Current status/developments in Intelligent Design Theory

Heheheh... please share any response they give.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Hmmmmmmm, jar?If they at least stay out of the way of science and say "though it looks unguided it is", thus sticking to the metaphysical, they'd at least be ahead of IDists.AbE: They also appear to be avoiding any support for man being individually created on the spot, or a more youthful earth, which some ID personalities engage in.This message has been edited by holmes, 07-11-2005 12:11 PM

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I guess you are trying to define a difference between Darwin and modern evolutionary theory, based on Darwin's inability (or disinterest) to discuss possible sources of mutation?There's not much debate now that as far as evolutionary theory goes, all we have evidence for is genetic mutations as a source for most physical mutations, and that genetic mutations occur randomly as a natural part of the reproductive process.There could of course be a guiding "hand" in the mutation process that is as yet undiscovered (intelligent or otherwise), and it could be that there is one that will always remain invisible. Science will not address it as long as it remains "invisible."The problem here is that the cardinal in question is not just supporting theistic evolution, but using terminology from and indeed has now been identified as working for the Discovery Institute, which involves Intelligent Design theory. That is more than simply theistic evolution as it in part argues that there is scientific evidence for a guiding intelligence in the mutation process.That would be the church moving into science to make claims regarding scientific findings, and false ones at that.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Intelligent Design is different than simply believing that living organisms have been designed by an intelligence.Forgetting for a moment that the movement has specific religious and political overtones, it has a very specific scientific position. ID states that there are "devices" which they have discovered which can detect that an object has been created by an intelligent being, and when applied to biological organisms (or parts of them) indicate that they were created.These "devices" are not as specific as their claim. It comes down to some criteria by which an object's "complexity" is measured and a certain amount means it is most certainly created. This "complexity" has also not been specified, yet they do insist that the results are in.This is of course in addition to simply criticizing elements of evolutionary theory, but that does not actually build their own model.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

No one can say they are short on sense of irony. They call their main organization Discovery Institute... though there are no research facilities and no discoveries being made.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)