CREATION/EVOLUTION DEBATES

150 YEARS OF THE DEBATE

There seems to be a lull in Creation/Evolution debates now that court cases about how it should be taught or not taught in schools are not in the news each day.  The attempt to make such debates a God versus Science contest should be abandoned.

A CASE OF AQUIRED COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

The debates represent an unrecognized case of cognitive dissonance that was acquired shortly after Darwin presented his evolution ideas in the The Origin of Species as was noted in my 12th post "Darwin and God "[ http://evolutioninsights.blogspot.com/2013/06/darwin-and-god.html ].

I never connected the debates to cognitive dissonance until today (July 10, 2015) even though I had blogged about it [ http://evolutioninsights.blogspot.com/2013/05/creativity-and-cognitive-dissonance.html ] and had talked about the pertinent opposing concepts on the first page of my manuscript's preface that can be read in my post [http://evolutioninsights.blogspot.com/2014/03/evolution-insights-preface.html ].

The clash of ideas did not start with Darwin, he was originally viewing evolution as the work of the Creator.  But the vocal views of colleagues that science proved evolution and disproved any possibility of a spiritual component in the process was soon countered by vehement objections that it couldn't be true since evolution contradicted some of the literal interpretations of the creation stories in the biblical book of Genesis.

Vocal scientists and religious leaders kept the controversy going by overstating their cases in a way excluding the possibility of both having truths that are not mutually exclusive.  So when each side convinces you of the truth of their position it becomes a case of acquired cognitive dissonance.

MERGING THE VIEWS eliminates the dissonance if you can grasp the truth of each position.

Many of my posts are intended to help people along the way to such peaceful coexistence of science and spirituality.

Joseph G. Engemann    Kalamazoo, Michigan    July 10, 2015