Making a world.

So today I'm going to do a little bit of talking about intelligent design so everything is clear before I start talking about the debate between evolution and creation.

The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.

 This definition was taken from the intelligent design website www.intelligentdesign.org.


Now on its own, this definition isn't so bad. If you believe it, its what you believe - if you don't you say 'oh that's just some religious belief about god creating everything, not science'. This is where the trouble begins.


Intelligent designers are claiming that this 'theory' is something that is tested very following the scientific method. Again from the same website:

The scientific method is commonly described as a four-step process involving observations, hypothesis, experiments, and conclusion. Intelligent design begins with the observation that intelligent agents produce complex and specified information (CSI). Design theorists hypothesize that if a natural object was designed, it will contain high levels of CSI. Scientists then perform experimental tests upon natural objects to determine if they contain complex and specified information...When ID researchers find irreducible complexity in biology, they conclude that such structures were designed.

 This approach in itself is flawed. The first problem is, there is no debating listed as part of the process, they just draw conclusions (unless this has been simplified for easier understanding). The other problem is the arbitrary things they are searching for. What exactly is "complex and specified information"? And who are they to judge what is complex and what is not?


Intelligent design also likes to separate itself from creationism, and says that you can only be an 'honest critic' if you can acknowledge the difference between the two. I can do that, but it doesn't mean that I don't think they're still running for the same team. I'll talk a bit more about creationism next time, and leave you with this clip. It has some potentially offensive language, so not appropriate for work or children.





The segment I want starts at around 1:20 but I couldn't find the clip on its own or figure out how to cue it at the right segment, so you can watch it all or just skip to there.