Present both sides of the argument

Present both sides of the argument and let people make up their own minds. That sounds like a very fair and rational thing to say, doesn't it?

Present the evidence for both evolution and creationism, oh excuse me, intelligent design. After all they are both just theories, right? Let people make up their own minds.

Well, how about we change the school syllabus to make sure we give equal time to these alternative "theories" of science?

Chemistry - elements

1. There are four types of atoms: earth, air, fire & water. Fire hurts because its atoms are sharp and jagged. Water flows because its atoms are smooth and slippery. Everything is made up of a blend of the four types of atoms.

2. All matter consists of atoms, which have a positively charged nucleus made up of protons and neutrons, surrounded by an orbiting cloud of electrons. Each type of atom has a different number of protons in the nucleus.

Physics

1. Light travels through the luminiferous aether (a massless, rigid, transparent, non-viscous fluid) and the speed you measure depends on your own speed.

2. Light is both a wave and a particle and is its own medium. Its speed is constant for all observers.

Chemistry - combustion

1. Some things contain phogiston, a colourless, odourless, tasteless, weightless element, which can be released explosively to cause combustion, leaving behind the dephlogisticated material

2. Combustion occurs when oxygen explosively reacts with other molecules

Geography

1. The earth is flat

2. The earth is almost spherical

Medicine

1. Sicknesses like cholera or the plague are caused by bad air and can be cured by making the air smell nicer

2. Sicknesses like cholera or the plague are caused by germs and can be cured with good hygiene and antibiotics

Astronomy

1. The Earth stays still at the centre of the universe, with the moon, planets, Sun and stars (suspended in a fixed firmament) rotating around us in perfect circles.

2. The Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun, which is a star like billions of others in this galaxy.

I could imagine these other "sides" being presented as a historical curiousity, and they might make an interesting teaching vehicle for explaining how we know they are not true. But would you want your kids to learn these things as equal-status competing theories?

You see, the catch with this idea that we should present both sides is that sometimes there really aren't two sides to the argument.