Isn't it Ironic?

Eli reports on a Science article (subscription required) that seems to indicate a problem with trying to teach science. It seems that God arranged our evolution in such a fashion that we are genetically disposed to believe in Intelligent Design.

Eli quoting Paul Bloom and Skilnick Wisberg in the May 18th issue of Science:
The examples so far concern people's common-sense understanding of the physical world, but their intuitive psychology also contributes to their resistance to science. One important bias is that children naturally see the world in terms of design and purpose. For instance, 4-year-olds insist that everything has a purpose, including lions ("to go in the zoo") and clouds ("for raining"), a propensity called "promiscuous teleology". Additionally, when asked about the origin of animals and people, children spontaneously tend to provide and prefer creationist explanations. Just as children's intuitions about the physical world make it difficult for them to accept that Earth is a sphere, their psychological intuitions about agency and design make it difficult for them to accept the processes of evolution.


I always suspected God of having an ironic sense of humor.

He also arranged our evolution to predispose us to believe that the world is flat.

Eli puts on a brave face:

These are truths that can cause one to despair, but they also offer insight into what must be done to educate people about science based issues and a more sophisticated analysis of the tactics that those who are spreading disinformation use.


Either that, or make you even more ironic.

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