Resistance To Science
After learning that my mother considers sunrises, sunsets, and tidal movements to be convincing "arguments" for design (as does Bill O'Reilly ), I have been pondering the question: Why do some people resist science? According to Paul Bloom and Dena Skolnick Weisberg, my mother's (and Bill O'Reilly's) resistance to science could possibly be attributed to childhood brain software:
"Our intuitive psychology also contributes to resistance to science. One significant bias is that children naturally see the world in terms of design and purpose. For instance, four year-olds insist that everything has a purpose, including lions ("to go in the zoo") and clouds ("for raining"), a propensity that Deborah Kelemen has dubbed "promiscuous teleology." Additionally, when asked about the origin of animals and people, children spontaneously tend to provide and to prefer creationist explanations."
"Our intuitive psychology also contributes to resistance to science. One significant bias is that children naturally see the world in terms of design and purpose. For instance, four year-olds insist that everything has a purpose, including lions ("to go in the zoo") and clouds ("for raining"), a propensity that Deborah Kelemen has dubbed "promiscuous teleology." Additionally, when asked about the origin of animals and people, children spontaneously tend to provide and to prefer creationist explanations."