Republicans: Not the Party of Ideas

Bobby Jindal, current governor of Louisiana, is the Great Brown Hope for the Republican Party. If you don't believe me, read what pundits like to say about him here, here, here and here. So, given this, if you examine his policies and governing you'll get an idea of where the Republican Party wants to be.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of ineffectual government-- what is actually meant by the words "small government". I like government that does its job. I lived in Massachusetts under a collection of Republican governors and watched them let the bridges and roads turn to mush and schools decay in the name of "small government". But the USA is a big place and there's room for disagreement.

Where I cannot compromise, where I start calling people about as useful as a beef jerky, is when it comes to science. Specifically, in this case, when it comes to evolution. Last June Jindal signed the latest creationist nonsense into law. You can get the play-by-play in this SciAm article here.

Science is about the world as it is. It presumes that what the world appears to be is a fair approximation of what it is. That's what drove Newton, Kepler and Copernicus. When the world presents data that flies in the face of what scientists think is true, it is the scientists that must change, not the world. The world of physics broke apart in the face of data at the turn of the 19th century: there was no ether. The speed of light appeared to be constant no matter in what direction it was measured-- an impossibility in the Newtonian model. Einstein came along and presented a new model that cost physicists dearly: if c is constant, time was not.

This is the scientific point of view: models (and theories) adapt to fact, not the other way around.

It is not the point of view of physicists. It is not the point of view biologists. It is not the point of view of Darwinian evolutionists. It is the point of view of scientists and those that deny this point of view are not scientists. They might be theologians or humanists or politicians but they are not scientists.

It follows that if you are going to teach science, this is the point of view you must present. Jindal is compromising that.

But the problem is deeper than just evolution. This is more than anti-evolution or even anti-science. It goes against critical thinking itself.

For example, let's say we have a theological model that God pushes electrons around the nucleus. That's the way we explain electromagnetism: God does it. It is, therefore, beyond our understanding. What's the result? Well, if it's beyond our understanding that's all there is to it. Consequently: no CAT scans. No computers. No TV. Only primitive electric lights.

I don't care if someone believes the earth came into being 4 billion years ago or 4 thousand. To me, the world could have come into existence forty seconds ago, as it is, and I'd never know the difference. But it came into the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Those lights out there are far, far away, just as if they ignited a billion years ago. It's possible God created them as is but even if he did, they still appear that old. The bones in the ground still look like dinosaurs. There are known fossils that sure look like us. The physics that governs electric lights, nuclear power plants, photosynthesis, carbon-14 dating and the sun is the same. Even medicine must be viewed in a scientific light. Medicine is the art of applying biology to human health concerns. That means evolution. (See here.)

And regardless of what idiotic laws they pass, facts are out of Louisiana's jurisdiction .

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