Friday, May 11, 2007

What's Wrong with Not Knowing What You're Talking About?

Peter Beinart and Jonah Goldberg ham-handedly attempt to discuss "Darwinism".

My response posted in their comments section:

These guys should stick to what they know and try not to discuss difficult topics based on things they vaguely remember from their school days.

First they can't seem to distinguish between evolutionary theory, the works of Charles Darwin, and the discredited fallacies of so-called Social Darwinism. Most people who know the Creationism/Intelligent Design debate recognize "Darwinism" as a right-wing code word.

Secondly, the mostly forgotten po-mo critique of science that was alluded to was not about afro-centrism or whatever they said. It was about scientific meta-narratives and was an attempt to examine the limits of scientific knowledge. The po-mo position was skeptical about science's claims of objectivity and absolute truth. It was also troubled by how science was used to legitimize political power and justify the status quo. Right or wrong, I think this is sort of close to Goldberg's view.

Now feel free to debate the politics.