In this thread, the message that the Oklahoma Testbook Committee has decided to put in textbooks dealing with evolution is discussed. DoctorJ’s post inspired me to start a thread inviting all of you to write your own disclaimers for various other theories in a similar vein. Just don’t discuss evolution, as we’re in MPSIMS here. Here is the model:
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Message from the Oklahoma State Textbook Committee:
This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory,
which some scientists present as scientific explanation for
the origin of living things, such as plants and humans.
No one was present when life first appeared on earth.
Therefore, any statement about life’s origins should be
considered as theory, not fact. The word evolution may refer
to many types of change. Evolution describes changes that
occur within a species. (White moths, for example, may
evolve into gray moths). This process is micro evolution,
which can be observed and described as fact. Evolution may
also refer to the change of one living thing into another,
such as reptiles into birds. This process, called macro
evolution, has never been observed and should be considered
a theory. Evolution also refers to the unproven belief that
random, undirected forces produced a world of living things.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of
life, which are not mentioned in your textbook, including:
Why did the major groups of animals suddenly appear in the
fossil record, known as the Cambrian Explosion? Why have no
new major groups of living things appeared in the fossil
record in a long time? Why do major groups of plants and
animals have no transitional forms in the fossil record? How
did you and all living things come to possess such a
complete and complex set of instructions for building a
living body? Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday you
may contribute to the theories of how living things appeared
on earth.