donald (02/21/83)
Enough swipes at science by nonscientists! Every now and then someone like Steve Hutchinson implies science is just as dogmatic as religion. The use of the term "dogma" in describing any scientific theory is plain silly, and indicates a misunderstanding of the process of science. Modern scientists are not "ostracized" or "persecuted" for holding beliefs counter to orthodoxy (I do not use the latter term perjoratively!). They ARE attacked when they cannot provide compelling evidence for their dissenting theories. Remember, an established theory that explains a lot of things can't be just chucked out unless there is a LOT of evidence against it and a LOT of things it can't explain that an alternate theory can. Yes, scientists do have human prejudices and tend to defend their pet theories, but never confuse that with religion. Science as a whole tends to advance; that's more than one can say for religion. The former encourages free enquiry, the latter doesn't always. As good old Carl said, "Science is a self-correcting process", and those of you that bother to look into it will probably agree that it is. While Lew's use of the phrase "rock bottom truth" in reference to molecular biology might be questionable, it does reflect the fact that it and modern genetics (including evolutionary biology) has as firm a basis as any other branch of science (e.g. the theory of gravitation, which I don't see many fundamentalist Christians questioning). Finally, yes all (99%+) life does have a common genetic code, in the sense that a nucleic acid codon means the same amino acid whether it's in a shrimp or a kangaroo. This is usually taken to mean that all life evolved from a common source, which seems to me to be a reasonable interpretation. Steve's remarks about inseminating rats merely obfuscate the issue. I'm not going to try to defend Lew's remarks on Paul. The bible was obviously never intended to be scientifically accurate. The attempts of certain religionists to interpret it as such is the root of all their problems with textbooks and high-school biology. Don Chan