Bob Zannelli
======================
"They want to rewrite the rules of science," cries Alan Leshner of AAAS.
Well Du-uh! Is he just realizing now what the culture war is about? War is
about seizing turf and holding it. In this case the turf is science itself. The
CounterEnlightenment is out to seize science and redefine it in
Aristotelian terms so that it becomes god-friendly again.
The Kansas school board's hearings on evolution weren't limited to how the
theory should be taught in public schools. The board is considering
redefining science itself. Advocates of "intelligent design" are pushing the
board to reject a definition limiting science to natural explanations for
what's observed in the world.
Instead, they want to define it as "a systematic method of continuing
investigation," without specifying what kind of answer is being sought. The
definition would appear in the introduction to the state's science
standards.
The proposed definition has outraged many scientists, who are frustrated
that students could be discussing supernatural explanations for natural
phenomena in their science classes.
"It's a completely unscientific way of looking at the world," said Keith
Miller, a Kansas State University geologist.
The conservative state Board of Education plans to consider the proposed
changes by August. It is expected to approve at least part of a proposal
from advocates of intelligent design, which holds that the natural world is
so complex and well-ordered that an intelligent cause is the best way to
explain it
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