Is Intelligent Design Really Intelligent? A paper I had to do for english
I was given the opportunity to do a paper in my English class on Intelligent Design. I only had 2 1/2 hours to write it and this is what I came up with. I had very limited use of the internet and it was NOT a research paper. The professor is (I think) Christian and knows that I am an Atheist. She was very excited to read my paper. I am posting it here because I would like feed back on the arguments I presented. I told her without proper research my ideas might have a few holes in them and she understood completely, again this was for an English paper.
Any help on the ideas I presented would be greatly appreciated :) I hope this is in the right forum.....
Is Intelligent Design Really Intelligent?
Is life on earth the result of intelligent design or did it all happen by chance? Intelligent design (or ID) is the theory that a superior being put the universe into motion. The majority of people who believe in intelligent design also believe it goes further than that, that God has a hand in our every day life. A smaller percentage believe that we are here due to evolution, that everything happened by chance. From my point of view Chance seems more logical. The ideology of Intelligent design does not justify birth defects; it can not be proven in the science lab; and is not an adequate argument for “gaps” in science.
A disturbing problem with the theory of Intelligent design is the overwhelming amount of birth defects, both structural and functional/developmental. Birth defects are caused by defects in our genes as well as environmental hazards. Intelligent design, with the accompanying belief in God, is that humans should be perfect. We were made by God in his image. Perfect. If that were true then our genetic code would not mutate. Hence there would be no birth defects and/or genetic mutations/mishaps. This however is not the case. The Center for Disease Control states that 120,000 babies in the United States are born with birth defects each year. If you look at this situation through the scope of evolution you will see that mutations in genetic code fit very well into the science of evolution.
The way our species has evolved over time has brought us to become a science dependant race. Everything from understanding our place in the solar system, to the atoms and molecules that make up our bodies, to the types of foods we can safely ingest, we got from scientifically testing theories, which is the reason we have the answers to those questions. Intelligent design is not a probable or acceptable theory due to lack of being able to test it which is why the scientific community does not recognize it.
There are some who view science as a great tool of the human race, however they can not let go of the emotion that accompanies Intelligent Design. They see the gaps in science as unexplainable and therefore attribute these unexplainable instances to ID. This is called using the God of Gaps rationalization. Using this argument is not conducive to science because everyday science is understanding more and more about the universe and the world in which we live. At one point in time science thought the earth was flat, but due to exploration, we came to the conclusion that the earth was in fact round. This is the way that science works.
Intelligent design, as fascinating as it might seem to some, is not a theory of scientific measures at this point in time. It simply plays on the emotions, as opposed to the intellect, of humans. So in the words of Christopher Hitchens I leave you with this “Exceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.", and Intelligent Design does not give exceptional evidence.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Johnson on -
What are you saying, I'm too stupid to discuss these things. Just because they are BASIC doesn't mean they are without merit. There are many reasons to believe in a real living God. Hope, for one, I need something better than what atheism has to offer in order to exist in this crap hole of a world.
But if this discussion is to elementary for you, then by all means refrain from replying.
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on -
in this crap hole of a world.
Made that way by people who cling to unsubstantiated beliefs (religious or otherwise) and force others to conform to those beliefs through intimidation, fear, conquest, etc.Having hope in a mythology is a false hope, indeed.
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Johnson on
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Your beliefs are as unsubstantiated as mine. And please don't go blaming all the problems of the world on religion. Dude read a history book, there's plenty enough blame to go around. Mao, anybody?
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on
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Your beliefs are as unsubstantiated as mine.
So you admit that you can't substantiate the claims which you cling to so ardently?
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Johnson on
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Yep
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on
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Yep
Then why are you trying to convert us?
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Permalink Reply by Dave G on -
DG specifically stated 'religious and otherwise', your portraying it as blaming all problems on religion is dishonest.
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on
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DG specifically stated 'religious and otherwise', your portraying it as blaming all problems on religion is dishonest.
Exactly, Dave. When we cling to unsubstantiated beliefs, like racial superiority or "Obama is a Muslim," then we do everyone a disservice.
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Johnson on
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You can have Hope and dreams even with being an Atheist. Your hopes and your dreams are just transfered from a future heaven to life on Earth and either your children or the other people on this planet.
Children disappoint, or are taken from us, this life never turns out like we dream, people cannot be trusted to hold your "hope" in their hands, I'd much rather place my hope in God.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Sanders on -
I don't know if you are TOO stupid - not for me to judge. I am saying that you are demonstrating several basic flaws in logic, which I'm sure will be pointed out to you as you continue to troll- er, post. But understanding the logical fallacies of Circular Reasoning and Mere Assertion should be a staple for any visitor here.
Atheism isn't offering anything - it simply points out that there is no basis for believing in your system's (or any system that features invisible superbeings) offer.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Sanders on
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And MY world isn't a "crap hole." Sorry about yours.
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Johnson on
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Dan Dan Dan!,
You ARE being judgmental! How is my logic flawed? So far I think I'm doing pretty well holding my own against those that reply to my posts. I'm not trolling either, I'm just a bored house wife tired of talking nonsense with a four year old. Is that considered trolling? Maybe it is. Sorry.
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