Discovery Institute's Blog, page 82

Non-Adaptive Order and Intelligent Design

In a series of brief interviews welcoming his new book Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis, Discovery Institute biologist Michael Denton has hammered on the "existential" challenge to Darwinism from non-adaptive order. In other words, Darwin's theory insists on natural selection as the (mindless) sculptor of life at every step along evolution's path.

But that process preserves only adaptive features, not abstract patterns that serve an aesthetic purpose or, to all appearances, none at all....

Readers Weigh in on Stephen Meyer's Toronto Debate

Theodore Roosevelt famously survived a 1912 assassination attempt in Milwaukee following which, instead of seeking medical help, he proceeded directly to a campaign event. There, he delivered a 90-minute speech with a bullet lodged in his chest and blood leaking from his wound.

Stephen Meyer's performance at the University of Toronto on Saturday night, debating evolution with two opponents in the middle of a debilitating migraine headache, was considerably less dramatic than that. Still, rea...

Baroque Botany: Elaborate but Functional

In the documentary Biology of the Baroque, Michael Denton considers the challenge to Darwinian explanations of "biological features that may be adaptive, but they appear to be far beyond what is needed for mere survival." The film explores numerous examples that are "completely outside the domain of natural selection" because they emerge without ancestors, are gratuitously complex, and would have had no adaptive value even if ancestors were known. A good example is flowering plants.

The orig...

Krauss v. Meyer: Computer Algorithms as a Fair Model of Darwinian Processes?

You might have missed an overlap in Saturday's debate, Meyer v. Krauss v. Lamoureux, with headlines in technology news. A computer algorithm, AlphaGo, has crossed a threshold, beating a champion player of the Chinese board game Go. In the debate, "What's Behind It All? God, Science, and the Universe," Lawrence Krauss adduced such feats as support for algorithms as a fair model of Darwinian processes. To Meyer's objection that a program requires a programmer, Krauss responded that the softwar...

Larry Moran -- Voice of Reason

We weren't the only ones to notice Krauss's "shenanigans" during Saturday's debate with Meyer and Lamoureux. Over at his blog Sandwalk, biochemist Larry Moran of the University of Toronto (where the event took place) posted a straightforward commentary, without innuendo or name-calling (aside from his usual label of "intelligent design creationists").

The main point that he picked up from Stephen Meyer's presentation was the argument that ID predicted the functionality of most of the genome...

Character and Theology Aside, What About Denis Lamoureux's Science?

As Denyse O'Leary points out, it's a good thing Stephen Meyer was there on stage in Toronto, migraine attack or not. Otherwise, between atheist Lawrence Krauss and theistic evolutionist Denis Lamoureux, there would have been little to debate. Perhaps surprisingly, Lamoureux focused his attack on Meyer, even while proclaiming him his "brother in Christ" and flinging buttery approval at Krauss. Simple humanity, it seems, would have dictated turning your fire away from the stricken man and dire...

How Not to Debate -- Lawrence Krauss in Toronto

When someone opens what should be a scholarly debate with name-calling, innuendo, and accusations of dishonesty, it's hard to respect that person. Dr. Lawrence Krauss acted like an arrogant bully, which is too bad. It doesn't reflect his genuine scientific achievements. But his intemperate rant during the Krauss, Meyer, Lamoureux "What's Behind It All? God, Science, and the Universe" debate Saturday night in Toronto was in no way worthy of scholarship.

Krauss claimed the he didn't know who...

The Only Game in Town

Editor's note: In his new book Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton not only updates the argument from his groundbreaking Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985) but also presents a powerful new critique of Darwinian evolution. This article is one in a series in which Dr. Denton summarizes some of the most important points of the new book. For the full story, get your copy of Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis. For a limited time, you'll enjoy a 30 percent discount at CreateSpac...

Man Plans, God Laughs: Thoughts on Meyer v. Krauss v. Lamoureux

A Yiddish proverb puts it neatly: "Man plans, God laughs." Last night's debate in Toronto on "What's Behind It All? God, Science, and the Universe" went a little differently than planned. I hated to see our friend Stephen Meyer suffer a severe migraine in the midst of a public presentation, something that has never happened to him before.

At one point his vision was significantly impaired by the aura that goes with many migraine attacks, for which he offered the audience his apology. For mos...

Gentle Reminder: April 7 Deadline for Summer Seminar Applications Is Around the Corner

The April 7 deadline for student applications to the Discovery Institute Summer Seminars (2016) is fast approaching.

Mike Behe, Steve Meyer, Rick Sternberg, Jonathan Wells, Winston Ewert, Ann Gauger, Doug Axe, Bruce Gordon, and others (including me) enjoy teaching every July in this program. Really it's one of the high points of my working year, and the students rave about their experience.

Seattle in July is glorious, the setting is conducive to scholarship and friendship-building, and the...