Thursday, January 25, 2007
Science Stopper
Over at the Discovery Institute's Evolution News and Views blog, Robert Crowther argues that intelligent design isn't a science stopper. Dogmatic Darwinists, asserts Crowther, are the ones putting the brakes on.
"No serious ID scientist or scholar has ever thrown up her hands and said, “Well, this is unexplained by natural causes, so let’s stop researching it.”
Really?
At the Dover intelligent design trial, while under cross-examination by plaintiff attorney Eric Rothschild, biochemist Michael Behe claimed ID was testable in the laboratory.
Here's the exchange:
Correction: Of course it's Eric Rothschild, not Scott as we originally had it.
"No serious ID scientist or scholar has ever thrown up her hands and said, “Well, this is unexplained by natural causes, so let’s stop researching it.”
Really?
At the Dover intelligent design trial, while under cross-examination by plaintiff attorney Eric Rothschild, biochemist Michael Behe claimed ID was testable in the laboratory.
Here's the exchange:
Rothschild: And I'm correct when I asked you, you would need to see a step-by-step description of how the immune system, vertebrate immune system developed?Sounds to us as though Michael Behe has thrown up his hands and given up before he even got started.
Behe: Not only would I need a step-by-step, mutation by mutation analysis, I would also want to see relevant information such as what is the population size of the organism in which these mutations are occurring, what is the selective value for the mutation, are there any detrimental effects of the mutation, and many other such questions.
Rothschild: And you haven't undertaken to try and figure out those?
Behe: I am not confident that the immune system arose through Darwinian processes, and so I do not think that such a study would be fruitful.
Rothschild: It would be a waste of time?
Behe: It would not be fruitful.
Correction: Of course it's Eric Rothschild, not Scott as we originally had it.
