25.8.10

Intelligent Design



I watched an interesting documentary last night called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. It tackles a lot of the things that really bother me when it comes to the intelligent design debate. One of the most interesting parts of the film is the interview above featuring Dawkins, a leading evolutionary biologist and Ben Stein.

Something else that really struck me is the animosity that some scholars and scientists have towards the idea of intelligent design. They don't actually attack the actual idea that someone or something put all of this into motion. The don't even argue against it, they just repeatedly call it "idiotic" or "ignorant."

I am not in any way a scientist, but this fact does not keep me from thinking or forming my own opion. In my limited experience, one thing has always been true: that nothing comes from nothing. The very fact that we exist stems from two basic ideas. Either something put everything in motion or nothing put nothing in motion and it happened anyway. I'll leave that argument up to logic.

I couldn't help but be reminded of times on my mission when I defended the doctrines and beliefs of the LDS church. Sometimes the more reasonable and rational my answers were, the more unreasonable and irrational the responses became. The behavior in my estimation comes from insecurity. If you are secure in your thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and endeavors, you will welcome discussion, debate,  and exploration of other ideas, thoughts and beliefs.

I like to think. I like to think about big ideas. I don't like being called names for thinking something different than the current trend. I'm not trying to bash Darwin. I think it's time to start thinking about him like we have other brilliant scientific minds, that he made valuable contributions that helped us gain a better understanding of the bigger picture. The fact that we've expanded on, further developed, and sometimes cast doubt on or disproved theories of scientists such as such as Galileo, Newton, and Einstien does not in anyway diminish their legacy or value.

7 comments:

Lindy-Lou said...

Your opinion makes sense to me. And I agree.

Leslie said...

I'm confused. I didn't know that they even had audio/visual equipment in Korihor's day, let alone an actual interview with him. ... If you watch the whole thing, does it show the part where he gets trampled at the end?

Jesse C said...

Ha! Leslie you are very funny.

Anonymous said...

While there are some scientists who simply dismiss ID out of hand, there are many many many more scientists who can tell you precisely why creationism/ID don't hold water. I'd suggest visitors to this blog check out Expelled Exposed at: www.expelledexposed.com

Yours,

Robert Luhn
NCSE

Steve P said...

This is something I've had to come to terms with in the last year or so. Some of the people I associate with have different views on marriage then I do. When I try to share my views I'm the one that is then attacked for being closed minded. Even if I don't say anything against their opinion, just share my beliefs. Intelligent Design was not an accident (haha), it's why we have an eco-system that supports our bodies, and out lives.

Man is that he might have joy.

How is that an accident? How could the population survive with same sex marriage? Why are we standing by while the few are setting the standard for the many?

Jessica said...

Okay this is going to be long...As a biology teacher I must say this is always an interesting conversation. First of all, thankfully there are many scientists in high places who still believe in an intelligent being. I don't think science proves God doesn't exist, and I don't think religion is suppose to explain plate tectonics, genetics, evolution or the likes. Also, just my opinion but I don't think the bible was meant to be read like a text book. We can learn a lot about how complex the earth and its systems are while appreciating God's hand in it all. Darwin had this attitude most of his life until his daughter (undoubtedly his favorite child if you read about it) died. This proved to be a huge test of his faith. Yes, Darwin was a Christian who struggled with eternal questions like most of us do. For the record, I would not feel comfortable teaching Intelligent Design in a classroom setting. It may just be my educational background speaking but ID is not a sound science. It doesn't mean it's not true, it just means that it's not what the scientific community calls "science". It's faith based. It's not tangible evidence. It's not testable. You can't apply the scientific method to it. But I guess that's the whole point. If everything was spelled out for us we wouldn't have to have faith in something greater than this snippet of existence.

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