Re: [asa] ID is scientifically vacuous

Ian

It was hardly a rant mode but disgust at their objectionable comments.

Note that in Dembski we have the leader of ID, and PZMyers, bless his cotton socks, is simply some frustrated biologists who blogs like mad and is outnumbered by less vitriolic types. Even so I would grant that any wavering Christian who is undecided over evolution would be made a YEC by Myers.

If all evolutionists were like PZM then you might be right but we are dealing with the centre of ID. We find equally poor stuff on the DI and ARN sites (including ranting anti-global warming).

Though I hold to what Gingerich would call lowercase intelligent design I have yet to find one scientific argument for ID and plenty against. I cant see it as innocuous due to the squalid comments on Uncommon descent and dangerous views on the environment

Michael
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Iain Strachan
  To: Michael Roberts
  Cc: PvM ; Gregory Arago ; Carol or John Burgeson ; asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:00 AM
  Subject: Re: [asa] ID is scientifically vacuous

  Michael,

  Your instinctive impulse to enter rant mode leads to a simple category mistake.

  However poisonous a person is doesn't reflect on whether their science is valid or not. PZ Myers can be remarkably poisonous on his blog site, at one point recommending going into a church and call people "demented F***wits". But that doesn't mean PZ Myers isn't a good scientist.

  Equally T.S. Eliot was anti-Semitic, but that doesn't make his poetry worthless.

  I agree that some of the stuff Dembski et al are coming out with is inexcusable, but that has no bearing on whether ID is scientifically vacuous.

  The ultimate demonstration of vacuity is the endless repetition of the phrase "scientifically vacuous" like some sort of mantra. It adds nothing to the argument.

  Iain

  On 6/21/07, Michael Roberts <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk> wrote:
    Has anyone read the latest offerings on Uncommon Descent notably O'Leary on
    Conway Morris and Collins as well as Demski on "playboy-ID". If that doesn't
    convince anybody that ID in the hands of them, i.e Dembski. O/Leary Scordova
    etc is not only total and utter nonsense but remarkably poisonous as well.

    In fact Scientifically vacuous is far too generous a term to describe
    Uncommon descent and I cannot see how any reasonable person could consider
    otherwise..

    By their fruits you shall know them

    Michael

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Received on Thu Jun 21 11:03:41 2007