Critical Thinking Time
Posted in The Debate on May 31st, 2006 by MikeGeneJerry Coyne:
Is intelligent design (ID) merely a sophisticated form of biblical creationism, as most biologists claim, or is it science – an alternative to Darwinism that deserves discussion in the science classroom?
Okay class, it's time to put our critical thinking caps on:
As you can see, you must be especially careful any time an argument seems to be presenting you with only two options. Yet the way such attempts at persuasion are worded, we often feel compelled to respond in those terms. Imagine someone asking, "Are you with us or against us?" You might be tricked into deciding between those two options, but the best response would be to say, "Wait a minute! Those are not the only two possibilities."
Gee, now was that hard?
[HT to Mung]




