In the West, the practical applications of his teachings were used to hybridize plants with each other and create improved varieties for human benefit. Only in the Soviet power was the process interrupted in Ivo, as a result of the handiwork of Trop Lysenko, a politician who considered himself a scientist
The Soviet Union of the 19s and XNUMXs was not a friendly place for biology professors. The accumulated facts clearly showed that the animals and plants in the sea, in the air, and on land all evolved through natural selection: the creature suited to its environment survives and produces many offspring, thus passing its characteristics on to future generations. The monk scientist Gregor Mendel showed at the end of the XNUMXth century how living things are able to pass their traits on to future generations, and many biologists in the West used the practical applications of his teachings to cross-breed plants with each other and create improved varieties for human benefit. Only in the Soviet power was the process interrupted in Ibo, as a result of the handiwork of Trop Lysenko, a politician who considered himself a scientist.
Lysenko first rose to prominence when he revealed a new method he had developed for fertilizing fields, without using fertilizers or minerals. He claimed that in this way he was able to make a whole field produce a crop of peas even during the harsh winter in Azerbaijan. The Soviet press praised the 'ordinary scientist', the simple farmer who surpassed the educated academics, and who might solve the problem of hunger and droughts and produce a double crop from every field.
The academic community in the Soviet Union received Lysenko's initial studies with suspicion, but agreed to submit them to scrutiny. The scientists repeated the experiments as described by Lysenko, but only a few managed to obtain similar results in those experiments - a fact that raises a strong suspicion of forgeries in any scientific research and caused scientists to alienate Lysenko. Another problem was that Lysenko came out against the idea of evolution and natural selection, and claimed that plants are able to develop new traits through 'willpower' and slow adaptation. That is, if we expose one pea plant to the cold, and continue to cool it more and more, it will slowly adapt itself to resistance to the cold, and even to the freezing winter of Russia.
Despite the government's support for Lysenko, scientists came out with a sharp criticism against Lysenko. If it had faced them in the accepted framework of experiments and testing scientific theories against reality, it could not have won. But Lysenko was smarter. He bypassed the scientists and went directly to Stalin asking for support. The leaders of the Communist Party accepted Lysenko's ideas with open arms and held them up as a Soviet and Communist science based on willpower and strength of character, in clear contrast to the 'capitalist' natural selection of the West. In 1929, the decision was made, in practice, that no criticism of Lysenko should be expressed, and the great period of purification began among the scientists of the Soviet Union.
During these years, Lysenko was placed at the head of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the Soviet Union, and was given the responsibility of purifying and removing the disobedient scientists from the academy. Anyone who criticized Lysenko's experiments or his theory was sent to prison, labor camps, or death—and all too often all three. Lysenko alone was responsible for the dismissal, imprisonment and execution of hundreds of scientists, all of whom were guilty of trying to study genetics and Mendelian inheritance within the borders of the Soviet Union. Lysenko remained in his position as director of the institute until 1964 - more than a generation during which the entire science of biology in the Soviet Union froze.
If Lysenko's influence started and ended only in the academy, it would be fine. However, without the science of genetics and without understanding evolution based on natural selection, the Soviet scientists could not interpret reality as it is, and the clumsy studies they conducted failed to produce real results. The peasants of the Soviet Union starved to death by the millions in the thirties and forties as a result of failed planting strategies promoted by Lisenko and improper distribution of the seeds among the population. In the great famine of 1947 alone, over a million people died, and the economy of the Soviet Union suffered a severe blow. As part of the consequences of the famine, the Soviet Union never experienced the 'baby boom' period of increased birth rates after the Second World War, and in the years that followed it had difficulty dealing with the Western countries with the young and developing economy.
Lysenko's political status began to deteriorate following the famine and the change of government that followed Stalin's death in 1953, but it took another ten long years before the scientific community was allowed to revisit his scientific work. A skilled team of scientists and public figures was sent to re-examine how the principles advanced by Lisenko stand up to reality. The fatal report they published was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Lysenko resigned from any scientific and public office for the rest of his life. He died ten years later, despised by the public and scientists alike.
It is difficult to exaggerate the description of Lysenko's harmful influence on his native country. The failed theories he promoted, while completely ignoring reality and the scientific consensus, led to a sharp worsening of the famine in the Soviet Union and were part of the decline of the Soviet power. The students did not learn real science, but a jumble of superstitions and superstitions, the validity of which was not tested in a systematic and orderly manner, and which is as valuable as the skin of garlic. The consequences reach to this day, and biological sciences, biotechnology and biomedicine in Russia are still largely inferior to those in the West.
