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http://www.arn.org/docs/dembski/TenQuesDes.pdf
Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about design
1. DESIGN DETECTION. If the universe, or some aspect of it, is intelligently
designed,
how could we know it? Do reliable methods for detecting design exist? What
are
they? Are such methods employed in forensics, archeology, and data fraud
analysis?
Could they conceivably detect design in biological systems?
2. RELEVANCE OF SETI. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is
a
scientific research program that searches for signs of non-human
intelligence from
distant space. Should biologists likewise search for signs of non-human
intelligence
in biological systems? Why or why not?
3. BIOLOGY'S INFORMATION PROBLEM. What explains the origin of complex
information-rich patterns in biological systems? Could biological systems
exhibit
informational patterns that cannot be adequately be explained by natural
selection
and other material mechanisms? What would such patterns look like?
4. MOLECULAR MACHINES. Can you give examples of structures in the cell that
resemble machines designed by humans? Does the complexity of these molecular
machines rival artifactual machines made by humans? Is there any solid
evidence
that such machines could have arisen apart from actual design?
5. IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY. Are there complex biological systems whose parts
are all indispensable for the systems to perform their functions? If so, are
such
"irreducibly complex" systems evidence of intelligent design? If not, why
not?
6. REUSABLE PARTS. Human designers reuse designs that work well. Life forms
likewise reuse of structures that work well (the camera eye, for example).
Is this
evidence for common descent, evolutionary convergence, common design, or a
combination of these? How do we decide among these options?
7. REVERSE ENGINEERING. In trying to understand biological systems,
molecular
biologists need to "reverse engineer" them. In other words, they start with
functional
biological systems and then use their knowledge of engineering to determine
how
the systems could have been designed and built. Is this evidence that the
systems
were engineered to begin with?
8. PREDICTIONS. Do intelligent design theory and neo-Darwinian theory make
different predictions? Consider, for instance, junk DNA. For which of the
two theories
would the idea that large stretches of DNA are junk be more plausible? Which
theory
is more likely to look for unknown uses of seemingly useless biological
structures?
9. FOLLOWING THE EVIDENCE. What evidence would convince you that intelligent
design is true and that neo-Darwinism is false? Could such evidence even
exist?
What would it look like? If no such evidence exists or indeed can exist, how
can neo-
Darwinism be a testable scientific theory?
10. IDENTIFYING THE DESIGNER. Can we determine whether an object is designed
without knowing anything about its designer? If an unidentified intelligence
was
responsible for designing biological systems, how could we know it?
Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about design
1. DESIGN DETECTION. If the universe, or some aspect of it, is intelligently
designed,
how could we know it? Do reliable methods for detecting design exist? What
are
they? Are such methods employed in forensics, archeology, and data fraud
analysis?
Could they conceivably detect design in biological systems?
2. RELEVANCE OF SETI. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is
a
scientific research program that searches for signs of non-human
intelligence from
distant space. Should biologists likewise search for signs of non-human
intelligence
in biological systems? Why or why not?
3. BIOLOGY'S INFORMATION PROBLEM. What explains the origin of complex
information-rich patterns in biological systems? Could biological systems
exhibit
informational patterns that cannot be adequately be explained by natural
selection
and other material mechanisms? What would such patterns look like?
4. MOLECULAR MACHINES. Can you give examples of structures in the cell that
resemble machines designed by humans? Does the complexity of these molecular
machines rival artifactual machines made by humans? Is there any solid
evidence
that such machines could have arisen apart from actual design?
5. IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY. Are there complex biological systems whose parts
are all indispensable for the systems to perform their functions? If so, are
such
"irreducibly complex" systems evidence of intelligent design? If not, why
not?
6. REUSABLE PARTS. Human designers reuse designs that work well. Life forms
likewise reuse of structures that work well (the camera eye, for example).
Is this
evidence for common descent, evolutionary convergence, common design, or a
combination of these? How do we decide among these options?
7. REVERSE ENGINEERING. In trying to understand biological systems,
molecular
biologists need to "reverse engineer" them. In other words, they start with
functional
biological systems and then use their knowledge of engineering to determine
how
the systems could have been designed and built. Is this evidence that the
systems
were engineered to begin with?
8. PREDICTIONS. Do intelligent design theory and neo-Darwinian theory make
different predictions? Consider, for instance, junk DNA. For which of the
two theories
would the idea that large stretches of DNA are junk be more plausible? Which
theory
is more likely to look for unknown uses of seemingly useless biological
structures?
9. FOLLOWING THE EVIDENCE. What evidence would convince you that intelligent
design is true and that neo-Darwinism is false? Could such evidence even
exist?
What would it look like? If no such evidence exists or indeed can exist, how
can neo-
Darwinism be a testable scientific theory?
10. IDENTIFYING THE DESIGNER. Can we determine whether an object is designed
without knowing anything about its designer? If an unidentified intelligence
was
responsible for designing biological systems, how could we know it?
