Week- 1: Video Critique Outline Objective Description/Summary Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of National Center for Science Education gave a lecture on September 29, 2008 for the Stanford Continuing Studies course on Darwin's Legacy. Her key arguments were the belief in common ancestry, naturalism, natural selection and the mechanism of evolution. She also thoroughly provided an in depth analysis of Epistemology, including definitions of religion, science and materialism, their differences as well as some shared qualities. Scott criticized the “social repercussions surrounding Darwin’s Theory, specifically religion” suggesting that science is indeed a very limited way of knowing because it is “limited to explaining the natural world” through …show more content…
Five positive aspects of evolution are as follows: The lack of emotionalism present in this theory provides more of a logical standpoint. Every natural concept can be explained in terms of evolution and evolutional mechanisms because it provides an unemotional, logically objective platform for natural scientific belief and a thorough explanation of the origins and evolution of man. Furthermore, all throughout nature one can find common biological links that suggest the presence of common ancestry. For example, “bats, rats, humans, and porpoises all share common bone structures when more perfect structures could be designed for each animal”. Moreover, the belief that evolution has occurred in spurts of change followed by periods of lack of change explains the evolution of specific species and the stagnation of evolution in others. This concept is referred to as the theory of punctuated equilibrium. Science also attributes reasoning to present changes in DNA and different species adaptation to environments. This is yet another indication of evolution. Lastly, another means of support is that’s science cannot prove the existence of God nor offer evidence supporting God’s existence. Revelation seems to be more a cultural experience that is not easily accepted by others because they themselves have differing cultures, however knowledge or science is universal. Thus, evolution …show more content…
Science is very limited, thus evolution is very limited. Science is limited to explain the natural world through testing and by means of natural process only. However, the theory of evolution cannot be truly be thoroughly tested. Moreover, Evolution is a strictly an inference. Due to the lack of its testing ability, it cannot be undoubtedly proven but is greatly inferred. Furthermore, Evolution can be considered a pseudoscientific unfalsfiable belief because it provides no means to be tested for truth. In addition, evolution assumes human beings have no purpose but only functionality and rids of our originality, emotions, beliefs and uniqueness as individual people. Lastly, Evolution is not an active biological process. It is truly a system that suggests survival of the fittest thus; certain species are guaranteed to die