The world was not exempt either: the Chinese used Lysenko's methods to promote agriculture in their country, and suffered from a severe famine in the early XNUMXs. According to some estimates, between twenty and forty million Chinese perished in that period in the Great Famine, caused by a combination of natural disasters and government mismanagement of agriculture.
What is the lesson that can be learned from the Lysenko case? If you answered that "it is clear that evolution is true and Lisenko was wrong because he challenged the foundations of natural selection," then you missed the point. Evolution is indeed a scientific theory that has already been proven in hundreds of thousands of separate experiments, in thousands of laboratories around the world. But with all that, it is still a scientific theory and therefore always subject to testing and criticism. If the day comes when the theory of evolution does not fit the evidence that science will reveal, then it will be necessary to replace it with another, more successful theory. The scientist who succeeds in conceiving such a theory will gain worldwide fame, similar to Darwin, Galileo and Einstein, who offered alternatives to failed scientific theories. However, until now not even a trace of such evidence has been discovered, and the theory of evolution enjoys such a solid foundation that it is difficult to assume that such a contradiction will be found in the future as well. And yet, the scientific community continues to search.
The real moral from the affair, which was well internalized especially in the West, is that there must be a separation between science and politics and personal belief. Idyllic science examines reality, which is fixed and absolute, without bias. Politics, on the other hand, relies on the power relations between people, and these tend to change from year to year. Last but not least, belief is a factor that exists in every person and is not accountable to reality. Despite the claims of the priests of all religions, so far not even one religion has been able to prove its correctness, or at least its superiority over all the others. Therefore, every person is free to believe whatever they want, provided that they do not present their beliefs as science (ie, as reality), or try to impose their beliefs and ways on others. Science, to this day, is used as the best method for understanding reality, and for deciphering new and successful ways to benefit all of humanity. Any imposition of politics or faith on science will inevitably lead to the corruption of all three. Similarly, any attempt to teach the younger generation 'science' in accordance with political and/or religious requirements, is doomed to failure.
Lysenko died thirty-four years ago, but his spirit still prevails in our regions. We were only recently informed that Gabi Avital, the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Education, Doctor of Aeronautics, is already establishing himself as an authority on scientific subjects, the connection between which is tenuous at best and threatens to force our children to learn opinions that are not part of science. And as he said, "If the textbooks explicitly state that man is descended from apes - I would like the students to be exposed to other views and confront them." This requirement is also shared by creationists in the USA, who demand that the belief that the world was created in seven days be taught in science classes, as if it were equivalent to the science of evolution. Avital does not end there, but states emphatically that the earth will not be destroyed (as a result of global warming), because "God has promised us... and man's influence is negligible."
When the students do not learn to recognize the difference between faith, opinion and science - and worse, when the chief scientist of the Ministry of Education does not recognize the difference - what chance does Israel have of advancing into the next decade as a scientifically developed country?
If you too are not satisfied with Gabi Avital's statements and believe that it is appropriate that a person more connected to reality guide the future of our children, you are welcome to write to tluna@education.gov.il and express your opinion.
38 תגובות
Just in case anyone buys the liar's partial quote from number 25. The real Charles Darwin completed this sentence with:
But I think it can be largely explained.
And continued the explanation:
http://www.classicreader.com/book/107/45/
An article about it!
I myself intend to send a complaint + an appeal to the Minister of Education regarding the matter.
It's just a shame that at the bottom of the article, there is an advertisement for "getting rich is an exact science"
which makes use of a supposedly "scientific" yet "throw away your money for a get-rich-quick dream" venture
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1152752.html
microcosm:
What is a crucifix?
Prove him wrong?
This is not called a cross. This is what happens to every wrong scientist.
also. His theory was disproved.
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/spetner.cfm
http://home.wxs.nl/~gkorthof/kortho36.htm#Par6
Mashal. Those who are confident in their path and worldview can allow themselves to face an opposing opinion without fear. What is amazing is that you slander all other religions...
"...the scientist who succeeds in conceiving such a theory will gain worldwide fame, similar to Darwin, Galileo and Einstein."
In the meantime, anyone who dared to offer a different (and more logical) explanation for the evolution of species was crucified by the Darwinian Inquisition (see the example of Dr. Lee Saptner and the adaptation theory of organisms - no, it was not disproved).
Cheers to Roy again! And Michael-we already gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Arafat, hence the similarity in the example you gave is not so far-fetched and therefore the comparison is not appropriate...
Roy,
Great article!
Align power!
It is not possible for a person who expresses himself in such an unscientific manner to hold the position of the chief scientist of the Ministry of Education!!!
