What Is Intelligent Design?
Dr. Heinz Lycklama
heinz@osta.com
www.osta.com/messages
All truth passes through three stages:
1. Ridicule
2. Violent opposition
3. Self-evident acceptance.
Arthur Schopenhauer
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Chance, Necessity or Design?
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What Is Intelligent Design (ID)?
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Evolution, Creationism, ID
History of “Intelligent Design”
Key Movers and Shakers
Irreducible Complexity
Specified Complexity
Testing for Complexity
Dembski’s Explanatory Filter
Henry Morris
Arguments for a Designer
More examples of Design
Intelligent Design Summary
Charles Darwin
Phillip Johnson
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The Meaning of Evolution
1.
Artificial Selection
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2.
Change
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3.
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Small variation within prescribed limits of complexity
e.g., finch beaks by mutation and natural selection
Macro-Evolution
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5.
Evolution of a coastline (random)
Evolution of a car (designed)
Micro-Evolution
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4.
Plant and animal breeding
Only 1, 2 and 3
have been observed
4 never observed!
Particles -> people
Molecular Evolution
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5 is impossible!
Origin of life – assumes a mutating replicator
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Evolution Propositions
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Claims about living organisms:
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Related through common ancestry
Arose through mutations and natural selection
By means of random chance processes of
nature
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Scientific Creationism Propositions
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A sudden creation of the universe, energy and life
from nothing
Mutations and natural selection lack ability to
develop all living kinds from a single organism
Changes of the originally created kinds of plants
and animals occur only within fixed limits
There is a separate ancestry for humans and apes
Earth’s geology can be explained by catastrophism,
primarily by the occurrence of a worldwide flood
Earth and living kinds had a relatively
recent beginning
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Intelligent Design (ID)
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"The theory of Intelligent Design holds that
certain features of the universe and of living
things are best explained by an intelligent
cause, not an undirected process such as
natural selection."
Source: The Discovery Institute
The leaders in the ID movement purposely do not
equate the intelligent cause with God; moreover,
they are agnostic on the issue of the age of the
earth and of the universe
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Intelligent Design Propositions
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Specified complexity and irreducible complexity
are reliable indications of design
Biological systems exhibit specified complexity
and use irreducibly complex subsystems
Naturalistic mechanisms or undirected causes do
not suffice to explain origin of complexity
Intelligent Design constitutes the best explanation
for the origin of specified complexity and
irreducible complexity in biological systems
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Evidence for Design
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Cosmology: evidence suggests the universe-including all matter, space, time, and energy-came suddenly into existence a finite time ago,
contradicting the picture of an eternal and selfexisting material cosmos
Physics: evidence has shown that the universe is
"finely-tuned" for the existence of life, suggesting
the work, as Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle puts it,
"of a super-intellect”
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More Evidence for Design
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Biology: the presence of complex and
functionally integrated machines has cast doubt
on Darwinian mechanisms of self-assembly
Molecular biology: the presence of information
encoded along the DNA molecule has suggested
the activity of a prior designing intelligence
Harvard biologist Richard Lewontin urges scientists
to embrace a "materialism [that] is absolute" and to
stick with "material explanations, no matter how
counter intuitive."
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History of Intelligent Design
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Greek philosophers a few
100 years before Christ
Some early church fathers
in 3rd/4th centuries
William Paley, Natural Theology (1802)
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Watch is the product of intelligence (watchmaker),
not the result of undirected natural processes
Organisms (e.g. the eye) are the
product of intelligence
Purposeful design -> purposeful designer
Important sign of design is complexity
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Modern Intelligent Design (ID)
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Began with the work of Charles Thaxton,
Walter Bradley, Michael Denton, Dean Kenyon
and Phillip Johnson
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Scientifically, Darwinism is an
inadequate framework for biology
Philosophically, Darwinism is hopelessly
entangled with naturalism
Michael Behe, William Dembski,
Stephen Meyer, Paul Nelson and
Jonathan Wells
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Proposed positive research program wherein
intelligent causes become key for understanding
the diversity and complexity of life
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Some Influential ID Books
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The Mystery of Life’s Origin, Charles Thaxton
et. al. in 1984
A Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton in 1986
Darwin on Trial, Phillip Johnson in 1991
Creation Hypothesis, Dean Kenyon in 1994
Reason in the Balance, Phillip Johnson in 1995
Darwin’s Black Box, Michael Behe in 1996
The Design Inference, William Dembski in 1999
Icons of Evolution, Jonathan Wells in 2000
The Design Revolution, William Dembski in 2004
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Can Evolution be Proved in a Courtroom?
