From: Scott Roberts (jse885@localnet.com)
Date: Mon Feb 14 2005 - 21:45:45 GMT
Matt,
Matt said:
Like the idea that "intelligent design" is a scientific theory. I'm not
sure how Scott feels about it (based on his feelings about Darwinianism),
but as far as I can see, from what I've read, "intelligent design" isn't so
much a theory whose purpose is to displace evolutionary theory, as an
attempt to block the road of inquiry (by saying, "nah, nah, evolution won't
explain the things you want it to").
Scott:
A couple of clarifications. First, "intelligent design" is an evolutionary
theory, not a displacement. It wants to displace Darwinism, another
evolutionary theory that holds that no appeal to anything we might call
mental is needed to explain biological change and the coming into existence
of anything we might call mental (sigh, it's so hard to find a non-SOM
vocabulary :-). I consider neither intelligent design nor Darwinism to be
scientific theories. (I also don't particularly like being associated with
"intelligent design" theorists, but do admit I am closer to them than to
Darwinists. My objections are that it is usually given as if there were one
Intelligent Designer, aka God, which I disagree with. Further, since I
consider Intellect to be another name for Buddhist Emptiness, to say there
is a design according to which bodies are made to evolve is probably
misleading. That would be an anthropomorphic fallacy. In short, intelligent
design is thought of in SOM terms, and that won't work. Of course, in my
opinion, Darwinism is also thought of in SOM terms.)
Matt said:
Pragmatists have very little truck
with blocking the road of inquiry, we'd rather let inquiries die out on
there own. People will simply stop doing them when they are found to not be
profitable anymore.
Scott:
I certainly don't want to tell people what or how to inquire. But from my
point of view, I see the efforts of cognitive scientists and all to be as
likely of paying off in any significant way (like telling us how language
could have come about from a world without language) as is working on
building a perpetual motion machine. So it is my responsibility to try to
explain why I think so.
- Scott
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