The driver of tomorrow is not thinking Green...

The driver of tomorrow is not thinking Green...
He's thinking Classic. (click on photo)

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Apr 17, 2009

EXPELLED-No Intelligence Allowed

Okay, okay. Our good buddy Pete Chadwell recommended some stuff for us to read, watch, fit in to our hectic busy lives MANY MANY moons ago.

A couple of weeks ago, at church, a recommendation came to watch the DVD "Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed". I had thought this was about the argument of Creationism vs. Evolution. Sounded interesting, but we are VERY busy.

Finally, we got it from the King Cty library and while I had the flu last week, Matt popped it in. It captivated our entire family, even the kids.

It is not necessarily about the age old argument. It is chillingly about the loss of the ability to actually QUESTION the belief of evolution at all. To simply inquire.

I believe it was a scientist from the Discovery Institute here in Seattle, points out that Intelligent Design is not about the belief in God. Any God. It's purely about the belief that the makeup of the cell, DNA, etc (I am not a scientiest), life was designed and is too complex for random mutation. Period. And many non God believing scientists have come to support this theory. I had respect for that viewpoint not wrapped up in the fight between Creationism (not ID) and Evolution.

And worth watching, worth being aware of what is being snuffed out as we go on about our busy lives. It chilled me when one scientist actually suggested that "Religion" should be compartmentalized down to where it belongs, something to do on the weekend until Humans stop relying upon it entirely and as "religion" diminishes, science will grow bigger - until that's all there is.

If you've put it off, this is worth watching. And Mr. Chadwell will be oh so happy you finally did!

1 comment:

RebeccaFM said...

From Mr. Chadwell:

Okay, okay. Our good buddy Pete Chadwell recommended some stuff for us to read, watch, fit in to our hectic busy lives MANY MANY moons ago.

I promise to NEVER let you down on movie or DVD recommendations!! He, he.

A couple of weeks ago, at church, a recommendation came to watch the DVD "Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed". I had thought this was about the argument of Creationism vs. Evolution. Sounded interesting, but we are VERY busy.

Finally, we got it from the King Cty library and while I had the flu last week, Matt popped it in. It captivated our entire family, even the kids.

Oh you just cannot know how AWESOME that is that your kids watched it. EXCELLENT. BRAVO.

It is not necessarily about the age old argument. It is chillingly about the loss of the ability to actually QUESTION the belief of evolution at all. To simply inquire.

I believe it was a scientist from the Discovery Institute here in Seattle, points out that Intelligent Design is not about the belief in God. Any God. It's purely about the belief that the makeup of the cell, DNA, etc (I am not a scientiest), life was designed and is too complex for random mutation. Period. And many non God believing scientists have come to support this theory. I had respect for that viewpoint not wrapped up in the fight between Creationism (not ID) and Evolution.

It's as simple as this: We detect intelligent design EVERYWHERE on a daily basis. There is nothing whatsoever "unscientific" about it as guys like PZ Myers, Michael Shermer, Michael Ruse and "Dick the Dawk" Dawkins would claim. Just think of crop circles or the Nazca Lines in Peru. Or even Stonehenge. Nobody would ever suggest that these things were the product of blind, purposeless natural forces. No, we seem to know almost intuitively (but also with scientific foundation) that these things are products of intelligence. I know, I know… the skeptic is going to say "But humans did that!" Well, maybe so. Stonehenge, anyway. And I suspect that humans made all of these things, actually. But not everybody does… some folks are STILL convinced that aliens make crop circles, and I've heard it speculated many times that aliens in some way either made or helped make the Nazca Lines. Or Stonehenge. Or even the pyramids. But regardless of who made them, we can be CERTAIN about one thing: Whoever made them used INTELLIGENCE. Is there anyone out there suggesting a 'natural cause' for the Nazca Lines? Nope. Busted.

You can always count on me, I know, for a nit-pick. I won't let you down this time… sorry. It's not merely the complexity of the cell that points us toward design. Lots of things that aren't designed can be said to be "complex". It's essentially two things… the presence of irreducibly complex machines, systems and processes (irreducible complexity means that the machine won't function with fewer parts than it has at present… like a mousetrap) and the presence of "Complex Specified Information" in our DNA.

Example: Consider that DNA must be "read" by little molecular machines made from proteins, which are made from amino acids. But consider also that the molecular machines themselves are actually described and specified in the DNA. So, question is, how do you evolve this system? You need the DNA to build the proteins, but you need the proteins to read the DNA!! You see, this is irreducible. An irreducible system such as this cannot come about by means of blind, purposeless forces… and not just because it's "too complex" but because of the nature of the complexity. It cannot be worked up to gradually because the system doesn't do anything until everything's there. Kind of like a mousetrap. Take one part away, and you can't catch any mice with it.

Why is this an important distinction? Because if you tell someone on the other side that it's "too complex" to have evolved, they're gonna bust you. They're gonna say that you're copping out on "real science" because the problem is just "too difficult." They'll say that you just want to fill the gaps in our scientific knowledge with "God." And then they'll point to all of these structures (like snowflakes, for example) that weren't designed and say "See! These are complex, too!!" See the problem? It's much, MUCH more than mere complexity.

And Mr. Chadwell will be oh so happy you finally did!

You have NO idea!!

 

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