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What a Single Choice of Words Tells You: Walker Was “Very Accepting” in Science Class?

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Time Magazine went and interviewed Governor Scott Walker’s high school science teacher, Ann Serpe, age 73. This, of course, was occasioned by the still roiling discussion of his decision to “punt” in response to being asked whether he believes in “evolution” (the term was undefined in the question):

What would Walker have learned in high school? “We taught the theory of evolution, and human evolution, as a prerequisite to understanding biological classification. I went out and looked at my biology textbook just to make sure.”
Serpe says, “I don’t know the dogma of the Baptist church where Scott’s father was the minister, as it concerns evolution. But I do recall that Scott was very accepting of everything in science class. He had a good sense of it.”

Now that is very telling, not about Walker — I don’t take anything reported in the article at face value, these are old memories — but about the way many people have come to think about science, especially evolutionary theory. Note the teacher’s language. Evolution is something you passively “accept” — and to be “very accepting” is even more commendable. Ms. Serpe speaks of “dogma” received in church, and the reader of Time Magazine is supposed to understand passive acceptance in that context as being less than admirable. But simply considered as an intellectual exercise, and content aside, how is sitting in science class and receiving the doctrine of evolution distinguishable from that?
The other day I got a gratifying note from a rabbi who teaches one of our kids. There have been some issues about diligence in homework, but in the note the rabbi gave us some excellent news about how our son was coming along in his Talmud studies, grasping challenging concepts while also “asking good (and really difficult to answer) questions.” The rabbi wished us “Much nachas!” — meaning “Much well deserved satisfaction.”
Again, I don’t have any idea what Walker himself was like in high school, and that’s not the point. What’s of interest is the choice of words in the teacher’s comments as reported.
In a religious context, asking “really difficult to answer questions” is a good thing. Don’t you think? But in science, not so? In biology class, you sit like a stooge and simply “accept” what you’re taught, is that right? You memorize, and spit back out. That’s how you get “a good sense of it.”
Is that really what any thoughtful parent wants, in any field of endeavor requiring the application of intellect, for his or her children? I sure don’t.
Image by Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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