Intelligent Design’s Abject Failure

transcript

An institute trying to pretend creationism is scientifically legitimate

and have it taught in American schools.

First of all

• I’m a wannabe• …and not a scientist• …not yet a philosopher

either• …I also smell like

elderberries when the weather is moist

• …and if you can’t understand my accent, then fluergee-guergy-gurr

What is evolution?

• Dembski doesn’t know:•“According to Darwinism, undirected natural causes are solely responsible for the origin and development of life.”•“Darwinism is hopelessly entangled with naturalism.”•“Darwinism rules out the possibility of God or any guiding intelligence playing a role in life's origin and development.”

Bad, Dembski! Bad!

What I think evolution is

• Darwinian evolution by natural selection

• Those organisms or genes least likely to die in a given environment will therefore be the ones most likely to reproduce and eventually become quantitatively dominant.

Irreducible Complexity

• “A single system which is composed of several interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, and where the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning.”

The man behind the Colgate smile is Michael Behe

An Important Concept

Mammals that can’t produce vitamin C

Guinea pigs and us!

What d’ye mean, rum don’t cure scurvy? ‘course it does.

3 ways evolution can produce “Irreducible Complexity”

• An arch bridge is Irreducibly complex

• But, of course, it’s not made all at once

1. Scaffolding2. Improbable but possible happenstance3. ?

• Suppose an adaptive ability requires two (or more) mutations in order to function and either mutation alone is useless. As long as mutation A confers no disadvantage it could still be acquired through neutral drift without mutation B, priming the organism for advantage if B should turn up later.• Already proven by Richard Lenski when some of his e-coli mutated to thrive on citrate.

1. Scaffolding2. Improbable but possible happenstance3. Cooption or exaptation

To the left: Type III secretory system used for pooping. To the right: flagellar motor used for pretending to be a speedboat.

Complex Specified Information

• What is it?• Nobody knows. No, really• Well, Dembski does• …maybe.

Argument From Ignorance

Inference to Best Explanation?• One white swan, two white swans,

three white swans…• Therefore all swans are white.• Only works if you count all the

swans• Evolution fails; therefore all

natural explanations fail; therefore supernatural explanation; therefore God

• Only works if evolution and God are the only possible explanations.

• “Explanation”?

Is it an explanation?

• Fire generally causes smoke.• Intelligence generally causes flagella?

Well, is it informative?

Is there a generalised connection?

• The house is smoking because there is a smoke-producing event going on inside

• The flagellum was produced by a flagellum-producing intelligence

Intelligent DesignVs.

Platonic AssemblyDunn-dunn-duuuunn!

www.SketchSepahi.com

Questions?

Intelligent Design’s Abject Failure

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