Intelligent Design vs. Evolutionary Theory: A Brief Comparison « University of Michigan Students of Objectivism. April 19, 2008 by Roderick I. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, called natural selection, stated that different species originated from shared ancestors, with the differences in the organisms being caused by adaptations to different environments. The environment determines which species are best fit to survive, and the traits of the organisms are passed down to new generations. With enough time, such passages of traits could lead to whole new species. This theory was developed after more than two decades of observations, studying thousands of animal and plant samples, all with extraordinary inferences drawn from observed similarities and differences.
II. Intelligent Design (ID) is essentially a negative argument: the forces at work, whether natural selection or something else, are not sufficient to bring about aspects of life which we observe, such as humans—therefore, there must have been an intelligent designer. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. Notes and References Like this: Does the Origin of Life Support Intelligent Design or Evolution? When Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, he envisioned that the process was continuous. He believed that the complexity and diversity of life could be explained by numerous slight modifications to existing species.
His whole theory hinges on the idea that nature will preserve beneficial variations (natural selection) and thereby guide evolution creating new and more complex animals and plants. "If it could ever be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. " - Charles Darwin Over a century later, science has yet to show that complex organs can be formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, and many scientists do not think that this is important. To understand why, it is first necessary to examine the assumptions on which science is based. Science is based on two assumptions called axioms.
Axioms are self-evident assumptions. Intelligent Design. No. The theory of intelligent design is simply an effort to empirically detect whether the "apparent design" in nature acknowledged by virtually all biologists is genuine design (the product of an intelligent cause) or is simply the product of an undirected process such as natural selection acting on random variations.
Creationism typically starts with a religious text and tries to see how the findings of science can be reconciled to it. Intelligent design starts with the empirical evidence of nature and seeks to ascertain what inferences can be drawn from that evidence. Unlike creationism, the scientific theory of intelligent design does not claim that modern biology can identify whether the intelligent cause detected through science is supernatural. Honest critics of intelligent design acknowledge the difference between intelligent design and creationism. Intelligent Design? April 2002 Introduction Prepared by Richard Milner & Vittorio Maestro, senior editors of Natural History Darwin’s evidence convinced scientists that natural selection can better explain life’s complexity than intelligent design (ID). Darwin exhibit in 2005-6 at the American Museum of Natural History. Screenshot from exhibit web site. The idea that an organism’s complexity is evidence for the existence of a cosmic designer was advanced centuries before Charles Darwin was born.
Its best-known exponent was English theologian William Paley, creator of the famous watchmaker analogy. ID proponents accept that some species do change and that Earth is much more than 6,000 years old but reject that evolution accounts for the array of species. In some circles, however, opposition to the concept of evolution has persisted to the present. ID is getting a hearing in some political and educational circles. Intelligent Design position statement By Michael J. Molecular machines are designed. Michael J. Intelligent Design and Evolution. Though The New American has no official position on evolution, we have published a number of articles over the years pointing to flaws in the theory and arguing for academic freedom on the subject.
We did this most recently in "Allow Intelligence" (May 12, 2008 issue), our very favorable review of Ben Stein's documentary Expelled. In the following article, Selwyn Duke suggests that it's possible to believe in both an evolution of sorts (though not Darwinism) and Intelligent Design, though he does not stake out a position in favor of evolution. We publish it here as food for thought. — Ed. While the debate over evolution in schools has been developing for many years in a primordial soup of passion, generally speaking, it hasn't reached a very high level of complexity.
But what is often overlooked in this debate — so much so that it may surprise some people — is that not all those who entertain ID are religious. As a man of faith, I firmly believe God created life. And this is the point. Intelligent design. Intelligent design (ID) is the pseudoscientific view[1][2] 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. "[3] Educators, philosophers, and the scientific community have demonstrated that ID is a religious argument, a form of creationism which lacks empirical support and offers no tenable hypotheses.[4][5][6] Proponents argue that it is "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins" that challenges the methodological naturalism inherent in modern science,[7][8] while conceding that they have yet to produce a scientific theory.[9] The leading proponents of ID are associated with the Discovery Institute, a politically conservative think tank based in the United States.
[n 1] Although they state that ID is not creationism and deliberately avoid assigning a personality to the designer, many of these proponents express belief that the designer is the Christian deity. [n 2] "Evolution by Design: Predetermined Randomness". An eagle may have much keener eyes then ours but it cannot "see" the things that we can. EVOLUTION BY DESIGN "Predetermined Randomness".
The "Laws of Nature" are the phenomena that create, guide and control everything in the universe. Inertia, gravity, biogenetics, electromagnetic emission, quantum mechanics, etc. are a few of these "Laws". They are invariant, unbreakable and all powerful - they give the universe its personality. Science has discovered and explained some of these physical "Laws of Nature": some correctly, some questionable and there are probably, other laws yet to be discovered. These "Laws" are the all powerful phenomena that create and control absolutely everything that exists in the universe.
How did this fundamental, all controlling, phenomena come into existence? Everything that happens or exists is a consequence of these "Laws" - not of God's direct intervention. The Laws of Nature - not God - are what controls everything in the universe. Donald L.