How can Intelligent design even be considered a theory?

Question

It is barely an hypothesis. A theory needs substantiated evidence to support it. The scientific method needs to be applied to that evidence before it is considered substantiated. Has that been accomplished yet?

Answer 1

It absolutely CANNOT be considered a theory or even scientific in any way. Check out the link... you'll see what I mean.

Answer 2

I am glad to see that you are open to evidence so here it goes.
Yes, scientific evidence has been a part of Intelligent Design (ID) for at least the last 10 years. The main points that substantiate ID are: Irreducile Complexity which states that multi-component parts will not function if one of those parts is missing (Some awesome biological macines found in cells are used as examples of that), Information Theory which has the premise that intelligent rich systems only arise from intelligent agents (such as the highly complex DNA language), Design Theory which considers probability,specification and patterns to determine if something was designed or not (a product of intelligence is an artifact such as Mt. Rushmore which could not come about by random forces).

ID has been published in peer review publications. The Discovery Institute, the main think tank on ID, can provide online links to some of that work.

ID is very misunderstood. It does not directly deal with evolution nor does it use any scripture or religious sources. The controversy centers on the conclusion that God could be the intelligent designer. Strict secularist go overboard because they think that just mentioning the G word could estabish a religion in the schools. Darwinists oppose it because they fear losing their monopoly on the subject. Note that most Darwinists are atheists and atheism has been declared a religion last year by a federal appeals court. Most people don't know about the evidence for ID only the opinions of others about it. It is often purposefully distorted.

Answer 3

Theory and Hypothesis mean the same thing. "Theory, hypothesis are used in non-technical contexts to mean an untested idea or opinion." - Dictionary.com. Intelligent design isn't a theory. It's a fact. That has been proven by actual, physical evidence. Remember when these brilliant scientists thought that the earth was flat?? They could have just read the Bible to find out that it was actually round. Isaiah 40:22: "There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth." The flood of Noah's day has been proven by scientists. But here again, they could have looked to the Bible. The Bible is real and true. It says there is a Creator that created everything....and that only He is to receive the glory and honor for it. Revelation 4:11: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.” I base my beliefs on facts, not theories.

Answer 4

There are different definitions of the word "theory". Some ignoramuses mindlessly chant, "Evolution is just a theory". It is not a preliminary and untested hypothesis. As you say, a scientific theory has been tested and is well-supported. That is true of Evolution and Relativity. There are details to be worked out before a theory becomes a Law of Nature. Intelligent design is not a scientific theory at all. It is just a newer and slightly more sophisticated version of Genesis creation- creationism- creation science. (What a supreme oxymoron!) Like its predecessors, it will be shot down, hopefully before it sets back science in the USA too far. Many other countries have more people who accept Evolution, and we cannot afford to get behind them.

Answer 5

Looking at some of the unintelligent theist responses, it is plainly obvious why intelligent design can be considered a theory.

Theists known nothing about science!

A theory can NEVER becomes a fact / law. A theory is used to describe natural phenomenon. That gravity exists is a fact. Gravity is described by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, and work in Quantum Gravity.

Similarly evolution is a fact (proof: all dogs evolved from wolves). The Theory of Evolution is used to describe HOW evolution can occur.

Theists will never understand the definition of theory, or the scientific method.

Answer 6

True, it is only a hypothesis until evidence has been found (scientifically) to support it. That is why evolution is a theory, not law or hypothesis. (Though micro-evolution is widely accepted as law.)

So far I have seen correlations and observations, but nothing substantiating the claim that the order in our world had to have been dictated by a creator nor anything that shows it could not have happened by nature alone.

Answer 7

A theory, by definition does not require evidence. Some definitions from the uber-liberal Princeton site:

a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world

a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena

a belief that can guide behavior

Answer 8

It is a legitimate theory based on evidence presented by science, which is why so many scientists are coming to accept the concept, or discovering it on their own. But it is NOT a scientific theory, and its presentation in a science curriculum is therefore NOT justified.

Answer 9

For something to be consider a scientific fact it needs the scientific method to be applied to it. Theory (by their very nature) do not meet this criteria. Once a theory has been proved by the scientific method, it is no longer a theory.

Answer 10

Well I guess that depends on what you consider to be evidence. Does the lack of a better explanation count as evidence?

We have MOUNTAINS of evidence that apes evolved into man, and from what we see around us that's plausable. Even most Christians accept that people mutated into different races, classes, etc (asian, albino, dwarf, etc)...and enough mutations equals evolution. So, I'll accept this answer.

But there's so little evidence before that to support evolution. My son was just born, and I don't understand how a life can be SO complex...he was born knowing how to feed, his eyes can translate images to his head, his heart and brain and body are already workin in unicin...the human body is SO complex down to every molecule. Evolution doesn't satisfy this answer for me.

So if a "natural" answer doesn't work, then we turn to the supernatural. Many people were told "God did it", and since they can't find a better answer this works for them. Its because of the lack of effort put into this answer that I don't give it much credit either but it's better than a respitory system that feeds oxygen to every cell, and reproductive system that involves thousands of precise occurences happening in unicen, a nervous system that involves millions of synapes working together without missing a beat, and all the other systems of the body evolving into something so complex.

Then again, its had a billion years to try.

Answer 11

for sure Evolution is a theory, yet regardless of this the some definitions of a theory are:- "A coherent team of examined known propositions, in many situations recognized as incredible, which will be utilized as ideas of clarification and prediction for a classification of phenomena: e.g.Einstein's theory of relativity." and "A theory in technical use is a better or a lot less shown or straightforward clarification accounting for prevalent information or phenomena: the idea of relativity." smart layout satisfies not one of the above definitions. it isn't a examined proposition and is not any longer many times recognized as incredible (i.e. by the knowledgeable medical community at large) and it isn't a shown or straightforward clarification of something it truly is smart.