Student should be asking how not why - the Educational implications of teleology

 

Educational implications

It seems difficult to overstate the entrenchment of the inherent human disposition to explain 'natural' phenomena in terms of intent and goal-oriented agency (or purpose). 

It is found in “naive” children, in adults from many cultures, as well as in some commonplace scholarly explanations. Teleological preconceptions have long been recognized in evolutionary biology, but we have shown here that teleology’s tendrils extend through all of biology, from ecology and taxonomy to physiology and molecular biology, and thence into general culture. Teleology is here to stay. Rather than try to eliminate it outright, we need to accommodate it and consider “workaround strategies” to regulate its adverse effects (Varella 2018, pp. 14–16).

What can be done? First, awareness is key. Educators must be aware of their own tendencies, openly acknowledge them, and patiently explain alternatives. When a student uses a teleological expression, the instructor should pause class, identify it and explain the cognitive disposition, invite collective reflection on its normativity, and articulate how scientists use a non-teleological alternative.

Students tend to approach biology with a normative orientation. They are chiefly interested in “why” (not “how”) questions. We need to help students recognize this intuitive bias and to appreciate alternative, purely descriptive explanatory frames that do not appeal to mind-like intent or conscious ideals. This may include describing the limits of science, which can elucidate how structures concretely function and how they originated, but not reveal some transcendental purpose or intention of what they “should” be (Woodfield 1976). We consider it crucial to couple teleological and non-teleological perspectives together, contrasting descriptive and normative views, as a bridge to noticing and regulating teleology’s influence.