[extropy-chat] Intelligent Design -- take *this*...

Robert Bradbury robert.bradbury at gmail.com
Tue Dec 20 19:06:06 UTC 2005


The relatively conservative Judge John E. Jones III has ruled in the Dover,
PA case [1].  Basically I.D. is out in PA and presumably surrounding
regions.  How this impacts Kansas will probably need to still play out in
the courts.  The extractions from the ruling, quoted by CNN, are quite
interesting -- somewhat suggesting that "we can see you standing behind the
curtain without even pulling it aside" (to use a Wizard of Oz analogy).

Going back to my previous comments in this area -- I stand by my statements
that I.D. is worthy of scientific discussion, particularly if presented from
the perspective of (a) incomplete explanations for "jumps" in biological
complexity (RNA life -> DNA life, prokaryotic -> eukaryotic, etc.); (b)
whether or not our solar system was "set up" to run a computation using
elemental computronium (rather than a virtual/simulated reality); and (c)
whether or not we are running in a simulation.  Given that both Nick Bostrom
and Robert Freitas have written papers related to (c) I consider it to be
difficult for anyone to assert an exploration of I.D. to be a topic unworthy
of scientific discussion.  I (personally) find various amounts of handwaving
done by string theorists and experts in quantum mechanics (particularly if
they involve assertions which *cannot* be disproved) to be just as bad as
those of the creationists.

After reading the Wikipedia entry on the background Discovery Institute, I
was forced to conclude that their current efforts pushing I.D. are indeed a
front for a conservative agenda.  Interestingly they appear to have *not*
supported the recent efforts to push I.D. into the classroom apparently for
fear of receiving the rejection which has now taken place both by the
electorate and the legal system.

Robert

1. http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/12/20/intelligent.design.ap/index.htm
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