A Lawyer’s Perspective
Phillip E. Johnson
Jefferson E. Peyser
Professor of Law
School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
http://www.arn.org/johnson/johome.htm
Published in 1991
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Johnson’s Critique Spreads
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This 1994 collection
of philosophers,
physicists,
astronomers,
chemists, biologists,
and linguists
critiqued Darwinism
and promoted
Intelligent Design
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Johnson’s Influence Leads to
1996 Conference
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This conference at Biola
University brought scholars
from around the world
The world learns of the
Discovery Institute’s Center for
the Renewal of Science and
Culture (CRSC).
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Darwin’s Black Box
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Lehigh U. biochemistry
professor, Mike Behe’s
1996 book was reviewed in
mainline science journals.
For the first time Darwinists
only argued with his
conclusions, not his facts.
CT’s 1996 Book of the Year.
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Irreducible Complexity
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Mike Behe introduced the concept of
irreducible complexity in his book,
Darwin’s Black Box
Something is irreducibly complex if it is
composed of two or more necessary parts
Remove one part and function is not just
impaired but destroyed
A mousetrap is irreducibly complex
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The Mousetrap
•A mousetrap cannot be built by natural selection
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“Irreducible Complexity”
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“By irreducibly complex I mean a single system
composed of several well-matched, interacting parts
that contribute to the basic function, wherein the
removal of any one of the parts causes the system to
effectively cease functioning
An irreducibly complex system cannot be produced
directly... by slight, successive modifications of a
precursor system, because any precursor to an
irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by
definition nonfunctional”
Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, p. 39.
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William Dembski
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Bill Dembski publishes
The Design Inference
in 1999 with the
prestigious Cambridge
University Press.
Bill has earned
doctorates in
philosophy and
mathematics and an
M.Div. from Princeton.
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Year 2000
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Dembski publishes
Intelligent Design
Major conferences at
Baylor, Concordia College
in Wisconsin, and Yale
Media and scientific
community focus even
more attention on Kansas
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Year 2000
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Intelligent Design Theory
Living organisms are too complicated to be the
result of natural processes working independently
Based largely on the theories underlying
Information Theory
Concerned with measuring the complexity of
structures/information contained in structures
Generally concerned with two main concepts:
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1.
2.
Irreducible complexity
Specified complexity
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Specified Complexity
The following strings of characters illustrate the concept
of Specified Complexity.
Consider the following:
Complex but unspecified:
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“fjbn ghtur ieiod ofjkgjbn mfkritj”
Complex and specified:
 “The state of education in America”
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Intelligent Design
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“Intelligent Design” (ID) takes intelligence
to be a separate principle, not reducible to
chance and necessity
Targets evolution: life exhibits a special
kind of order, not like that of a snowflake
but like that of a meaningful message
Sophisticated anti-evolution
No Bible-thumping
Philosophical
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ID: A Separate Principle
Chance
Design
Necessity
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“Irreducible Complexity”
1996: Michael Behe, Lehigh
biochemist. Leading ID
biologist. Catholic.
Common descent OK––
against Darwinian mechanism.
Can’t get “irreducible
complexity.”
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“Specified Complexity”
1998-now: William Dembski,
mathematician and philosopher.
Leading theorist of ID.
ID irreducible form of
explanation, distinct from
chance & necessity.
ID is a revolution.
