At Daylight Atheism, [1] Ebonmuse takes on yet another attempt by “Intelligent Design” advocates to redefine science as . . . not science. The claims of ID have been devastated repeatedly by scientists and others who self-critically and rigorously explore the natural world. Yet ID advocates plod on, undeterred by the numerous sensationally successful predictions made by natural selection (Ebonmuse lists and links to six such predictions), the failure of ID to make any predictions, and the incapability of DI to make any predictions. ID advocates don’t get it that once you step out of the well-knit causal framework that allows us to navigate the real world there is no basis for making predictions. Once we make a foundational conclusion willy-nilly (e.g., defining the age of the earth by an ancient “holy book” rather than by reference to the numerous reliable methods for dating the planet [2]), on what basis could one possibly make any further conclusions or predictions, other than by further reference to the same “holy book?”
As all skeptics know from frustrating experience, these debates quickly hit the same impasse. The next logical step at this point is to ask why we should believe that the holy book is holy. But the only answer given given by ID advocates is simply that it is holy and that we must have faith in it. Consider further that the Bible doesn’t even mention atoms or galaxies. Nor does it propose any method for investigating the world. Those who use the bible as a “science” book do bible science by repeating the verses within whenever they conflict with real-world observations. That is the faux “science” proposed by ID. Yet the debate somehow continues . . .
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