Out of fairness, shouldn “alternative theories” like Creationism be given equal time in science classrooms?
There are two problems with this question. First, science is not a realm in which all ideas have equal merit. Scientists make every effort to avoid relativism. Relativism is the view that any and all explanations are equally valid or worthy of consideration. Relativistic thinking sees reality as merely a matter of opinion with no way for one to determine which opinion or explanation is more accurate, more likely to be correct, or better supported. In science, some ideas are clearly better than others. In a democratic society like our own, it is often argued that out of “fairness” all viewpoints should be addressed, regardless of their consistency with actual scientific evidence. This type of thinking goes against the entire principle of comparative critical thinking that makes science such a reliable way of knowing. Fortunately, science is not a democracy. Not every explanation is equal when we use comparative critical thinking. Scientific explanations are constantly checked against th
