Missing the larger point
By Biswas
American academia has been buzzing of late with the debate between the Creationists, the proponents of the Intelligent Design theory, originally espoused by English clergyman William Paley, and the adherents of the Darwinian Evolution.
As modern biology is unable, the creationists argue, to explain many complex processes that sustain life, the highly complex mechanism of blood clotting and the protein-directing traffic system of eukaryotic cells in humans, or the psychological basis of dream, for example, only God, an intelligent creator, can design and regulate such superhuman processes. Therefore, in addition to Darwinian evolution, Intelligent Design theory should also be taught in schools.
On the other hand, the evolutionists butt in, the most complex biological phenomena maybe readily explained if they can be divided into simpler sub-stages. The process of clotting, for instance, is comparatively simpler in jawless fishes as it involves fewer steps. Evolutionists believe science and religion don’t go together hence all efforts to mix the two up are inadvisable as they can only mislead young minds. Here is my take.
One night, a cockroach zoomed inches past my nose and lodged on the curtain beside. I was aware that roaches have fractured vision and seldom fly unless in desperation. But I didn’t know their frail looking antennas are in fact quite resilient and that they sit on fabrics with firm grip. My casual effort to pull it off from the curtain with one of its antennas went in vain. Neither did the antenna break and nor was I able to detach the insect from the curtain (Of course, I didn’t yank it with all my might). Maybe, their antennas have evolved over time and have got stronger as predators kept tugging at them. Or, an intelligent creator might have designed them strong.
Without the intrigue of knowing how the insect would respond, I would never have pulled its antenna. And I could only imagine how it would react before I did.
I believe the most important function of school education is to make the students more intrigued about the subject at hand and imbue in them a sense of imagination about it. Such educational material that allow learners to think for themselves, rather then make them second-hand recipients of pre-ordained set of theories, would ensure that the students would decide for themselves what is worth believing and what is not.
