[extropy-chat] Reverse Evolution ?

[Brandon Reinhart]

> Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to explain evolutionary
theory to the layman using the amount of text that would fit on one side of
one sheet of printer paper, using language not out of reach of the average
eighth grader.  Ready set go.  

This frustrates me. People are not so dumb. When inclined, any average
layman is capable of great feats of understanding. The real motivator is a
desire to learn. If a person is dead set against evolution, no simple
explanation will catch their imagination. I would think it would be more
likely to reinforce their opinion of "condescending, brash scientist types."

Rather, I suspect that an artful, insightful explanation would be more
effective at peaking interest. What is missing is not a simple, eighth grade
explanation of evolution. What is missing is the explanation of the complete
picture: the world view in absence of a creator; the reasoning for a moral
framework without god given ethics.

I think the "one side of one sheet of printer paper" explanations are the
reason for so a poor understanding of evolutionary theory. What we should do
is say "before you criticize, educate yourself."  We should encourage people
to read Darwin. I would be willing to bet that the majority of those who
oppose evolutionary theory, or have a weak grasp of the principles, are not
well read on the subject.

Brandon