Watch your language! It’s a common message from Eugenie Scott, a physical anthropologist and director of the National Center for Science Education (www.ncseweb.org), an organization dedicated to promoting and defending the teaching of evolution in public schools. Scott recently spoke with
Science News
writer Susan Milius.
So you urge scientists not to say that they “believe” in evolution?!
EUGENIE SCOTT ‘If man evolved from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys?’…That’s probably the second most common question I get on talk radio. Steve Mirsky
Right. What your audience hears is more important than what you say.… What [people] hear is that evolution is a belief, it’s an opinion, it’s not well-substantiated science. And that is something that scientists need to avoid communicating.
You believe in God. You believe your sports team is going to win. But you don’t believe in cell division. You don’t believe in thermodynamics. Instead, you might say you “accept evolution.”
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