Kevin Ahearn writes about...

The Peril of Teaching Fiction

Kevin picks up on the discussion in “Where the Action Is” and adds a concern: can science fiction be taught to the literal-minded?

BWS Editor:

Should science fiction be taught in schools? The works of Wells, Bradbury, Verne and other sf authors are accepted as “literature” by educators worldwide, but that’s NOT the science fiction at issue here. Not by a long shot.

Science can be defined as “How and why the universe works.” There is a library of data which suggest that the pyramids are too complex and too sophisticated to be the work of the Egyptians alone. Surely these primitive Africans had help, extraterrestrial assistance. Really? Show me a history or science teacher that would push that idea on students and I’ll show you a teacher on the way out the door.

Hundreds of books and videos claim that space aliens have visited this planet. Should that be taught as either history or science? I’d like to think that even the most die-hard SF fan believes that until irrefutable evidence is unearthed, the notion of ET’s on this planet at any time in its history is science fiction. Bigfoot, alien abductions, the Loch Ness monster, until proven otherwise, are figments of the imagination.

But do the precepts of science fiction have a legitimate place in serious science? At the heart of science and the human experience: ”Where do we come from? How did we become who we are?” Darwinian evolution through natural selection over billions of years is supported by countless examples and proven by hard science. However, because evolution is still considered a “theory,” it is vulnerable to challenge.

Creationism, the belief that the Bible is God’s Word (Every word of the Good Book is indisputable fact!) preached that the universe is less than 10,000 years old and that all of it, including Man, was created in six days. More than eighty years ago, a teacher was found guilty of breaking the law by teaching evolution.

Times have changed. The Creationism camp now has the same credibility as the Flat Earth Society. Or so it would seem.

Welcome to the wonderful universe of “Intelligent Design,” a righteous canon that theorizes that Man, not unlike the pyramids, is too complex and too sophisticated to be the result of an eons-long genetic crapshoot. Conveniently separating itself from any religion built on the “almighty creator” scripture, whether it be from the Bible or a shelf of other sacred texts, Intelligent Design “theorizes” that Man was engineered by an unknowable cosmic or supernatural power. The concept of GOD is not implied, but it is inferred by many, especially, of course, religious groups.

Are we... science fiction?

Intelligent Design does not dispute Man’s intellectual or physical prowess as achieved through natural selection. It’s what makes us human, that inner spirit or soul or conscience burning within every one of us. That’s got to be of miraculous origin beyond which science cannot begin to understand or explain.

Intelligent Design is a tempting proposition, but a quick glance at our fellow Man, with an Orwellian wink, would lead us to conclude that some of us were more intelligently designed than others. President Bush, heavily blessed by the Christian right, has concluded that Intelligent Design and Darwinian evolution should be taught as equal “theories” to America’s school children. This begets a Biblical passage: “He who digs a pit shall fall into it.”

Kevin Ahearn

Copyright © 2005 by Kevin Ahearn

Thanks for a provocative discussion, Kevin.

A continuation of “Where the Action Is,” in this issue, looks at the issue from an entirely different point of view and proposes a long-term solution.

Don