Errors stacked on errors...

I was roughly 16 when the idea was presented to me.  An explanation of nature that had been popular for centuries.  Many of the great minds thought it an adequate explanation including Aristotle and continued to have proponents even after its tenants had been disproven.

The presentation resonated poorly with me.  I felt that its discussion was not the bailiwick of a Biology class.  It, like the ideas of humors and ether, were now the possession of history.  Although the idea had been believed, that in no way gave it merit.

The idea was labeled "spontaneous generation".  Treatises and even experiments were conducted to validate the belief.  In truth, it stood up to some scrutiny.  For those of you not aware, the theory was disproven by Louis Pasteur in several experiments and some rather brilliant correspondence between 1859 and 1862.  As a result of these experiments, you can, if you wish, view broth than has been sterile since before the U.S. civil war.

The tale taught me much.  I learned what my own beliefs were regarding science and its instruction.  I learned that everything can be put into question.  I learned that the very idea of higher forms of life simply jumping into being was anathema to me.

While writing this, I have again been made aware of how little time we've had.  The mystical, unexplainable world was not really questioned until the 19th century.  Germ theory and atomic theory are new.  All of our knowledge of the subatomic was gained in the last 100 years.  Our entire concept of the universe was changed a dozen times during the 19th century and again in the 20th century.

Assuming that our current model of the universe is correct would be foolish.  We have learned much, but we already know there are problems with the conventional view of the universe and problems with many of the theories thus far proposed.  Experiments need to be devised and when they are, the surviving theories will become the conventional view and the cycle will repeat.

For now, let us stop boring our children with ancient theories that have no validity.  Such things are now anecdotes of history.  Teach them what we "know" and allow them to take the next step.