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Books, Books, More Books
• Dembski has 3 books, 4+
edited books on ID
• Not just biology but
physics, AI, theology,
morality, law, …
• Broad, “informationtheoretic” objections to
naturalistic evolution
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Dembski’s claims
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Both designed artifacts and organisms
exhibit special order: specified complexity
Chance and necessity cannot generate
Specified Complexity, or information
Intelligence is a separate principle
Blind mechanisms (like those of Darwinian
evolution) cannot explain life
Artificial Intelligence is impossible
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How To Detect Specified Complexity
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Contingency: No physical
constraint; all sorts of strings can
appear on the paper
Complexity: Improbable to
obtain by pure chance
Specification: Can’t read it, but
fits properties of a language,
priorly known
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Günayd inlar!
Bugün hava iyi,
anc ak yarin d aha
kötü o lacak gibi.
Bulut çok, ama ne
yapa r, belli degil.
DNA also a code…
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Testing for Design
Gün aydinlar!
Bugün h ava iyi,
ancak y arin d aha
kötü ol acak gib i.
Bulut çok, ama ne
yapar, belli degil.
contingency
contingency
F G
m1m 2
r12
complexity
specification
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Start
Highly
probable?
William Dembski’s
Explanatory Filter
Yes
Law
Yes
Chance
Yes
Design
No
Intermediate
probability?
No
Specified/
Small probability?
No
Chance
From Mere Creation: Science, Faith and Intelligent
Design. William A. Dembski Ed. Downers Grove,
Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998. P99.
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Is The
Pattern
Random Or
Designed?
Probability:
=2-256
=8.6 x 10-78
=0.0000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0086
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Is The
Pattern
Random Or
Designed?
Probability:
=2-256
=8.6 x 10-78
=0.0000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0000000000000
0086
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Arguments for a Designer
Organisms look designed for at least three reasons:
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Redundancy - A Designer can engineer redundancy into a
system, but chance is unlikely to do this. An example of
this is the presence of degeneracy in the genetic code and
other features that minimize or negate the effects of many
point mutations
Excess potential - Organisms have potential that may
never be used. For example, Wallace, co-discoverer of
natural selection, pointed out that primitive people have
the capacity to do calculus when trained. Natural selection
is unlikely to select for capacity that is not used
Complexity - Life exhibits a kind of complexity that it is
hard to produce by processes involving chance
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The Likely and the Unlikely
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Arguments for a Designer frequently revolve
around probability. Meaningful complexity is
unlikely to result from random events. Organisms
are meaningfully complex. Some claim that
natural selection overcomes much of this problem
as, while change may be random, selection is not
Science is about predicting what
is likely and what is unlikely.
Everyone is in agreement that the
events leading to production of
living organisms are unlikely
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In a Long Time and Big Universe
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It has been argued that given massive lengths of time and a
universe to work in, the unlikely becomes likely:
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“Given infinite time, or infinite opportunities, anything is possible.
The large numbers proverbially furnished by astronomy, and the
large time spans characteristic of geology, combine to turn topsyturvy our everyday estimates of what is expected and what is
miraculous.” Richard Dawkins (1989) The Blind Watchmaker:
Why the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without design.
W. W. Norton and Co. New York. p139.
Dawkins says that while life looks designed, the designer
was not God, but massive chance coupled with natural
selection. Nature was the designer
In The Panda’s Thumb, Stephen J. Gould argues that life
does not look designed
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More Examples of Design
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Necessity/law/order
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Snowflake
Crystal
Design – irreducible/specified complexity
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Animal cell
Molecular motors
Human eye
Bombardier beetle
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Molecular Machines
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Behe showed that the
cell, Darwin’s Black
Box, is filled with
irreducibly complex
molecular machines
that could not be built
by natural selection
David Hume criticized
Paley’s watchmaker
argument because it
was not an exact
enough analogy
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Molecular Machines (cont’d)
Over 100 molecular motors are now known to exist inside the
cell with very specific analogies to human designed motors.
