What I know about Ptolemy I learned in school

For years there has been a controversy around teaching special creation in schools.  There are some people who believe creation should be taught along with evolution in public schools.  Another school of thought is that at least criticism of evolution should be allowed (sometimes called, “teaching the controversy”).  

Currently, to even suggest there may be problems in the theory is viewed as the equivalent of teaching special creation.  Some years back, the Cobb County Board of Education placed a sticker in public school science books that read, “This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.”  Note that the stickers didn't mention creation or even religion. Instead, they said that evolution should be examined carefully, critically, and with an open mind. Critical thinking should be a staple in educating our kids and questioning everything is supposed to be a fundamental principle of science – except when it comes to evolution. No one is allowed to question evolution! In the matter of Cobb County, the case ended up in court where a judge ordered the stickers be removed.

I have a different idea, one which I’ve discussed before (here).  Consider this: can anyone name a single invention or technological advance in the last century that hinged upon an understanding of evolution? Maybe somebody could name one but that is dwarfed by the virtual explosion of technology we've seen in the last 100 years that didn't depend on evolution at all!  If evolution is so ancillary to science, if there is no study linking understanding evolution to improved test scores, if evolution is something that kids learn in school but never use again, then why is there this grim determination that students still must learn evolution? We're facing an education crisis where kids lack proficiency in critical skills like reading, math, and history. Why are we wasting time and resources teaching them a theory that is so useless yet still so controversial? Why force public schools into court to defend a sticker in a text book or to remove a teacher who mentions creation? It's obvious that this is less about education and more about indoctrination. Let's just stop the controversies altogether. I'm not saying, “give equal time to creation.” I'm not saying, “teach the difficulties.” I'm saying stop teaching evolution!

According to a recent Gallup Poll, 37% of the US adults believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago (young earth creationism).  Another 34% believe God created humans over millions of years (theistic evolution/old age creationism).  Only 24% believe in evolution without any sort of divine intervention.  

Having said all that, let me raise another point that might shed more light on the subject of teaching creation in public schools.  Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician that lived in the 2nd century. He was extremely influential and created a geocentric model of the universe that endured for centuries. This is the belief that the earth is at the center of the solar system and the sun, moon, planets, and stars orbit the earth. This model was named for him – the Ptolemaic model. It was not until the time of Galileo that scientific consensus finally turned away from his earth-centered model of the universe and replaced it with a heliocentric model. How do I know this? I learned about Ptolemy in school.

With this in mind, a question came to me that, if the Ptolemaic model is still being discussed in public classrooms (as something people once believed), what is really the harm of discussing the possibility that God played a role in human origins? If the publishers of the textbooks believe there is value in including a debunked, geocentric cosmology in their texts, then why can’t there be any discussion at all about design in cosmology?

I’m asking in earnest: what is the difference? The Ptolemaic model has been discarded centuries ago yet it is still included in science books. The only reason it’s given any press is because it was such a popular model and it endured for 1,000 years. Well, creation is still believed by approximately ⅔ of the US population and it has endured far longer than Ptolemy. Doesn’t it deserve at least as much attention as Ptolemy?

There is one obvious difference between teaching about Ptolemy and teaching about creation: it’s not likely that anyone will ever take an earth-centered model of the universe seriously. However, in one study, it was learned that when students are taught about creation AND evolution, they tend to choose creation. From the article:

“University students whose high school biology class covered creationism – in some cases alongside evolution – were more likely to accept creationist views upon entering college, the study found. Those whose high school biology teachers taught evolution but not creationism were more likely to accept evolution in college.”

Isn't that interesting? When students are presented with both views in high school, they tend to believe in creation. When students are presented with only evolution in high school, they tend to believe in evolution.

I see what's going on: teach kids evolution - don't let them hear anything to the contrary - and they're more likely to believe evolution. There's a word for this phenomenon - it's called "brainwashing."

This is hypocrisy at its worst.  It’s OK to talk about Ptolemy – it’s not OK to talk about God.