Virginia Text books inaccuracies

[Jedi Master Carr]

Wish Jedieb still posted here, I wonder what he had heard about these horrible errors.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Virginia-Textbooks-Full-of-Errors-112635439.html

Being a historian, I am a appalled at the errors, not sure how you can get U.S entrance to World War One wrong or that New Orleans wasn't part of the U.S until 1803-1804. Then there is the Civil War errors by saying that thousands of African-Americans served in the Confederate army is just untrue. The Confederacy didn't want them to serve because it would give them guns and they were too concerned of a race war (that was something that terrified the South since the 1700s). They only allowed free African-Americans to serve in 1865 as the article mentioned out of desperation. However I was not surprised to learn where the author received this source, a website for the Sons of Confederate veterans that wants people to believe slaves were happy and the war was not about slavery. I am glad to hear they are changing these text books and teaching a more accurate side of history to kids.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

That is pretty incredible. Whoever ordered those textbooks should be fired.

[Blade Bacquin]

*shrugs* It's bad but it's happened before with other companies that have print history books before. All I'm saying is half the time these books are made by a company that really doesn't give a crap they are just out to make a buck. To them who cares if it's correct your children don't need to know there history to work in there factories.

I'm actually more apauled by the fact that are goverment doesn't give two shit about education that more then just this company actually get away with this shit. I'm more apaulled that kids today get more education from the internet and things like wikiapedia then do from the public school system.

These companies that supply the books for the education system get away with cutting corners and highering half assed researchers because a real historian would cost them to much. It's sad really companies get greedy and they earn there dollar while education declines in it's true value. I could go off on a conspiracy how it's all a ploy to keep the masses iggnorant so the rich have one slave work force that knows nothing about the real world.

I'm history buff always have been it was one of the few things in school I actually took intiative and applied myself in because I couldn't get enough. So it is all ways sad to see things like this but it happens all the time and simply because of cutting corners out of greed and are goverment supports this kind of action.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Just crazy.

Especially when you think that the things you are taught in school, you often accept point-blank because it's being delivered to you by a supposedly well-educated person, with some specialised knowledge in their field.

Are there still states in the US that are obliged to teach kids creationism instead of evolution?

[Morgan Evanar]

*shrugs* It's bad but it's happened before with other companies that have print history books before. All I'm saying is half the time these books are made by a company that really doesn't give a crap they are just out to make a buck. To them who cares if it's correct your children don't need to know there history to work in there factories.

I'm actually more apauled by the fact that are goverment doesn't give two shit about education that more then just this company actually get away with this shit. I'm more apaulled that kids today get more education from the internet and things like wikiapedia then do from the public school system.

These companies that supply the books for the education system get away with cutting corners and highering half assed researchers because a real historian would cost them to much. It's sad really companies get greedy and they earn there dollar while education declines in it's true value. I could go off on a conspiracy how it's all a ploy to keep the masses iggnorant so the rich have one slave work force that knows nothing about the real world.

I'm history buff always have been it was one of the few things in school I actually took intiative and applied myself in because I couldn't get enough. So it is all ways sad to see things like this but it happens all the time and simply because of cutting corners out of greed and are goverment supports this kind of action.The problem is that the cutting corners is not out of greed, but because there are some people in certain states (read: Texas board of education) who have a set agenda to misinform people.

[Rossos Atrapes]

Are there still states in the US that are obliged to teach kids creationism instead of evolution?

I believe there are schools which still teach creationism alongside evolution. As far as I'm aware, the reasoning is that evolution's still a theory (and probably always will be), and so it shouldn't be taught as if it were a law, excluding other theories. At least, that's the best reasoning I've heard for it, and that's not much. If there were more than two competing theories I could see it, but with just creationism and evolution, it can't really stand due to the evidence.

My brother was home-schooled for a while, and the company my mom used had an older science book. It said at one point that fossils were put there by God to test our faith or something equally hilarious. We had some good laughs over that one, and some of the illustrations in it were just as crazy funny.

[Samantha Koortyn]

The thing is, creationism is a hypothesis which has not been tested, nor has any proof. Evolution is a theory, similar to the theory of gravity, or the theory of relativity, both of which have been fully tested and which we totally accept as true because of the mountains of proof for both.

And not only that, evolution's been observed in real time. And well, so has gravity. :p

I'm really amazed that I grew up in the American South, and at the time this was never an issue; there was no creationism even heard of and religion in general left my education that day in second grade when my teacher stopped leading a prayer before lunch. No fanfare, nothing. Just me saying "hey, why didn't we do a prayer?" which my teacher ignored, and which I find humorously ironic today.

[Darth Turbogeek]

AHAHA, yes like Evolution is a "theory" with "evidence" that is in the same league as Realitivity and Gravity.

No, it's not. Far, FAR from it.

Even top line biologists think it shouldn't be taught at schools as most of what's in text books is total rubbish and WILL be repudiated within a generation. If you saw my biology books you would know why I also equate "evolution" with "creationism" as religious rubbish - and that's exactly how both sides are, religious ideas with priests, bishops and mouth breathing retards who throw out platitudes as "evidence" to defend faith systems that bouy their world view.

The fact is that text books in most fields that have any amount of fluidity about them are not worth the paper they are written on. Religious study even has this ridiculous amount of theory and counter theory swirling around that makes what was said 20 years ago look stupid.

Interestingly the field I work in hasn't changed at all in 20 years, despite flashier lights and prettier words. My text books are remarkably valid what with the return of mainframe style hosting

History however is not one of said fields - it just gets added to - and the point Morg makes is exactly what needs to be avoided.

[Anne Phoenix]

Without being a major in either of the fields, I've always thought of it being a combination of both creation and evolution, with a healthy dose of spontaneous thrown into the mix. Call it creavolutaneous, or something like that. :lol

[Morgan Evanar]

Without being a major in either of the fields, I've always thought of it being a combination of both creation and evolution, with a healthy dose of spontaneous thrown into the mix. Call it creavolutaneous, or something like that. :lolThat's nonsensical.

Mark: evolution is a fact. It should be taught in schools, because it's observable and functional. Anything else is hogwash.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Microevolution (gene change and mutation within a species) is a fact and is observable. This is in fact what Darwin observed with the finches on Galapagos, yes?

Macroevolution (mutation and change from one species to another) is a theory and is not observable because it takes so long, according to the theory.

edit: but then I believe God created the earth. Both evolution and what I believe must ultimately be taken on faith, if you've done the research.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Welp, I unintentionally opened a can of worms here, so I'm closing this thread before the inevitable/pointless debate occurs.