It's like giving Hitler and Stalin a Nobel Peace Prize and defining them as followers of nations, however!
Do you mean to say that anyone who denies the connection between human activity and global warming is not a scientific theory but heresy in enlightened science? So I am suspicious that you are the one who did not learn from the story you yourself brought
To Charles Darwin.
Don't forget the social situation in which Charles Darwin (the real one) operated. He came up with a revolutionary theory which in the eyes of the entire religious establishment
of his time was considered a serious heresy in the faith. He should have "sold" them this "heresy" thing in such a way that at least they wouldn't rise up and kill him immediately. Hence the seemingly hesitant wording. Indeed Darwin was a genius not only in the field of understanding evolution but also in the field of understanding the human soul. He managed to come up with such a revolutionary theory in a conservative religious society
And not only to stay alive, but also to be considered an elite scientist among his contemporaries.
It is not true to say that man was created from the monkey, what is more, it is insulting. It is true to say that man is a product of development, most of whose intermediate stages are shared with those of the apes. And to capture the feelings of the offended, we can also add that man evolved in such a way that he left the monkeys far behind. Although this is not a scientific statement (for example, the definition of success depends on the niche and it is not certain that a person who gets stuck in the forest will be more successful than his neighbor the gorilla) but in any case the offended are not familiar with the terms of the language.
Elsewhere I saw that it was claimed that Stephen J. Gould did not believe in evolution
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3853247,00.html
And now also that Darwin did not believe (response 25).
And what's next? Didn't Einstein think the theory of relativity was correct either? Or maybe the correct answer is that Moses did not believe in God at all?
Didn't Jesus say, Eli, Eli, why have you forsaken me"...
25:
What an interesting quote.
Do you think Darwin didn't believe in evolution or did you just quote out of context?
Besides - I hope you know that 150 years have passed since the publication of the book and in the meantime thousands of intermediate stages have been found.
...Why, if species have descended from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all nature in confusion, instead of the species being, as we see them, well defined?... But, as by this theory innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?... But in the intermediate region, having intermediate conditions of life, why do we not now find closely-linking intermediate varieties? This difficulty for a long time quite confused me
23, I didn't understand anything. Apparently my sense of humor is lacking 🙂
Anyway, good luck later in life...
To 19.
the unsatisfied skeptic,
You did put me in my place. I used a kind of trick called "straw man". Two different things are called, the original thing and its straw model, with the same name and the straw model is referred to in the argument.
You are right when you say that the excellent articles should be separated from the comments.
Number 21, Noam, said that the least serious thing is to write anonymously. He is absolutely right. The names and faces of the writers on the site are exposed to all and they are ready to stand behind the articles published on the site.
On the other hand, many of the commenters, myself included, are only willing to write when their name is hidden and the IP address is exposed only to the site administrators. So who are the creationists who write comments? Why are they ashamed to reveal their identity like the writers on the site?
Indeed... and not Achan)-:
To 18
To me, the least serious thing is to write anonymously.
The site is serious, the articles on it are reliable, serious and interesting
As mentioned, the site is open to everyone, and there is no censorship even on nonsensical and creative comments
Roy, well done for the link between Gabi Avital and Tropis Lysenko! This is indeed an excellent way to illustrate the danger of this political appointment (for those who did not understand it until now).
For 18 and 15 - Nathan.
Here is my impression of the site:
The site is indeed a serious scientific one.
And if you count the responses, you are counting the entire nation of Israel (for what it's worth, most of them are complete laymen - so am I)
The site could have blocked all comments but then it would have lost a lot of itself and I'm glad it allows comments.
The writers here, write only about the field in which they specialize and I am quite sure that any other academic who specializes in their field will agree with their articles.
Do you have a different opinion? Do you have the authority on the subject? Please specify here. Write an article on the subject and send it to the editor...
And in general you are speaking in general terms, please point to specific articles which do not agree with the opinion of most scientists in the same field...
Your claims are insufficient...
To 17.
Noam,
A serious science site? Most of the people who write here are creationists and science fans who don't necessarily know what they are talking about. (If you also take into account the commenters)
It's not a serious site, it's just a confused swamp.
Nathan,
It is true that Purim is approaching, but that is no reason to write nonsense on a serious science website.
Evolution is an excellent scientific theory, like quantum theory, relativity and more.
It has no rabbis on its head, no priests, no politicians and no commissars - it is committed only to the scientific method, and through it to the scientific truth.
It is true that religious people are deathly afraid of it, because it directly conflicts with their religious beliefs. It is an unfortunate situation for them, but there is nothing to be done - the scientific truth cannot be stopped for a long time.
