Michael J. Behe, the leading scientist (er, "scientist") in the Intelligent Design crusade, has an
editorial today in the NYT.
He starts with an intriguing lead:
First, what it isn't: the theory of intelligent design is not a religiously based idea, even though devout people opposed to the teaching of evolution cite it in their arguments.
What's this? The Creator of Intelligent Design debunking his own myth?
Has he seen the light?
Not exactly...
Behe's (more of his writing can be found
here) argument is summed up in four points:
- We can often recognize the effects of design in nature
- The physical marks of design are visible in aspects of biology
- We have no good explanation for the foundation of life that doesn't involve intelligence
- In the absence of any convincing non-design explanation, we are justified in thinking that real intelligent design was involved in life
Summation: biology is complex and cells look like factories, and since I can't figure out anything else, it's MAGIC.
Or in Behe's words, it's God:
While most people -- including me -- will think the designer is God, some people might think that the designer was a space alien or something odd like that.
Um, well, unfortunately I haven't seen any ID scientists advocating space aliens are behind life on Earth. So I'll assuming they all think it's God.
Behe ends his piece this way:
Still, some critics claim that science by definition can't accept design, while others argue that science should keep looking for another explanation in case one is out there. But we can't settle questions about reality with definitions, nor does it seem useful to search relentlessly for a non-design explanation of Mount Rushmore. Besides, whatever special restrictions scientists adopt for themselves don't bind the public, which polls show, overwhelmingly, and sensibly, thinks that life was designed. And so do many scientists who see roles for both the messiness of evolution and the elegance of design.
Which makes that opening statement a bit disingenuous, no? His argument leaves little doubt that the designer here is God, which brings religion right back in (aforementioned space aliens, aside).
And, what, because the POLLS show people think God created the universe, that's good enough for him? Wow -- science by popular vote!
So, how about some facts?
Natural History has a great report on Intelligent Design.
In it, Kenneth R. Miller completely debunks Behe's work (note: scroll down for Miller's piece):
Behe's contention that each and every piece of a machine, mechanical or biochemical, must be assembled in its final form before anything useful can emerge is just plain wrong. Evolution produces complex biochemical machines by copying, modifying, and combining proteins previously used for other functions.
...In the final analysis, the biochemical hypothesis of intelligent design fails not because the scientific community is closed to it but rather for the most basic of reasons -- because it is overwhelmingly contradicted by the scientific evidence.
The Natural History report also features an essay by Barbara Forrest. In it, Forrest calls bullshit on the intelligence design community:
Wedge scientists have no empirical research program and, consequently, have published no data in peer-reviewed journals (or elsewhere) to support their intelligent-design claims. But they do have an aggressive public relations program, which includes conferences that they or their supporters organize, popular books and articles, recruitment of students through university lectures sponsored by campus ministries, and cultivation of alliances with conservative Christians and influential political figures.
The NH report is from 2002, and since then the Intelligence Design movement has made even more headway into the science departments of America's schools.
In today's Guardian, Suzanne Goldenberg writes a piece from Kansas, reporting on a town hall meeting where the new "Evolution Is A Theory" textbooks were the topic:
But the largest applause of the evening was reserved for a silver-haired gentleman in a navy blue blazer. "I have a question: if man comes from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? Why do you waste time teaching something in science class that is not scientific?" he thundered.
Um, what was that about "intelligent" design?