Table Of Content
It did not occur to the scholastic philosopher to count a woman’s teeth. Everything could be determined by reason, logic and thought. Any conceivable evidence that could be gathered for a theory other than Intelligent Design could be claimed to be evidence for Intelligent Design as well, by just claiming that "for reasons unknown to us, the designer chose to design it that way". Likewise, any evidence against Intelligent Design could likewise be dismissed with a similar claim.
Notable supporters of Creationism
The flaw in the ID argument is that it treats natural causes and supernatural action as incompatible, such that the explanation of some selected phenomenon must always be one type of cause or the other. The intelligent design (ID) movement promotes the idea that many aspects of life are too complex to have evolved without the intervention of a supernatural being — the intelligent designer. Promoters of intelligent design generally accept that the Earth is billions of years old and that evolution has occurred, but maintain that, in many cases, especially with regard to the origin of complex characteristics or new taxa, the work of an intelligent designer, not an evolutionary process, is responsible. Backers of intelligent design frequently misrepresent or disregard aspects of evolutionary theory, the results of evolutionary research, and the nature of science in order to promote their agenda and sway public opinion against evolutionary biology. Many Creationists argue that evolution is a “theory” and not fact and so should be taught as such. Creationism also criticizes the idea of “common descent” – the theory that creatures with similarities in their genes must have evolved from a common ancestor -- by arguing that such similarities suggest that the creatures shared a common designer, aka God.
Section 3: Complexity of Life
This is an example of what is called the “God of the gaps.” When some phenomenon seems completely inexplicable, one says, “Aha! It must be God Who is causing this phenomenon.” The problem with this approach is that the “completely inexplicable” phenomenon (“gap” in our knowledge) invariably becomes explained as science progresses. As each “gap” in scientific knowledge closes, God is forced to retreat to the next “completely inexplicable” phenomenon. “God of the gaps” arguments thus place God in continual retreat before the relentless advance of science. Surely, this is not the path of a believing person in the search for the Almighty.
What is the role of the school board?
Why do certain religious groups continue to have problems with Evolution? One factor is the low quality of science education in our schools that makes it difficult to have informed discussion in which all parties adequately understand the methods and aims of science. Also, we noted earlier the perception that Evolution contradicts a literal reading of Genesis, which, for Christian fundamentalism, violates biblical authority. But the factor that requires attention here is that some people—both Christian and non-Christian—see Evolution as implying that there is no God, as being a form of atheism. So, Evolution becomes identified with the view that matter alone is real, chance and randomness eliminate design and purpose, moral absolutes do not exist, and a human being is merely a complex animal with no special dignity.
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
Intelligent Design in Color Vision: A Gift to Us - Discovery Institute
Intelligent Design in Color Vision: A Gift to Us.
Posted: Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
I don’t think invoking a supernatural creator can ever be a scientifically useful explanation. Our new results, based on computer modelling, link evolutionary processes to the principles of learning and intelligent problem solving – without involving any higher powers. This suggests that, although evolution may have started off blind, with a couple of billion years of experience it has got smarter.
We mammals instead have to breathe in and out through the same passage, and the result is that we always have a residue of used air in the farthest corners of our lungs. Nevertheless, evolutionists can cite further supportive evidence from molecular biology. All organisms share most of the same genes, but as evolution predicts, the structures of these genes and their products diverge among species, in keeping with their evolutionary relationships. Geneticists speak of the “molecular clock” that records the passage of time.
How do you explain our genetic relatedness with chimpanzees?
Whereas many people would find it awkward, to say the least, to attribute to God a design that a capable human engineer would not even wish to claim, evolution gives a good account of this imperfection. As brain size increased over time in human ancestors, the concurrent remodeling of the skull entailed a reduction of the jaw so that the head of the fetus would continue to fit through the birth canal of the adult female. Evolution responds to an organism’s needs not by optimal design but by tinkering, as it were—by slowly modifying existing structures through natural selection. Despite the modifications to the human jaw, the woman’s birth canal remains much too narrow for easy passage of the fetal head, and many thousands of babies die during delivery as a result. Science makes this understandable as a consequence of the evolutionary enlargement of the human brain; females of other animals do not experience this difficulty. In the 1990s several authors revived the argument from design.
What is the intelligent design movement?
The “prime mover proof” for the existence of God is thus refuted. He could not imagine any possible physical explanation for the IC of the living cell. Had Behe lived in the ancient world, he might have referred to this supernatural being as the “god of the cell.” However, in the twentieth century, such terminology is unbecoming.
This 'lost world' reveals a new chapter in the evolution of life
Professor Sætre points out that the ancestors of modern day rays—like the manta ray—went through a similar evolution. They increased their survival rates by becoming flat and easier to hide, but they did not lie down sideways as the ancestral flatfish. Instead, they settled straight down on the seafloor and started flattening themselves while keeping the original symmetry. The starting point for evolution is that the "machinery" that copies the DNA in our cells does not work flawlessly, so mutations occur all the time. Most of the mutations are disadvantageous, and they are weeded out when the individuals carrying them fail in the fight to survive and reproduce. However, some of the mutations are either neutral or beneficial, and these will give rise to a genetic variation that evolution can work on.
The $1 million in legal fees that the local school board must now pay as a result of the judgment may discourage other school boards from becoming embroiled in the issue. Check with your child’s science teacher to find out where evolution first in the curriculum and how it is taught. Check your child’s science textbook to see how evolution is described. “Anti-evolution legislation may be proposed in at least 10 states this year and there could be more,” says Spath. She advices parents to be aware when citizens’ committees are set up to monitor science standards and feels that it is more appropriate for scientists and science teachers to be the ones providing oversight. This, I think, may bear great fruit in the future in our culture.
Drop a fast-breeding pair of small-beaked finches and a slower-breeding pair of large-beaked finches onto an island full of food seeds. Within a few generations the fast breeders may control more of the food resources. Yet if large beaks more easily crush seeds, the advantage may tip to the slow breeders.
Since intelligent design makes claims based on the existence, characteristics, and powers of a supernatural being — and since science focuses exclusively on the natural world and the natural forces that operate within it, intelligent design is not science. Further, the ID movement has failed to generate any productive research program meeting scientific standards. Because of the movement’s history, proponents, and substance, many interpret it as an attempt to insert another version of creationism into science classrooms.
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