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| A response to fundamentalist Darwin true believers |
| Needless to say, the Intelligent Design position has attracted much attention, and a large number of academics, both supporters and critics, in the last few years. Dembski can not respond to every critic in one book but in this 334 page work he does an excellent job responding to many of his critics. No doubt his next book will respond to yet another batch. Even if you disagree with ID, there is much useful information in this well written work. For example, he deals with the realization that DNA is a dynamic structure. The base pairs are always moving (actually vibrating) and holes are constantly opening and closing through the center of the DNA. Every femtosecond changes occur, yet the system is remarkably stable, partly because the cell's repair enzymes find, and repair, flaws along the cell's vast stretches of DNA. Research has now shown that DNA is part of a system that works as a unit, and certain basic parts, mostly complex proteins, must exist for it to function. This is what science research (of which I have been privileged to be a part of) tells us. Darwinism tells us a story based on conjecture and assumption. Dembski shows how and why ID is a superior explanation for what we see in the laboratory. Unfortunately, the Fundamentalist Darwin true believers will do their best to attack this book, but their rhetoric is now often so extreme that they often do not help their cause. Read the book and judge for yourself. |
| Answering the Right Questions about Intelligent Design |
| This new book by William Dembski is what could be expected from the leader of the intelligent design movement - a clear and cogent justification of an intellectual program that is now captivating an increasing number of scientists. Since I cannot review here the detailed rebuttals of all the inconsistencies and plain errors which abound in the objections that Dembski takes on in this book, I will only point out that the subtitle of that book is quite appropriately titled as "Answering the Tougest Questions about Intelligent Design." To illustrate my point, note, for example, the following fact: Dembski's previous book was titled "No Free Lunch." This title referred to the "No Free Lunch theorems" proven by David Wolpert and Willian Macready. Terry Rickard, a machine intelligence expert who used to employ Bill Macready, and who certainly is an authority on these theorems, endorsed this book as follows: "Using impeccable information- and computation-theoretic arguments, Professor Dembski demonstrates that complex specified information cannot originate solely through the actions of natural laws, chance, or any combination of the two. This book does not question the many successes enjoyed by evolutionary algorithms in numerous fields of science and engineering. Rather, it illustrates the role of intelligent agency in the problem formulations that enables their convergence to useful solutions, and calls for a renewed recognition of design as a primary, not a derivative, aspect of our world." Dembski in this book has addressed all his most important critics. Those not mentioned in the index are likely not there because their critiques were weak, unsightful, or inconsequential. Therefore, those readers who may be attracted by the rave editorial reviews and accolades heaped on Dembski's book by should take them seriously. As to the Design Revolution promised by Dembski, it will be interesting to see whether those adopting a wait-and-see policy will not shortly be like those in 1989 just prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. To my mind the evolutionary alternative to Intelligent Design theory, is soon destined to land in the same place where the theory of phlogiston, the Blondlot's N-rays, and Velikovsky's great discoveries already reside. |
| Another fine Dembski offering |
| This book will be enjoyable and informative to anyone interested in the issue of intelligent design. Dembski covers a broad range of issues and objections related to his specialty in a question and answer format that makes it reasonably easy to follow, even for the lay reader. One reviewer below apparently felt that Dembski did not cover all the territory he needed to. Can it be that this individual does not understand the significance of the information question that is the focus of Dembski's work? Perhaps he expected a greater focus on nuts-and-bolts biology? At any rate, since the reviewer seemed to accuse the author of intellectual cowardice, he should have been more specific about Dembski's alleged problem areas at least. In my opinion, this book does a fine job of confronting the toughest objections to design head on. Buy and enjoy! |
