If Intelligent Design is to be taught in Science classes how is the mechanism by which it works explained?

Question

My understanding of evolution is essentially "variation exists within a population of individuals, where that variation leads to that individual having and increased chance of it's offspring surviving then that variant characteristic will be passed on". Can the "mechanism" of Intelligent Design be summarised in a similar way?

I am not looking for ways in which evolution doesn't explain this or that, I want to understand how Intelligent Design makes things happen.

Answer 1

> If Intelligent Design is to be taught in Science classes how is the mechanism by which it works explained?

The mechanism is that at some points during Earth's history, an Intelligent Designer or Designers introduced new sets of genes and controlling DNA sequences into some of the existing organisms, so that subsequent generations would then have the benefit of systems that were so "irreducibly complex" that it is unlikely that they would have evolved.

BTW, your understanding of evolution is incomplete. You've summarized Natural Selection. What you're missing is that mutations and chromosomal events are the cause of new, variant alleles. (Chromosomal events can include incorporation of genes from viruses, etc. into the genome, and a few other tricks).

Here are a few terms you should be familiar with:
Mutation
Gene flow (formerly called Migration)
Isolation / genetic drift
Selection (natural selection, sex selection, 'artificial' selection).

==
Intelligent Design isn't a scientific theory. It's a speculation. It should be discussed for four or five minutes in your 12th grade A.P. Biology class, then dismissed as non-scientific.

Answer 2

Why must they be so distinct? Borrowing your words, perhaps Intelligent Design is "introducing variation within a population of individuals, where that variation leads to that individual having an increased chance of it's offspring surviving then that variant characteristic will be passed on".

Seems to me this is consistent with both belief systems. It's then up to the individual to decide whether he or she believes that the variation comes from an intelligent or divine source, a intelligently devised stochastic source, or pure randomness.

Answer 3

There is no sensible way to explain ID. You have to explain everything by saying some unknown supernatural "designer" whose existance can't be proven did it all.

If ID is to be taught in class then it should only be done during discussion on "what constitutes science?". The basis of science is this: using empirical observations of the natural world to form a logical theory. Once you have a theory you can use it to make easily testable predictions (i.e. if this is true then this must happen). You then try to DISPROVE these prediction (any idiot can prove a theory. You only need to disprove it once). If you disprove it, you form a new theory to explain all the facts. If you don't disprove it, you haven't shown the theory to be fact, just the best explanation for rhings that you have.

If this is science, you quickly show that in over 200 years of trying, evolution has NEVER been disproved. It has been added to over time (Mendel's theories of inheritance, DNA etc) but not disproven. You can show that current evolutionary theory is based on empirical observations and that you can test it. You can also show that ID is NOT science because it's basis lies in the supernatural (an invisible "designer" or "creator") and because you cannot test any of its fundamental tenets - you can't test for the existance or absence of a "designer"

Answer 4

I agree with a previous poster who said there is no mechanism to explain.

The mechanism is God. Can't be explained. It just is. It's not science at all it IS faith (religion). Why stop using science to invoke God for the beginning of the process?

I find it interesting that some people believe that science can explain everything else but that God is the ultimate creator. To me this just delays and defers the search for truth to a point which will ultimately be absurdly twisted into "everything is explained scientifically except the very beginning."

Answer 5

The short answer is that no such explanation exists, or is even possible to exist. The "intelligent design" idea is irrefutable: there is no way to demonstrate that it does not happen. As a consequence, it fails to qualify as a scientific theory, for which refutability is an absolute requirement, and it also fails to be able to make useful predictions. Since it is not science, it is inappropriate for discussion in any scientific context.

Answer 6

Fortunately schools that tried to add Intelligent Design to their curriculums have been stopped by the court system.

Intelligent Design is explained and detailed very well here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design

Answer 7

There is no explanation for Intelligent Design. That's the point. God did it. How can you explain something beyond mortal understanding?

Answer 8

MAGIC...this is what I resort to when there is no factual, logical, or possibly conceivable way for a phenomenon to occur within the confines of the natural order of the universe.

Answer 9

http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/nhmag.html

haven't understood a word but as a christian who believes god is the intelligent designer, it's very interesting to see scientists try to explain the obvious without using the word faith!