Ikone Evolucije

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Ikone Evolucije Ikone evolucije Nauka ili mit? Džonatan Vels Zšto je tako mnogo od onoga što u čimo o evoluciji pogrešno Naslov originala: Icons of Evolution by Jonathan Wells “Ikonografija ube ñivanja poga ña, čak i više od re či, srž našeg bi ća. Svaki demagog, svaki obmanjiva č, svaki reklamni agent, zna i iskoriš ćava ube|uju ću mo ć dobro izabrane slike... Ali, mnoge od naših slika su otelotvorenje ideja maskiranih u neutralne opise prirode. Ovo su najmo ćniji izvori prilago ñavanja, pošto nas ideje, koje se iznose kao opisi, navode da izjedna čavamo eksperimentalno sa nedvosmisleno ta čnim.” - Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989, p. 28) Predgovor Za vreme mojih studija fizi~kih nauka i postdiplomskih studija biologije na Univerzitetu Kalifornija, Berkli, verovao sam skoro svemu {to sam ~itao u svojim ud`benicima. Znao sam da su knjige sadr`avale manji broj {tamparskih gre{ki i manje ~injeni~ke gre{ke, i bio sam skep- ti~an na filozofske tvrdnje koje su i{le izvan tih dokaza, ali sam mislio da je ve}ina onoga {to sam u~io bilo u su{tini ta~no. Ipak, dok sam zavr{avao svoj doktorat iz }elijske i razvojne biologije, primetio sam da su svi moji ud`benici koji se bave evolucionom biologi- jom sadr`avali nedopustivu gre{ku - crte`i embriona ki~menjaka pokazu- ju sli~nosti koje su trebale da budu dokaz za poreklo od zajedni~kog pretka. Ali, kao embriolog znao sam da su crte`i pogre{ni. Ne samo da su iskrivljeno prikazivali embrione koje je trebalo da prikazuju, nego su tako|e izostavljali ranije stupnjeve na kojima embrioni izgledaju veoma razli~ito jedni od drugih. Moja procena crte`a embriona potvr|ena je 1997. godine kada su bri- tanski embriolog Majkl Ri~ardson (Michael Richardson) i njegovi sarad- nici objavili ~lanak u ~asopisu Anatomy and Embryology, upore|uju}i crte`e iz ud`benika sa pravim embrionima. Ri~ardson je kasnije citiran u vode}em ameri~kom ~asopisu Science kako ka`e: "Izgleda da se ispostavlja da je to jedna od najve}ih prevara u biologiji." Pa ipak, ve}ina ljudi ostaje nesvesna istine, a ~ak i ud`benici objav- ljeni posle 1997. godine nastavljaju da prikazuju ove pogre{ne crte`e. Otkrio sam da i mnogi drugi primeri iz ud`benika tako|e iskrivljeno prikazuju dokaze za evoluciju. Isprva mi je bilo te{ko da u to verujem. Kako je mogu}e da toliko mnogo ud`benika sadr`i toliko puno pogre{nih predstava, i to tako dugo? Za{to nisu prime}ene ranije? Zatim sam otkrio da su drugi biolozi primetili ve}inu njih, i da su ih ~ak kri- tikovali u pisanoj formi, ali su njihove kritike bile ignorisane. Obrazac je dosledan i ukazuje na ne{to vi{e od proste gre{ke. U naj- manju ruku, ukazuje na to da darvinizam ohrabruje izvrtanje istine. 