I have been away for awhile and was interested in the status of things. Doesn’t look as if much has changed - ignorance and superstition are still going strong. ID is all the rage now, so I thought I would address this issue
I believe a fundamental problem with the ID debate, is the distinction between the process of design and what “drives” the process. We humans are used to observing another human, a designer, engage in the process of designing something, especially something rather complicated like a watch or a bicycle. Since we note that the human body is a system, we naturally assume that a “designer” must be involved and as the human system is complex, we assume that the designer must be intelligent.
What those who propose ID totally overlook is an alternate: the well known “design process”, Trial and Error (T&E). This design process is used extensively by human designers, especially in such fields as pharmaceuticals, although a more rational approach is beginning to appear in this field. The essence of the T&E design process is to put something together and see if it works. If it does, the design is finished, if it doesn’t, something else is tried until success is achieved.
A couple words about evolution. Evolution is a process, unfortunately a slow moving process and thus difficult to detect. Charles Darwin’s claim to fame is merely that he was the first person to accumulate enough data/evidence to detect the process. It must be emphasized that if Darwin had not detected the process of evolution, someone else would have.
Regarding the design process “driving” evolution, it is simply T&E. Genetic mutation provides the Trials and natural selection eliminates the weaker Errors. The fact that over 95% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct is proof of the effectiveness of the T&E design process. Also, the vast amount of time over which the T&E design process has operated has allowed all of the extant species to evolve - there is no need for an intelligent designer.
Furthermore, it must be noted that the T&E process is sub-optimum. Once a successful design has been achieved, the design effort ceases. The problem with this is that a better design might be achieved if more effort was spent. This aspect of the T&E design governing evolution is apparent in things like the human glottis which provides a valve between the respiratory system and the digestive system. Many people have died due to suffocation because of this sub-optimum design.
Regards
Soplar