Introduction to Issues in Origins and Speciation––#

INTRODUCTION TO ISSUES IN ORIGINS AND SPECIATION

1. Introduction
   
   
   1. Reading: N. Scott Momaday, “You Are, Urset. I Am, Yahweh”, In the Bear’s House (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), 15-19.
      
   2. This course deals with words that form stories about Urset, Yahweh, and what is in between
      
   3. Our stories will involve three components
      
      
      1. Evidence
         
         
         1. Evidence of history
            
         2. Evidence of structure
            
         3. Evidence of function
            
            
      2. Theory
         
         
         1. Theories about history
            
         2. Theories about purpose
            
            
      3. Speculation
         
         
         1. Speculations about history
            
         2. Speculations about purpose
            
         3. Speculation about meaning
            
            
   4. Model
      
      
      1. 
         
2. Stories
   
   
   1. Stories are attempts to make connections among the data points of universe in an attempt to find “meaning”
      
   2. Artists create wordless stories about internal or external reality
      
      
      1. Images of women
         
         
         1. Russell Harlan
            
         2. Monet
            
         3. Pablo Picasso
            
            
      2. Which provides the “best” portrait of a woman?
         
         
   3. Scientists create verbal and mathematical stories about nature
      
      
      1. Mammoth tooth
         
      2. Tidal cycles
         
      3. Allometric equation: Y=bx^a
         
         
   4. All humans assume epic stories as they consider life and its history
      
      
      1. Read David Barash (The Whisperings Within, 26, 27)
         
      2. Read Conrad Hyers (The Meaning of Creation, 9)
         
         
   5. Questions about stories
      
      
      1. Are some stories better than other stories? Why or why not?
         
      2. How do stories utilize reality?
         
      3. How are stories different from reality?
         
      4. Why are stories different from reality?
         
         
3. Beliefs
   
   
   1. What are beliefs?
      
   2. How are stories and beliefs related?
      
   3. How do we form beliefs?
      
   4. To what extent do evidence, theories, and speculation inform one’s beliefs?
      
   5. How can we know if our beliefs, or someone else’s beliefs, are “true”?
      
   6. How do values and personal history influence beliefs?
      
      
4. This course
   
   
   1. Subject matter––Evidence, theory, and speculation about life and its history
      
   2. Goals
      
      
      1. Examine evidence, theory, and speculation
         
      2. Learn to distinguish evidence, theory, and speculation
         
      3. Promote tolerance and respect
         
      4. Foster critical thinking
         
         
5. The syllabus