3 Koliko se ovih izvrtanja ~ini nesvesno, a koliko namerno, ostaje da se vidi. Ali, je rezultat jasan: Studenti i javnost se sistematski pogre{no POGLAVLJE 1 informi{u o dokazima za evoluciju. Ova knjiga govori o tim dokazima. Da bi ih dokumentovao, koristio sam citate iz radova stotine nau~nika, od kojih ve}ina veruje u darvi- nisti~ku evoluciju. Kada ih citiram, to ne ~inim zbog toga {to `elim da izgleda kao da oni odbacuju Darvinovu teoriju; ve}ina od njih je ne odbacuje. Citiram ih zato {to su eksperti po pitanju tih dokaza. Uvod Gde god je bilo mogu}e, izbegavao sam stru~ni jezik. Za one koji ho}e vi{e detalja, uklju~io sam opse`ne bele{ke na kraju knjige koje upu}uju na nau~nu literaturu. Namena bele{ki nije da budu iscrpne (osim tamo gde nabrajaju izvore citata), ve} da pomognu ~itaocima koji `ele da istra`uju stvari podrobnije. Posle teksta poglavlja slede dva dodatka. Prvi kriti~ki procenjuje "Nauka je traganje za istinom", pisao je hemi~ar Linus Pauling, dobit- deset {iroko kori{}enih ud`benika biologije, od srednje {kole pa do post- nik dve Nobelove nagrade. Brus Alberts (Bruce Alberts), sada{nji diplomskog nivoa. Drugi predla`e upozoravaju}e etikete, kao one koje predsednik Ameri~ke akademije nauka, sla`e se: "Nauka i la` ne mogu se koriste na kutijama za cigarete, za {kole koje bi mo`da `elele da ih da koezistiraju", rekao je Alberts u maju 2000. godine, citiraju}i izrael- postave u svoj nastavni materijal da bi upozorili |ake i studente na skog dr`avnika [imona Pereza (Shimon Peres). "Ne postoji nau~na la`, i pogre{ne informacije. ne mo`ete nau~no da la`ete. Nauka je u osnovi traganje za istinom." Mnogi ljudi su bili veoma ljubazni da pregledaju i daju komentar na Za ve}inu ljudi, suprotnost od nauke je mit. Mit je pri~a koja mo`e ovaj moj rukopis. Neki od njih su to javno u~inili, a drugi su `eleli da da ispuni subjektivnu potrebu, ili otkriva ne{to duboko o ljudskoj psihi, ostanu anonimni. U pojedinim slu~ajevima, ovi drugi su izabrali ano- ali kako je op{te prihva}eno, mit nije opis objektivne stvarnosti. "Ve}ina nimnost da ne bi do{li pod udar od strane ljudi koji se odlu~no protive nau~nika uzdrhti", pi{e biv{i urednik ~asopisa Science Rod`er Levin zaklju~cima ove knjige. (Roger Lewin), "kada se re~ 'mit' prika~i za ono {to oni vide kao traga- nje za istinom". Naravno, nauka ima mitske elemente, zato {to ih imaju - Sijetl, Va{ington svi ljudski poduhvati. Ali nau~nici imaju pravo da uzdrhte kada se nji- Jul 2000. hove izjave nazivaju mitovima, zato {to je njihov cilj da umanje pripovedanje pri~a i uve}aju objektivnu istinu. Traganje za istinom nije samo plemenito, ve} i veoma korisno. Obezbe|uju}i nam {to je pribli`nije mogu}e pravo razumevanje prirodnog sveta, nauka nam obezbe|uje da `ivimo sigurnijim, zdravijim i produktivnijim `ivotom. Kada nauka ne bi bila potraga za istinom, na{i mostovi ne bi izdr`ali terete koje stavljamo na njih, na{i `ivoti ne bi bili dugi kao {to jesu i savremena tehnolo{ka civilizacija ne bi postojala. Pripovedanje pri~a je tako|e va`na preduzimljivost. Bez pri~a, ne bismo imali kulturu. Ali mi ne pozivamo pripoveda~e pri~a da grade mostove ili da vr{e hirur{ke operacije. Za takve zadatke, prednost daje- mo ljudima koji su disciplinovali sebe da razumeju realnosti ~elika i tela. 4 5 Disciplinovanost nauke je otada postalo uveliko o~igledno - sudbina nacije le`i na sposobnosti njenih gra|ana da razumeju i iskoriste informacije o svetu