Monday, December 13, 2004
On top of creation
So this is an old story, but an interesting one.
Last week, I started teaching my students about the Big Bang. They still had some trouble wrapping their brains around the idea of a light year. No no, I'd say...it's a unit of distance. Not a unit of time. You can't say someone is 14 light years old...that would be like saying they were 14 miles old and what does that mean? But having established that light takes time to get from Point A to Point B and that the further away you look in space the further back in time one is seeing, talking about the origins of the universe seemed only logical.
The problem is that some of my students are religious. Vehemently so, to the point where they will become quite agitated should you suggest that the Biblical version of events is not quite true. (e.g. How did the solar system form? ...Well, God is certainly one option...) So to be extra safe, I prefaced my discussion by saying that there are many views on how the universe began, and I am by law forbidden from teaching some of these ideas due to separation of church and state and if they watned to learn more about those they should ask their families or religious leaders. (Even if it might be possible to have a legitimate debate, in this case, I figured it was better to skirt the issue.) Sadly my attempt to skirt the issue only made things worse, at least in one class when a young lady got positively annoyed that I could only teach one side of the story. She was kind enough to let me present my evidence though, but at the end of class got annoyed that this was the version that scientists felt was "true". Couldn't the Bible also be true?
"Well, I said...if all it took to get you engaged in class was a little of the old science v. religion debate, I should have started bringing this sort of thing up a lot earlier!"
Then I gave the standard "maybe" answer and noted for the umpteenth time that this was what scientists believed based on the current facts and observations available. And that settled the issue until after the bell when she asked if she could ask mea personal question, and I very foolishly said yes...
"Do you believe in God?"
A tricky question...but i gave her my honest answer, which is perhaps. I've heard good arguments on each side of the debate and it remains a challenge to take either side.
Then she asked another question..."Do you believe in a million dollars?"
Now this one threw me. What was she getting at...?
"Do you mean like does a million dollars exist?" I asked...she nodded in reply.
AHA! Now I got it. If I claimed an uncertainty as to the existence of God but professed certainty in the existence of money then I would be lending validation to her implicit argument that I was a godless scientist out to overturn the Bible.
"This is one of those trick questions, isn't it?" I said smiling coyly...and then returned to my room to prepare for the next period.
So this is an old story, but an interesting one.
Last week, I started teaching my students about the Big Bang. They still had some trouble wrapping their brains around the idea of a light year. No no, I'd say...it's a unit of distance. Not a unit of time. You can't say someone is 14 light years old...that would be like saying they were 14 miles old and what does that mean? But having established that light takes time to get from Point A to Point B and that the further away you look in space the further back in time one is seeing, talking about the origins of the universe seemed only logical.
The problem is that some of my students are religious. Vehemently so, to the point where they will become quite agitated should you suggest that the Biblical version of events is not quite true. (e.g. How did the solar system form? ...Well, God is certainly one option...) So to be extra safe, I prefaced my discussion by saying that there are many views on how the universe began, and I am by law forbidden from teaching some of these ideas due to separation of church and state and if they watned to learn more about those they should ask their families or religious leaders. (Even if it might be possible to have a legitimate debate, in this case, I figured it was better to skirt the issue.) Sadly my attempt to skirt the issue only made things worse, at least in one class when a young lady got positively annoyed that I could only teach one side of the story. She was kind enough to let me present my evidence though, but at the end of class got annoyed that this was the version that scientists felt was "true". Couldn't the Bible also be true?
"Well, I said...if all it took to get you engaged in class was a little of the old science v. religion debate, I should have started bringing this sort of thing up a lot earlier!"
Then I gave the standard "maybe" answer and noted for the umpteenth time that this was what scientists believed based on the current facts and observations available. And that settled the issue until after the bell when she asked if she could ask mea personal question, and I very foolishly said yes...
"Do you believe in God?"
A tricky question...but i gave her my honest answer, which is perhaps. I've heard good arguments on each side of the debate and it remains a challenge to take either side.
Then she asked another question..."Do you believe in a million dollars?"
Now this one threw me. What was she getting at...?
"Do you mean like does a million dollars exist?" I asked...she nodded in reply.
AHA! Now I got it. If I claimed an uncertainty as to the existence of God but professed certainty in the existence of money then I would be lending validation to her implicit argument that I was a godless scientist out to overturn the Bible.
"This is one of those trick questions, isn't it?" I said smiling coyly...and then returned to my room to prepare for the next period.
