A panel of lectures moderated by Edward Davis.
When claiming to having scientific evidence of Intelligent Design (ID), one of the arguments most often cited by ID proponents is that of Dr. William Dembski, based on a method that he calls the Design Inference. Not only is this method in itself claimed to provide support for the ID position, but it is also…
1. Introduction Intelligent Design is a successor to creationism, but more subtle and more acceptable of the evolution theory. It arose from biochemist Michael Behe’s book Darwin’s Black Box,1 and was seconded, mainly on statistical grounds, by William Dembski.2 They claim that certain complex systems, like the immune system, bloodclotting, visual mechanism and bacterial…
Many years ago, I read this advice to a young physicist desperate to get his or her work cited as frequently as possible: Publish a paper that makes a subtle misuse of the second law of thermodynamics. Then everyone will rush to correct you and in the process cite your paper. The mathematician William Dembski…
I have only met Ken Miller, a professor of biology at Brown University, the once. This was when we together appeared on one of William Buckley’s Firing Line television debates, part of the side arguing for evolution against a group of critics, those whom I label the “New Creationists.” I should say that on those…
On August 11, 1999, the Kansas State Board of Education voted six-to-four to remove references to cosmology and evolution from the State’s education standards and assessments. The Board’s decision does grave disservice to the students and teachers of the State of Kansas, as well as to science and religion everywhere. Students need to study…
I was recently on an NPR program with skeptic Michael Shermer and paleontologist Donald Prothero to discuss intelligent design. As the discussion unfolded, it became clear that they were using the phrase “intelligent design” in a way quite different from how the emerging intelligent design community is using it. The confusion centered on what the…