Interview with Tony Blair in New Scientist

[Psudopod]

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19225761.300-interview-tony-blair-on-science.html

Found this quite an interesting interview. Tony Blair beign quizzed about science in this weeks New Scientist. I'm not sure how long the link will remain vaild - you need a login to search the archives.

One of the things he mentions is the idea of teaching creationism in UK schools.

"One subject that is of great concern to scientists is creationism. There has been a suggestion that creationism is being taught in some British schools. What are your views on this?

This can be hugely exaggerated. I've visited one of the schools in question and as far as I'm aware they are teaching the curriculum in a normal way. If I notice creationism becoming the mainstream of the education system in this country then that's the time to start worrying. As I've said, it's really important for science to fight the battles it needs to fight. When something like MMR arises, or stem cells, that's the time to have a real debate."

 

[Hydra009]

"If I notice creationism becoming the mainstream of the education system in this country then that's the time to start worrying."

By then it's already almost too late.

One thing that struck me in the interview: It's pretty accurate but nonetheless hilarious that he references homeopathy as something that is not only wrong, but so inept that it should be a low priority for scientists to debate it and then heavily implies that creationism is the same way. Instead, he says that a higher priority should be put on scientists explaining global warming and new discoveries in genetics to the general public.

 

[Chalnoth]

Nice, but he's also not in the US. Creationism is a vastly larger problem on this side of the pond.

 

[Hydra009]

Nice, but he's also not in the US. Creationism is a vastly larger problem on this side of the pond.

Agreed. We have a lot more distance to cover in the U.S. It's hard to tackle issues like climate change and genetic engineering when a large portion of the population over here can't even come to terms with a planet that is more than 10,000 years old.

 

[MartinM]

As I've said, it's really important for science to fight the battles it needs to fight. When something like MMR arises, or stem cells, that's the time to have a real debate."

Having a real debate on MMR or stem cells requires an informed public who understand how science works, and how to tell it from pseudoscience. You don't get that by giving creationism a pass just because it isn't very popular over here at present. You get that by stamping on pseudoscience and hammering home the correct scientific position whenever possible.