![]() | Agnosticism / Atheism |
Topics
Does God Exist?What is Atheism?What is Agnosticism?Myths About AtheismQuestions About AtheismAdvice for AtheistsAtheist Activism & PoliticsSkeptics, Critical ThinkingEthics and MoralitySecular, Religious HumanismEvolution & CreationismChurch/State SeparationReligious Right, ExtremismReligion & TheismBible Analysis, Commentary |
![]() Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism Why Intelligent Design FailsGuide Rating - ![]() So-called Intelligent Design is very popular among conservative evangelical Christians in America. It is viewed as a scientific alternative to evolutionary theory that avoids the many pitfalls and failures of traditional creationism. For some reason, though, Intelligent Design doesnt really get any respect or serious attention from scientists. Why is that? SummaryTitle: Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism, Pro: Con: Description:
Book ReviewWhen asked about Intelligent Design, working scientists are much more likely to scoff than they are to show scientific interest. The reason isnt very hard to figure out: when evaluating the project by any rigorous standards, it completely fails to qualify as scientific in the first place. If its not a science, theres no reason to take it seriously as any sort of alternative to evolution. Understanding this answer understanding how and why Intelligent Design isnt a science is a bit more complicated, however. In order to answer this question Matt Young and Taner Edis have edited a collection of papers in a volume titled Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism. They bring together twelve scholars in such fields as physics, engineering, zoology, paleontology, computer science, mathematics, molecular pharmacology, anthropology, astronomy, and philosophy. Each of the authors addresses some specific aspect of ID beliefs and arguments, frequently even just an argument made by a particular author (Behe, Dembski, Johnson), revealing all of the errors and faults. They write about information theory, irreducible complexity, forensic archaeology, intelligence, thermodynamics, self-organization, and more. Obviously, this is not a general interest book that was created with the average reader in mind. The authors do a good job at making the material reasonably accessible, but a person without any prior experience with science especially biology and the debates over evolution is likely to get lost in many of the articles. I wouldnt say that they couldnt get anything at all out of it, but I do think that this isnt the best place to get started on such topics. While this may not be the best choice for the uninitiated, it is definitely a good choice for those who want more details on how and why Intelligent Design is anything but scientific and is a complete failure in terms of undermining evolutionary theory. Other books on this do exist, but most tend to adopt a philosophical approach to the subject. Here, however, we are presented very squarely with the complex scientific case against Intelligent Design and for evolution. Some might argue that such a rebuttal unjustifiably lends the religious mountebanks an air of scientific respectability, but the authors reasonably deny this:
![]() Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism
Purely philosophical critiques certainly have their place because they can help elucidate what science is and is not. Relying on them totally, however, can give the impression that Intelligent Design is wrong because it fails philosophical tests when in reality it is rejected because it is a scientific failure. Design theorists complain that there are things that cannot naturally happen that we know happen. Design theorists complain that evolution cannot explain things that are explained. Design theorists complain that certain events are impossible which have been proven possible. In short, Intelligent Design is religious creationism primped up for prime time and church debates. |
|
All Topics | Email Article | | | ![]() |
| Advertising Info | News & Events | Work at About | SiteMap | Reprints | Help | Our Story | Be a Guide |
| User Agreement | Ethics Policy | Patent Info. | Privacy Policy | ©2008 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. |





