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Sunday, August 21, 2005

Strange bedfellows

The "New York Times" is running a series of articles "examining the debate over the teaching of evolution." The first article is a long introduction to the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, the think tank providing coordination and funding for the development of "intelligent design" as a "theory" worthy of anyone's attention and, ultimately, the attention of public school students in their science classes. When President Bush argues that "intelligent design" should be taught alongside evolution "so people can understand what the debate is about," the Discovery Institute is behind efforts to suggest that there really is a debate in mainstream scientific circles.

Not surprisingly for someone who wrote an undergraduate thesis on "continuity and change in the legitimation of creationism," I don't think there really is a debate. But more of that another time. Suffice it to say that intellectual dishonesty has been a big area of continuity.

The article details the Discovery Institute's funding, whose sources don't for the most part seem to be household names in the funding of scientific work--a way-right banking family, a trust from Colorado Springs dedicated to expanding evangelical Christianity, etc. Then there is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Interestingly, they provide a million dollars a year, ostensibly all for the Cascadia Center, a regional transit organization. In the article, a representative of the Gates Foundation stresses that all its money is earmarked for Cascadia, although it is also noted that the Gates money pays more than a third of the salary for the Discovery Institute's president.

The Gates Foundation's mission of fighting endemic diseases of the developing world depends on people having a sensible, scientific views of the world. It seems out of character for the Foundation to be making grants of any kind that free up the recipient's other money for use in advancing an disingenuous, intellectually dishonest and anti-scientific agenda. In fairness, the Gates Foundation has a lot of money to give away and the 10-year grant was made back in 2003.


posted at 10:08 PM

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