Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Devoutly to be wished ...

... The End of Intelligent Design?

In the famous “explanatory filter” of William A. Dembski, one finds “design” by eliminating “law” and “chance” as explanations. This, in effect, makes it a zero-sum game between God and nature. What nature does and science can explain is crossed off the list, and what remains is the evidence for God. ... Cui bono? Only those people whose religious doctrines entail either Young Earth creationism or a rejection of common descent. Such people already and necessarily were in a state of war with modern science and have no choice but to fight that war to the bitter end.

2 comments:

  1. Further evidence that "intelligent design" was just creationism rehashed.

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  2. Well, it's one thing to say you've found a problem with, say, the theory of natural selection. It's quite another to say that this problem can only be explained in terms of "an intelligent designer." My problem with ID was always the notion of God it presupposed - some everlasting Edison puttering about in his celestial laboratory wondering what to do about the wombats.

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