Thinking about how others think

Scanning stories on the web and poking around websites, I find lots of articles and opinion pieces on this ongoing debate. Definitely no shortage of words. In fact, there is so much available, I often spend too much time reading and don’t have time to pull together a “thought of the day.”

An article reproduced today on Red NOVA caught my attention because although it is clearly pro-evolution, it is not unabashedly so. It demands that readers consider how their opponents think. (What a concept!)

Take a look at “Evolution, Religion Entwined” (from Deseret News), a discussion about the book The Evolution-Creation Struggle (Harvard, 2005). The book’s author, philosophy professor Michael Ruse, a self-avowed “ardent Darwinian” looks “at why opponents of evolution feel so threatened and why evolutionists are so surprised and perplexed at the opposition.”

The article ends with this quote from the book:

"Those of us who love science must do more than simply restate our positions or criticize the opposition. We must understand our own assumptions and, equally, find out why others have (often) legitimate concerns. This is not a plea for weak-kneed compromise but a more informed and self-aware approach to the issue."