h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: An Essay disputing the Intelligent Design theory. - A710920
Author: cumulonimbus - U116074

This is an alternative entry because it is in fact an opinion essay so it only tells one side of the coin and has a lot of "i"'s. but since im being opinionated about a rather obscure topic i also have to explain what intelligent design is. im too lazy to turn it into a proper entry so im hoping it will be accepted like this. but if anyone else would like to mess around with it and fix it they are welcome to it.

That's the best explanation of intelligent design that I've heard for a long time. The stuff you hear on the news and suchlike is always so vague.

So Intelligent Design is there to answer the same question as the Anthropic Principles. I don't see that it's quite so horrendous as you make out. To be sure, it does have unanswered questions - it requires the existance of another universe that contains this one, in which the designer(s) can reside. But one of the anthropic principles (I can never remember which way round they go) requires this too, so that in itself isn't a sufficient argument.

Some scientists have already suggested that we might be able to create new universes in the laboratory, one day. If so, they might even be able to pick and choose the relevant parameters, which would make them the designers of this new universe. Perhaps our universe was similarly created. Perhaps it was created by intelligent beings from the future, in a causal loop. So no, I don't think that Intelligent Design, as proposed by theists, is any different from the similar ideas that have been postulated by scientists.

Creationism was different - that started from the bible, and manipulated the facts to fit the theory, rather than the other way round. But I think ID is a much more harmless theory, and it's one that many people of many different religions believe in. It would be hypocritical to dismiss it simply because of its source, or that it now has a fancy name.

Hi Cumulonimbus,

I know your entry has been a while in the alternative writing workshop but I thought I'd post a couple of thoughts on it anyhoo.


1. There is something wrong with the guideml in this article (I had a look and couldn't put my finger on it, perhaps when you do an edit and preview it will tell you where the error is)


2. Have you ever read the Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, this has some really good arguments against the creationist viewpoint, it might be a worthwhile read if you plan to make this Edited Guide worthy

Cheers

KJ

This isn't in GuideML format - it's plain text

But the author hasn't posted here in over a year. I could go either way on this. I think this *could* become an EG entry

FM anyone?

Hmmm... it could make a EG entry ... or an UG one. The EG would require some re-working, though

That's what the FM is *for*

As I said, I could go either way

cumulonimbus was in favour of collaboration.

This could be worked up for the EG so I suggest a move to the Flea Market.

Speckly.

Seconded.