Whether you like the comments on the site or not, you also will not be able to stop the truth, and the sooner you understand this (for example by studying the theory of evolution in an orderly manner), the better off you will be.
check=> CEL -on a standard-
To the editor:
Evolution may not be a religion, but it is certainly a party with clear communist markings.
Your writers are probably acting as commissars for good science.
I repeat over and over again, over the pages of this website, my proposal from yesterday, to promote Dr. Gabi Avital to the position of... Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Religion.
There is no doubt that B.H. is suitable for the position, the position is suitable for him and the Ministry of Religion will be blessed in both.
Gabi Avital is only the tip of the iceberg of the problem and its symptom.
We must understand what is the fundamental problem that arises?
I think the problem is ideology. An ideology that claims to be the "only correct and absolute social and economic existential truth".
This is what is common between the USSR of the early-mid 20th century, where the communist ideology ruled, and Israel of the early 21st century, where the privatization-capitalist ideology rules.
Bibi Netanyahu and his Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar believe that every problem has one and only one good solution and that is... privatization. including the privatization of the education system, education, research and development. As a first step to privatize every good thing that exists in the country, they aim to turn it from "good" to "bad".
Then their associates will be able to purchase it at a cheap price. See the case of the flagship universities in Israel - Tel Aviv, Technion and VM. The R&D budgets are cut, the academic level is lowered to the level of a professional training college, if any university president tries to protect the public and academic interest, then he is kicked out by "liquidation contractors" On behalf of the government and on behalf of the capital owners (usually attorneys or attorneys). Dr. Gabi Avital is part of the implementation of the ideology of privatization, he is an experimental balloon, one of many. Unfortunately, so are (some...) academics, however educated and talented they may be in their field. If they do not have a political-social outlook, they can be bought for "Nazid" lentils".
It seems to me that the story of Trop Lysenko contains an important message for every scientist. First and foremost for every scientist.
To Mr. Roschild (10):
I brought to the discussion some points for thought. I have no answers to the questions I asked.
Lisa:
What "other opinions" are you and he talking about? Can I get a hint? Are these opinions backed by scientific research and critical thinking? no and no! These are religious views.
Not only are these religious views, but these are views that the students are exposed to today much more than evolution. I guess you've heard about Torah studies?! Know that these studies cause irreparable damage to some children! I say this because I have already encountered several victims of the matter.
Regarding the green matter - what is important here is not the conclusion but the consideration that brings it to it. This is a consideration that completely nullifies the scientific consideration. This is the consideration that led Jews who obeyed their rabbis to the gas chambers.
Do you really want such a delusional chief scientist in the Ministry of Education?
well done!
I would like to inject some skepticism into the discussion. These are my doubts regarding the criticism of the scientist:
1. "I would like the students to be exposed to other opinions and deal with them." - I ask is it so terrible?
2. "God promised us... and man's influence is negligible." - Doesn't the deterministic view lead us to a similar conclusion? And what about the indeterministic view?
Regarding 1, my personal opinion is that there is nothing wrong with that.
Regarding 2: Well this is a very complicated question - does a person have influence? On the one hand the answer is clear! When I do things I see their effect. When I do things differently I see the different effect.
On the other hand, if we look at the classical scientific picture of the world - all reality is dictated by particles whose deterministic laws of motion determine their position at any point in time (I have no influence here). If we look at the modern scientific world picture - the thing is even stranger - not only do I have no influence, but reality at the most basic level is random. extremely strange…
Regarding Lysenko - I support Mr. Tsenza's lesson from the story - the problem is not Lysenko's scientific views, the problem is his decisive and totalitarian approach to scientific practice.
It is worth publishing as a mandatory reading article in the education system.
Roi Cezana, your hands will be strengthened! Important and well written article. Many religious scientists also agree with you. The Torah was not meant to be a science book and every story presented in the Torah is meant to convey a moral message and in fact it is not really important if the story was true.
In response 3, instead of the word 'meat', there was chel 'bashkar'.
The danger is not in the lie - but in the meat involved in the truth.
The danger is not in stupidity - but in learned stupidity.
The danger is not in ideology - but in ideology masquerading as science.
That is why Lysenkoism was dangerous.
That's why Czazenism is also dangerous.
Azov is just like a Nazi
When does Gabi Avital start in Tohor, is there a date yet?
Did you write all this long text just so you can try to get a person (a scientist with credentials to be noted) who is not part of the barangay fired?
Would you be shocked when the Minister of Education tried to push for the education of Israeli children based on the poems of the Palestinian terror poet?
You yourself involve a debate in politics.
You are the politician here
Change your name to Linsko!