Posted on 08/24/2005 10:47:29 AM PDT by joyspring777
On those rare occasions that I write a column touching remotely on science, especially if I depart from the conventional wisdom of the greater scientific community, the contemptuous e-mails fill my inbox.
Such was the case a few columns ago when I broached the subject of Intelligent Design (ID) after President Bush indicated his receptiveness to ID theory being taught alongside evolution in the public schools. The hostile e-mailers pointed out what a consummate idiot and criminal trespasser I was for treading on their real estate.
They demanded I stick to law and politics, not because I know much more about them either, but by concentrating on those subjects at least I wouldn't be encroaching on their turf, which is reserved for the gifted. OK, they didn't really say that explicitly, but I divined, via supernatural intuition, that that's precisely what they meant.
The thrust of the e-mails was that ID is not science-based but is purely a matter of faith -- Biblical creationism in disguise. It cannot be tested in a lab (can macroevolution or any historical science be reproduced in a lab?). As such, ID should only be taught in public schools, if at all, under the rubric of philosophy or religion, not science. Besides, it is just one alternative theory. If you teach it, in fairness you must teach all other competing theories.
But not all scientists agree that ID lacks a scientific foundation. In the first place, ID uses science to confute certain tenets of Darwinism. In addition, ID proponents, such as Michael Behe and William Dembski, have developed criteria for testing design inferences.
(Excerpt) Read more at humaneventsonline.com ...
Come now...intelligent discussion precludes "flying spaghetti monsters"...
I would agree that the scientific community is engaged in a conspiracy against bad science. That's the only conspiracy there is here.
If IDers have any valid theory, they should try to write good papers and submit them to refereed journals, not local school boards. Peer review is an essential part of the scientific process.
ID is fine as a philosophy; but a scientific theory it is not; it has produced no testable consequences (and by its very nature seems that it never will be able to).
No biology teacher or scientist I've ever known (and I've known quite a few) considers any alternative theory of origins to be valid (for good reasons); people need to let these well-trained professionals do their jobs in the classroom and the lab without political intervention.
>>If IDers have any valid theory, they should try to write good papers and submit them to refereed journals, not local school boards. Peer review is an essential part of the scientific process.<<
One got through. There was no small amount of controversy about it, and simply because of the position it took, not it's content.
What a bunch of whiners.
The German Nazi's "peer reviewed" information that showed up in the newspapers.
On the contrary, the supernatural laws of nature control science. They were here first, and science has no choice but to bow down to them.
What does your pointing out his being a Moonie have to do with the discussion...other than to potentially personally embarrass him...in front of others.
I don't know about classic...but definitely ad hominem.
Oh...love it...really I agree that it is a form of bigotry.
The funny thing is, SHers (secular humanists) are religious too!
Science does not talk much about explaining consciousness, yet we all know it exists. Can they measure it, verify it?
Creationists and Evolution apologists are both religious groups. At least one has the intellectual honesty to admit it.
Er, no. It's because he's at least occasionally right about law and politics, and because his attempts at addressing this issue are simply embarassing (and thereby erode the credibility of his correct points on other subjects).
He made some good points in his article. It is in a similar vein of the Fred article I posted.
The intellectual roots of intelligent design theory are varied. Plato and Aristotle both articulated early versions of design theory, as did virtually all of the founders of modern science. Most scientists until the latter part of the nineteenth century accepted some form of intelligent design. The scientific community largely rejected design in the early twentieth century after neo-Darwinism claimed to be able to explain the emergence of biological complexity through the unintelligent process of natural selection acting on random mutations. During the past decade, however, new research and discoveries in such fields as physics, cosmology, biochemistry, genetics, and paleontology have caused a growing number of scientists and science theorists to question neo-Darwinism and propose design as the best explanation for the existence of specified complexity in the natural world.
The author would have already known this if he'd taken ten seconds to do his homework. Why on earth should anyone pay the slightest attention to someone so afflicted by intellectual incompetence and/or laziness?
I believe most of what you said are finely scripted dodges.
"I would agree that the scientific community is engaged in a conspiracy against bad science. That's the only conspiracy there is here."
This is the establishment judging the anti-establishment. It is the same thing white collars did to the hippies of the 60's. Saying it is so or isn't so, doesn't make it so or not so. The conspiracy is to stay King of the Religious Hill, all the while claiming to be non-religious!
"...let these well-trained professionals do their jobs in the classroom and the lab without political intervention..."
Translation...shut up and allow us evos to continue evo business as usual on your precious little ones. This intimates that ALL well-trained professionals support your religous SHer belief system...which is patently untrue! The NEA has the same problem at their state and national conventions (exposed each year very recently). The NEA hierarchy refuses to debate, they refuse to allow votes, consider motions...just like their socialist counterparts in Congress and the Senate.
No biology teacher or scientist I've ever known (and I've known quite a few) considers any alternative theory of origins to be valid (for good reasons);
Come now, let us realize that, just as the shocked NYT reporter said, "I don't know how Nixon got elected...I don't know anyone who voted for him"...
So it is with evos...they run with their flocks of like-minded thinkers.
Priceline, how else?
You bet!
Adequately stated!
Do you admit the supernatural, or do you not?
Yes or No?
WTF??
Come on...what do you expect...only scientists (the definition being duly ratified by the SHers at the University level)...
can bring such issues to light among the public at large?
How does a discussion commence if SHer evos will smack down any attempt to broaden the understanding of the popular culture at large?
Get off it. He is NOT trying to be a scientist, but simply advance the discussion among the public...a great service.
They're from the "science" community. They MUST be hacks!(s)
Absolutely!
But please don't trifle the discussion with hilarity with such things as flying sphaghetti monsters.
My last comment on the FSM.
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