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Behe’s Insight
Michael Behe contends that when we look at the protein
machines that run cells, there is a point at which no parts
can be removed and still have a functioning machine. He
called these machines “irreducibly complex” (IC)
 We encounter irreducibly complex devices in everyday
life. A simple mouse trap is an example of an irreducibly
complex device:
Board
Trigger
Staple
Cheese
Bait holder
Hammer
Spring
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Evolution of Complex Organs
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The Origin of Species
Chapter VI "Difficulties
of the Theory"
Organs of Extreme Perfection
and Complication
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“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable
contrivances for adjusting the focus to different
distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and
for the correcting of spherical and chromatic aberration,
could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I
freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”
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Evolution of the Eye
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To go from nothing to an eye would be a
very big jump
Darwin proposed a series of what appeared
to be relatively small steps (they are still
gigantic leaps) that might be able to produce
an eye
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Intelligent Design (ID)
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Uses an “explanatory filter”
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Necessity – did it have to happen?
Chance – did it happen by accident?
Design – did an intelligent agent cause it to
happen?
ID theory focuses on what is designed
without answering the questions of who,
when, why and how
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Some ID Observations
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ID confronts naturalistic philosophical
underpinnings of evolutionary thinking
ID identifies presuppositions of naturalism
ID is supported by science
ID does not assume young universe
ID is not Creationism
ID does not mention the Fall
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Issues with Intelligent Design
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ID does not attempt to explain all designs
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Only certain features are designed
Does not rule out evolutionary processes
ID does not oppose an old age for the earth
ID does not acknowledge God as redeemer
ID distances itself from the problem of evil
ID movement does not identify Designer/Creator
ID divorces the Creator from creation
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Closing Thoughts on ID
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Alternative theory to Darwinian Evolution?
Alternative to Creationism?
Should it be taught in public schools?
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Critical thinking is needed
Presuppositions must be stated
Church-state issue?
Academic freedom is at stake
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Thank you
for your
attention!
Dr. Heinz Lycklama
heinz@osta.com
www.osta.com
@ Dr. Heinz Lycklama
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Creation Organizations
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ICR – Institute for Creation Research
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www.icr.org
Books by Henry Morris (founder), e.g.
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The Genesis Flood
The Genesis Record
The Modern Creation Trilogy
Acts and Facts articles on Creation
Answers in Genesis
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www.answersingenesis.org
Founded by Ken Ham
Books, seminars, articles on Creation
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Creation Organizations - 2
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Creation Evidence Museum
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Creation Moments
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www.creationevidence.org
Dinosaurs and human tracks
www.creationmoments.com
Radio spots
Creation Research Society
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www.creationresearch.org
Publication of peer-reviewed creation articles
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Creation Organizations - 3
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Center For Scientific Creation
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Creation Science Evangelism
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www.creationscience.com
“In The Beginning” Book by Walt Brown, Ph.D.
www.drdino.com
Videos, seminars
Discovery Institute
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www.discovery.org
Intelligent Design “Think Tank”
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Important Books
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The Genesis Record, Dr. Henry Morris
The Genesis Flood, Dr. John Whitcomb & Dr. Henry Morris
The Collapse of Evolution, Scott Huse
The Lie: Evolution, Ken Ham
Refuting Evolution, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati
Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!, Dr. Duane Gish
Scientific Creationism, Dr. Henry Morris
Dinosaurs by Design, Dr. Duane Gish
Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome, Dr. J.C.
Sanford
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More Important Books
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The Young Earth, Dr. John Morris
Science and the Bible, Dr. Henry Morris
Tornado in a Junkyard, James Perloff
In The Beginning, Dr. Walt Brown
Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton
Darwin on Trial, Dr. Phillip Johnson
Darwin’s Black Box, Dr. Michael Behe
Design Inference, Dr. William Dembski
Icons of Evolution, Dr. Jonathan Wells
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Yet More Important Books
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The Battle for the Beginning, Dr. John MacArthur
Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey
The Design Revolution, Dr. William Demski
The Origin of Species Revisited, W. R. Bird
It Matters What We Believe, Mike Riddle
The Evolution of a Creationist, Jobe Martin
Grand Canyon (a different view), Tom Vail
In Six Days, Dr. John Ashton
Starlight and Time, Dr. Russell Humphreys
Starlight, Time and the New Physics, De. John Hartnett
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