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Up the freeway from me the town of Lebec had a little situation with a class being taught about "Intelligent Design", same old, same old. Trying to pass this religious crap off as valid science, excuse me, philosophy as taught by the local preachers wife. Thankfully, saner heads prevailed and the class was stopped.
A quick run down of the "I. D." situation: you have some religious fundamentalists who fervently believe that evolution just ain't right and that God made everything about 5000-6000 years ago. All evidence to the contrary was also supplied by God for whatever reason because - and remember this - "God works in mysterious ways."
So these Fundies have been having conniptions that Biology doesn't include alternative ideas like Creationism. But Creationism dies because it was too obvious a ploy to get God into the Science classroom where it doesn't belong so the Fundies evolved their strategy and came up with "Inteligent Design". I.D. holds that there are biological entities too complex to have evolved out of simpler structures so they must have been created or designed by an Intelligent Designer. Who that Designer is they won't say but - hush, hush - it's God. And the proof for this, they claim, is because (1) Evolution is only a Theory, (2) Evolution doesn't explain everything, and (3) there are gaps in the Biological record.
I pick up my pen, hold it over the carpet, and let go. It falls to the floor.
I pick up my pen, hold it over the carpet, and let go. It falls to the floor.
I pick up my pen, hold it over the carpet, and let go. It falls to the floor.
This is gravity at work. This is not a theory. It's happening. I think I have an explanation for gravity so I start with a hypothesis. I test my hypothesis and, based on my results, I revise my hypothesis. Others do the same and soon that hypothesis withstands testing. It becomes a theory. In Science, that's as good as it gets. No proofs - that's for Math.
So to say that Evolution is ONLY a Theory is actually quite the compliment and is true. The process of Evolution is undeniable and also demonstrable (think of new strains of flus that mutate to resist antibiotics). Just like Gravity is undeniable and demonstrable. The explanation for the process is the Theory.
Evolution, heck, Science doesn't explain everything and never claimed to, unlike religions which live as if they (or God) are the final authority on everything. Science is a method of exploration, a way of partially quenching our drive to know. Religion seeks to kill the drive.
Yes, there are gaps in the Biological record but so what. The gaps are diminishing as our explorations continue and some gaps may never be filled. Again, so what?
Fact is, ranting against Evolution does not provide proof or even a shred of support for Intelligent Design, not from a scientific sense, not from a logical sense. You could easily and validly claim that because of the "problems" with Evolution, the world must have been created by giant, green tortoise, or a spaghetti monster. It's all the same.
For I.D. to succeed as Science, it must do two things:
First, demonstrate these complex entities that don't arise from simpler structures.
Second, show that there is an Intelligent Designer (and quotes from the Bible won't cut it in Science).
That's all. Simple. Get to it.
Or, if the I.D. people don't want to follow the basic principles of science, perhaps science should follow the principles of Faith. Now wouldn't that be fun! Instead of rigorous testing of products, we'll just take it on Faith that they work. Sadly we see that with Homeopathy and other quack medicines and technologies. You get a bunch of nothing and they get something.
A mild suggestion to evolve the I.D. strategy once again, don't go up against Evolution. Instead, go up against the Big Bang Theory because I.D. isn't really about how things change but how they came to be. You might have a better chance against Big Bang. After all, it's only a Theory.
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