you making an attempt at sarcasm?
(Edited 17 seconds later.)
Big Daddy Derek !Uvm54ORbmo replied with this 10 years ago, 29 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,667
@previous (G)
Around 2004 or possibly 2003, a mid-teen American anime freak whose name is as unimportant as his positive contributions to humanity saw the popular Japanese Web site "2channel", which was (and presumably still is) a crappy bulletin board system where anyone could post anonymously as long as they spoke Japanese and had an IP address from Japan.
I'm not 100% on the details here, and it doesn't matter, but I believe it was using some kind of open source system, or maybe it just released its own source. In either case, I know for sure that this kid took it, possibly translated it (although it was likely already translated by somebody with actual skills), and turned it into an English clone of 2channel, imaginatively called "4chan". (From this point on, I will simply refer to it as "Retardchan".)
Overnight, he had "created" the worst English-language forum on the planet; a "paradise" of illegally distributed copyrighted drawn pictures of girls with cat ears and huge dicks, enabling retarded kids world-wide to gather and arrange attacks at random targets and exchange painfully unfunny and stupid "memes" around the clock.
The many extreme usability and logic issues with this software pretty much guaranteed that the only ones who used it would be complete and utter morons of the worst kind. For instance, it required (and it wouldn't surprise me if it still does today) you to enter a secret code word into the "e-mail" field for it to actually take you back to the thread if you submitted a reply (or created a new thread). If you didn't, it would instead take you back to the big, messy index page, meaning that if you posted and forgot to type in the "magic phrase", good luck finding it before it's gone forever. This insane, backwards, Unix-esque reasoning is just one of many examples of what an absurd system this lucky idiot adopted.
Some people have told me that it "used to" be decent in the beginning, and that they themselves also refer to a "cancer" that came and ruined everything at some point. I don't buy this, based on the software itself and the personality of the person who ran it. And even if it were true, it is obvious that nothing was done about the problem once it became apparent.
My point couldn't be made any clearer: it was an incredibly crappy place, and its popularity can be attributed primarily to one thing: it was (probably) the only English-language version of 2channel in existence, and since there were no barriers against flooding it with junk posts, exactly that happened. Constantly. Every thread I ever saw was full of the most retarded gibberish you could imagine. Trying to have any kind of sensible discussion in such an environment was just futile.
Around 2004 or possibly 2003, a mid-teen American anime freak whose name is as unimportant as his positive contributions to humanity saw the popular Japanese Web site "2channel", which was (and presumably still is) a crappy bulletin board system where anyone could post anonymously as long as they spoke Japanese and had an IP address from Japan.
I'm not 100% on the details here, and it doesn't matter, but I believe it was using some kind of open source system, or maybe it just released its own source. In either case, I know for sure that this kid took it, possibly translated it (although it was likely already translated by somebody with actual skills), and turned it into an English clone of 2channel, imaginatively called "4chan". (From this point on, I will simply refer to it as "Retardchan".)
Overnight, he had "created" the worst English-language forum on the planet; a "paradise" of illegally distributed copyrighted drawn pictures of girls with cat ears and huge dicks, enabling retarded kids world-wide to gather and arrange attacks at random targets and exchange painfully unfunny and stupid "memes" around the clock.
The many extreme usability and logic issues with this software pretty much guaranteed that the only ones who used it would be complete and utter morons of the worst kind. For instance, it required (and it wouldn't surprise me if it still does today) you to enter a secret code word into the "e-mail" field for it to actually take you back to the thread if you submitted a reply (or created a new thread). If you didn't, it would instead take you back to the big, messy index page, meaning that if you posted and forgot to type in the "magic phrase", good luck finding it before it's gone forever. This insane, backwards, Unix-esque reasoning is just one of many examples of what an absurd system this lucky idiot adopted.
Some people have told me that it "used to" be decent in the beginning, and that they themselves also refer to a "cancer" that came and ruined everything at some point. I don't buy this, based on the software itself and the personality of the person who ran it. And even if it were true, it is obvious that nothing was done about the problem once it became apparent.
My point couldn't be made any clearer: it was an incredibly crappy place, and its popularity can be attributed primarily to one thing: it was (probably) the only English-language version of 2channel in existence, and since there were no barriers against flooding it with junk posts, exactly that happened. Constantly. Every thread I ever saw was full of the most retarded gibberish you could imagine. Trying to have any kind of sensible discussion in such an environment was just futile.
(Edited 1 minute later.)
Beauford Giddry !V8uI1sP7dw joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 47 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,674
Sheila LaBoof replied with this 10 years ago, 1 hour later, 10 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,679
Anonymous G replied with this 10 years ago, 5 hours later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,705
@661,667 (Big Daddy Derek !Uvm54ORbmo)
That's actually a point-perfect description of 4chan and its brain-damaged userbase.
