By Bernie Dehler
11-7-07
I ran across this DVD video series which was in my local library. The series is produced by Nova; one of a series entitled "Evolution." These two volumes are called "The Mind's Big Bang" and "What About God?" (click here for more info.) Each of the two shows are 60 minutes. Overall, I think this was well made, researched, and produced.
Here are the highlights for the one entitled "What about God."
Essentially, this is regarding the tug-of-war inside a college student's head regarding evolution and creation positions in the origin debate. They do a case study on a student at Wheaton College, which the show says is a Christian college and one of the top 50 schools in the nation. They teach both theology and science. The theology department seems to mostly take a "young earth" position on origins, and the science department takes an evolutionary position. The school is struggling to deal with this, because it also doesn't want to be labeled as "liberal," or have parents fear for their child's spiritual safety while attending there. As a student says, it is a lose-lose proposition. If they are "young earth" they are criticized for being unscientific and ignorant. If they choose evolution, they are being accused of heresy and liberalism. The show did a great job trying to capture the feelings and thoughts from all sides in the debate, and how the debate even affects family dynamics (father, son, mother).
It has a few scenes with Ken Ham (from "Answers in Genesis," a young earth group), so you can get a feel for the intensity of their position. As Ken asks, was there a global flood or not (he says yes; science says no)? Was the sun created on day 4, after things were growing on earth already (he says yes, science says no). Were people created special and individually, without evolution (he says yes, science says no).
At Wheaton, the students freely debate these origin issues, but the Professors are bound to sign a letter regarding their belief in Adam and Eve. The school made some movement to resolve issues by inviting a lecturer who was both an evolutionist and a Bible believer. The students said they found it really refreshing and liberating to find someone with the courage to state that they believed in both the Bible and evolution.
There was another section on a high school group which tried to get Intelligent Design taught in school alongside evolution, but the school board voted them down. It seemed to me that the science teachers in this case were close-minded. I think they should have taught the controversy to show kids all angles in the debate. In this case, the high school instructors seemed to me to be afraid of intellectual inquiry.
Here are the highlights for the one entitled "The Mind's Big Bang."
Essentially, this show explored how humans think and how our brain is different than primates.
First, they studied ancient humans and their bead-producing habits. Apparently, they used many beads for dress and burial. This is going beyond doing something for mere survival, which is an interesting point, compared to animals in the wild.
Next, they explored how ancient humans made art, as in cave drawings, including the production of paints and how to apply it to the wall.
Some scientists also explored the different type of spears and sword produced by Neanderthals and other early humans.
Most likely, brain development, and conscience, developed over thousands of years. it isn't like one day a monkey was born that could think like a human. They explored the cognitive differences between humans and chimps, and the remarkable communication ability of humans... including non-verbal communication, such as that which the deaf use. It turns out that if deaf humans are put into a group of similar people, they will actually create their own language; and if started earlier enough (when their brains are most open to new programming), their self-made language can be quite complex... complex enough to tell good stories with details. They shared a case study where this actually happened.
They talked of some researchers who have done studies regarding language-use among modern humans. Surprisingly, a very high percentage of language does not deal with business or commerce, but is actually social in nature (such as gossip, etc.).
A fascinating thought was the power of "memes." Memes are cultural ideas. The best memes win. Just as genes are evolving in biology, memes are evolving in the culture. They made the statement regarding human evolution now being dominated by memes. It is fascinating to consider this when you look at complicated human systems, such as commerce, politics, religion, slavery, etc. Ever hear of the "cultural war" in America? I think that is really the battle of memes on many levels and topics... survival of the fittest.
I would grade these two productions as an "A." Good job, Nova. I'm looking forward to watching the other DVD's in the series, which are also in my local library. These productions were released in 2001.
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