From: Scott Roberts (jse885@earthlink.net)
Date: Sat Oct 09 2004 - 02:18:51 BST
Ian,
> What - I'm no Dawkins fan, but Scott, surely there are still not people
> trying to suggest Darwinian evolution is not a credible fit with the
> objective science. I've been round this cycle several times already even
in
> my time on this board. Science is great in its place, and biology is a
good
> place for it.
I'm not sure if I've unpacked all the negatives in what you said, but I
think you are saying that Darwinian evolution is a credible fit with the
objective science, so it should be taught in biology. Is that right? If so,
The Intelligent Design folks claim that for evolution to work solely
through chance and natural selection (which is what I take Darwinian
evolution to mean) requires frequent beating of 1 in 10^150 odds. If they
are right, then it is not a *credible* fit with the objective science. It
is logically possible, but not plausible. Of course, the ID folks may be
wrong on the calculation of probabilities, but it remains that the
Darwinians have to face up to the situation that we normally see things
increase in entropy than not if left to chance. To continually beat the
odds, whatever they are, over billions of years just doesn't seem likely.
To this I would add another objection, namely the impossibility of
consciousness arising from non-conscious material. But the argument is
tricky, so I won't repeat it here. What there certainly is not is a
Darwinian account for the birth of consciousness. But if Darwinism can't
account for the rise of consciousness then there is no point in using it
for an account of biological evolution.
Given all this, the only reason to accept Darwinism as an explanation of
evolution is that a belief in materialism requires it (which alone should
make one suspicious). That's not science, and it shouldn't be taught as
science.
- Scott
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