That's actually a point-perfect description of 4chan and its brain-damaged userbase.
Big Daddy Derek !Uvm54ORbmo replied with this 10 years ago, 5 hours later, 21 hours after the original post[^] [v] #661,732
@previous (G)
As mentioned, the inane design and non-existent moderation made it a very attractive "second home" (and for many, it seems, their primary home) for the absolutely lowest forms of life who spoke English (or something vaguely resembling it) and had access to the Internet. The board was actually divided into various sections, such as "animu & mango" (I guess spelling isn't his strong side either, or he has the worst "humour" on the planet), or "random". The latter was by far the most active and was (and probably remains) essentially the epicentre of the modern cancer of the Internet.
Over the years, this dangerously mentally ill liar and thief has consistently allowed his users to do whatever the hell they want to anyone, and very much actively participated himself. I truly have absolutely no respect whatsoever for this smug asshole or his kind; he personifies everything that I despise about a human being and an administrator of anything: he didn't create anything himself (just copied it), what he stole wasn't even good (except when hosted an illegal clone of my software under a subdomain and sent me mocking, psychotic e-mails whose replies he edited and published for his low-IQ minions to swallow as the truth), takes no responsibility whatsoever (which is unfortunately a trait he shares with many others), abuses his ill-gotten powers to harass and attack people who actually try to make the world better, yet still gets "brownie points" among the brainwashed sheep who see him as some kind of God, and receives inexplicable media praise from moronic "journalists" in spite of the fact that the obvious public reaction would be to literally hang him high for his own crimes as well as the many crimes he has chosen to allow/aid.
I'm not getting into details here, but just for the record, here's a few random things which Retardchan repeatedly and completely openly discussed/planned/executed, bafflingly without ever any kind of repercussions: DDoS attacks on numerous targets, hosting and sharing child pornography (eerily the same thing they kept lying about my site doing — these subhumans like to "project" their own illness onto others); spam/harass attacks against numerous forums and communities; attacks toward countless individuals both online and in real life (some, especially young girls, committed suicide as a result), as well as companies of all sizes, usually masked as "sticking it to the man" or "attacking the bad guys" in order to gain mainstream acceptance from the other kind of sheeple, who seriously think that these scum are somehow on their side, doing the right thing. At the same time, they explicitly claim to be "doing it for the lulz", which means "no reason", or "I have a mental illness and cannot control my actions". It's maddening to witness how people buy into this, time and time again.
This is nothing short of cyber terrorism, plain and simple. Calling it anything else is inaccurate and dishonest.
As mentioned, the inane design and non-existent moderation made it a very attractive "second home" (and for many, it seems, their primary home) for the absolutely lowest forms of life who spoke English (or something vaguely resembling it) and had access to the Internet. The board was actually divided into various sections, such as "animu & mango" (I guess spelling isn't his strong side either, or he has the worst "humour" on the planet), or "random". The latter was by far the most active and was (and probably remains) essentially the epicentre of the modern cancer of the Internet.
Over the years, this dangerously mentally ill liar and thief has consistently allowed his users to do whatever the hell they want to anyone, and very much actively participated himself. I truly have absolutely no respect whatsoever for this smug asshole or his kind; he personifies everything that I despise about a human being and an administrator of anything: he didn't create anything himself (just copied it), what he stole wasn't even good (except when hosted an illegal clone of my software under a subdomain and sent me mocking, psychotic e-mails whose replies he edited and published for his low-IQ minions to swallow as the truth), takes no responsibility whatsoever (which is unfortunately a trait he shares with many others), abuses his ill-gotten powers to harass and attack people who actually try to make the world better, yet still gets "brownie points" among the brainwashed sheep who see him as some kind of God, and receives inexplicable media praise from moronic "journalists" in spite of the fact that the obvious public reaction would be to literally hang him high for his own crimes as well as the many crimes he has chosen to allow/aid.
I'm not getting into details here, but just for the record, here's a few random things which Retardchan repeatedly and completely openly discussed/planned/executed, bafflingly without ever any kind of repercussions: DDoS attacks on numerous targets, hosting and sharing child pornography (eerily the same thing they kept lying about my site doing — these subhumans like to "project" their own illness onto others); spam/harass attacks against numerous forums and communities; attacks toward countless individuals both online and in real life (some, especially young girls, committed suicide as a result), as well as companies of all sizes, usually masked as "sticking it to the man" or "attacking the bad guys" in order to gain mainstream acceptance from the other kind of sheeple, who seriously think that these scum are somehow on their side, doing the right thing. At the same time, they explicitly claim to be "doing it for the lulz", which means "no reason", or "I have a mental illness and cannot control my actions". It's maddening to witness how people buy into this, time and time again.
This is nothing short of cyber terrorism, plain and simple. Calling it anything else is inaccurate and dishonest.