oko njih." Kako nau~nici disciplinuju sebe da bi razumeli svet prirode? Filozofi Ameri~ki okru`ni sudija D`ejms Graham (James Graham) potvrdio nauke su odgovorili na ovo pitanje na razli~ite na~ine, ali jedna stvar je je ovu D`efersonovu izjavu u ~lanku novina iz Ohaja, u maju 2000. sigurna - svaka teorija koja ima za cilj da bude nau~na mora nekako, u godine. Graham je napisao: "Nauka nije tajno sve{tenstvo. Svaka osoba nekom trenutku, da bude upore|ena sa posmatranjima ili eksperimenti- prose~ne inteligencije bi, uz malo marljivosti, trebala da mo`e da razume ma. Prema uputstvu o predavanju nauke iz 1998. godine koju je objavila i kriti~ki proceni nau~nu teoriju." Nacionalna akademija nauka, "priroda nauke je da testira i iznova testi- I preporuka Nacionalne akademije i novinski ~lanak sudije Grahama ra obja{njenja, upore|uju}i ih sa prirodnim svetom". pisani su u kontekstu prisutnog spora oko evolucije. Ali je prvo pisano Teorije koje pre`ive ponovljena testiranja mogu probno da budu da brani Darvinovu teoriju, dok je drugo pisano da brani neke od njenih smatrana za istinita tvr|enja o svetu. Ali, ako postoji trajan konflikt kriti~ara. Drugim re~ima, branioci, kao i kriti~ari Darvinove evolucije, izme|u teorije i ~injenica, prvo mora da popusti pred drugim. Kao {to je pozivaju se na inteligenciju i mudrost ameri~kog naroda da re{i spor. filozof nauke iz sedamnaestog veka Frensis Bekon (Francis Bacon) Ova knjiga je pisana u ube|enju da nau~ne teorije uop{te, a rekao, moramo da slu{amo Prirodu da bi njom zavladali. Kada nauka ne Darvinova teorija posebno, mogu da budu procenjene od strane uspeva da slu{a prirodu, mostovi se ru{e i pacijenti umiru na opera- inteligentne osobe koja ima pristup ~injenicama. Ali pre nego {to cionom stolu. pogledamo dokaze za evoluciju, moramo da znamo {ta je to evolucija. Testiranje teorija sa ~injenicama nikad ne prestaje. Preporuka Nacionalne akademije pravilno navodi da je "svo nau~no znanje, u prin- cipu, podlo`no promeni kada nove ~injenice postanu dostupne". Nije bitno koliko dugo je teorija va`ila ili koliko nau~nika trenutno veruje u [ta je evolucija? nju. Ako se pojave protivre~ni dokazi, teorija mora da bude ponovo pro- cenjena ili ~ak napu{tena. U suprotnom, to nije nauka, ve} mit. Biolo{ka evolucija je teorija da su sva `iva bi}a izmenjeni potomci Da bi se obezbedilo da se teorije objektivno testiraju i da ne postanu zajedni~kog pretka koji je `iveo u dalekoj pro{losti. Ona tvrdi da smo vi subjektivni mitovi, ispitivanje mora da bude javno, a ne privatno. "Ovaj i ja potomci majmunolikih predaka, a da su oni potekli od jo{ primi- proces javnog ispitivanja", po preporuci Nacionalne akademije, "bitan je tivnijih `ivotinja. deo nauke. On uti~e da se elimini{u individualne predrasude i subjek- Ovo je primarno zna~enje "evolucije" me|u biolozima. "Biolo{ka tivnost, zato {to i drugi moraju da budu u mogu}nosti da odrede da li je evolucija", po preporuci Nacionalne akademije, "obja{njava da `iva bi}a predlo`eno obja{njenje u saglasnosti sa dostupnim ~injenicama".
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