Unintelligible Design
Jan. 28th, 2006 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingandyThis article on a poll regarding what should be taught in schools regarding the origin of man has already been posted elsewhere, but I'm intrigued enough to comment myself.
Alright, so, Creationism is the theory that a omnipotent, pan-dimensional being reached down to Earth and created and every species on it, and they have remained unchanged since then. (Which, on the positive side, would not take long to teach in schools. "Today, the origin of species. God made us. The end, go out and play.")
Evolution is the theory that the random process of genetics produces a generation of creatures with varying characteristics - some of them more likely to survive, such as greater strength or fingers, and others that may be more of a hinderance, like lungs that thrive on ammonia or limbs that fail to work. And that those with unfavourable characteristics are less likely to survive to pass on their genes to the next generation, and therefore, over time, the species on average improves.
So ... what exactly is Intelligent Design? If it doesn't involve either a Creator God or natural selection ... what is it? Does it just say "We came from somewhere, clearly somebody was involved but we're not saying it also created the universe, perhaps it was aliens"? If a teacher is instructed to teach Intelligent Design but not creationism, what, exactly, do they teach?
Is it a hybrid of the two other theories, such that does not deny the existence of God but neither denies the volumes of supporting evidence for evolution? I suppose it could boil down to "God created the Universe and designed evolution into it" or "...and occasionally gave evolution a little nudge in one direction or another". Is it an explanation for the way evolution produces functional organisms? Or, in fact, is Creationism merely a subset of Intelligent Design?
I ask because, with little else to go on, I'm vaguely worried that it might be something I believe in.
Over 2,000 participants took part in the survey, and were asked what best described their view of the origin and development of life:What I found interesting is not that ID is growing in popularity (it's still lower than 17%), but rather that Creationism is a separate thing. I've always assumed it was another word for the same thing.
- 22% chose creationism
- 17% opted for intelligent design
- 48% selected evolution theory
- and the rest did not know.
Alright, so, Creationism is the theory that a omnipotent, pan-dimensional being reached down to Earth and created and every species on it, and they have remained unchanged since then. (Which, on the positive side, would not take long to teach in schools. "Today, the origin of species. God made us. The end, go out and play.")
Evolution is the theory that the random process of genetics produces a generation of creatures with varying characteristics - some of them more likely to survive, such as greater strength or fingers, and others that may be more of a hinderance, like lungs that thrive on ammonia or limbs that fail to work. And that those with unfavourable characteristics are less likely to survive to pass on their genes to the next generation, and therefore, over time, the species on average improves.
So ... what exactly is Intelligent Design? If it doesn't involve either a Creator God or natural selection ... what is it? Does it just say "We came from somewhere, clearly somebody was involved but we're not saying it also created the universe, perhaps it was aliens"? If a teacher is instructed to teach Intelligent Design but not creationism, what, exactly, do they teach?
Is it a hybrid of the two other theories, such that does not deny the existence of God but neither denies the volumes of supporting evidence for evolution? I suppose it could boil down to "God created the Universe and designed evolution into it" or "...and occasionally gave evolution a little nudge in one direction or another". Is it an explanation for the way evolution produces functional organisms? Or, in fact, is Creationism merely a subset of Intelligent Design?
I ask because, with little else to go on, I'm vaguely worried that it might be something I believe in.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:32 pm (UTC)It's worth noting that it can't seem to make up its mind whether the Universe itself is so complex as to imply an intelligent creator, or only the organisms on this planet.
On a side note, I agree with you about the creation story as told in the Bible - I've always been of the opinion that this is the vast and indecipherable knowledge of an omnipotent, immortal being as filtered through the mind of an nth-century BC Hebrew - of course the vast abstract time periods would be more metaphorical than anything else. It's disturbing to note that this was reasoned out in my 13-year-old mind at least partially due to reading David Eddings.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 02:42 pm (UTC)Just look at the period in which the story appeared. Hebrews captive in Babylon. Babylonians worship the Sun, Moon, Stars, Plants, Animals (basically anything inexplicable).
So how does the story start?
"See that Sun? God made it! See those stars? God again! Guess who made the moon? God! Who made the plants & animals? God! Pa - silly Babylonians!"
It's a rallying call for captive israelites not to forget their own (obviously superior) religion. The propeganda worked, after all, how many worshipers of Mardok do you meet nowdays?
The organisms on this planet are not THAT complex. Irreducable Complexity is the cornerstone of ID. Basically it says:
"This is too complex to figure out, therefore it can't have evolved, therefore an infinately wise mind created it."
However when scientists say:
"Erm... we know how it was done. Mandlebrot showed us that infinate complexity can be explained by simple rules. Look at the Nautilus, see the semi-evolved eye? Want to see some new species of fruit fly we have created? Hey - here's a clear trail of fosil evidence! Here's a book on molecular biology, go read. Hey -here's my mate Richard Dawkins!"
The creationists (I mean IDers) go:
"Lalalala! Can't hear you".