re: #716 Charles

It is weird, isn’t it. I’ve noticed it at LGF too — engineers who are creationists.

Engineers take very little biology; a single semester is typically enough to satisfy their requirements, and an introductory, overview course in biology spends pretty much all of it’s time covering very basic stuff - an explanation of binomial nomenclature, broad overviews of fundamental animal and plant parts, an introduction to very basic laboratory techniques and so forth. Evolution is certainly covered, but not in any depth - like everything else, a very broad outline is presented rather quickly. Evolution doesn’t really come into play until later courses, particularly courses in classification and comparative anatomy, where it is profoundly significant and evident.

But engineering students never need to take those courses. Their science and mathematics courses are much more focused on physics and calculus, and higher-level coursework shifts over into the specifics of everyday life - properties of materials, static and dynamic analysis of structures, circuit design…the list goes on, and varies depending on the precise focus of the student, but biology is left far behind quickly.

People tend to remark on it when an engineer starts spouting creationism because they’re alledgedly sciencey and therefore are supposed to know about such things. In real life, they take no more biology than any other college graduate, and the sciences they concentrate in have little or no bearing on the topic of evolution.

Disturbing when they spout off, but not altogether surprising.