Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Intelligent Design

There are big questions that all of us must ask at some point in our lives. Things such as "where do we come from?" and "what's the point of it all?" There are no easy answers to these questions. I like to think of them as unanswerable questions, things to which we can never truly know the answer. I think we're probably better off this way. After all, if we knew all the answers, life would be pretty boring.

One thing that really gets my goat at the moment is so-called ''Intelligent Design'. This is basically Creationism wrapped up in non-religious, easy-to-swallow sheep's clothing. There is a persistent minority out there trying hard to integrate this 'theory' into our lives and to teach it to our children.

This particular rant has been triggered by an article on the BBC News web site. The article basically says that there are proposals to include Intelligent Design in science lessons where it will be discussed along with Darwin's Theory of Evolution. To me this seems like the wrong place to put it. I don't have any objection to children learning about Creationism and the idea that a supreme being brought the world into existence, but it is pretty clear that the correct place to be discussing this is in Religious Education lessons. It is an idea based upon religious belief, not science.

Many supporters of Intelligent Design try to point out that Evolution is 'just 'a theory. It seems these people were not listening in science class. The word 'theory' in scientific terms has a slightly different meaning. Dictionary.com has a useful definition. Basically, a scientific theory is something that can be shown to be true, can be used to make accurate predictions, but which cannot be created in practise. Thus, the Law of Gravity is called a law because we can create and manipulate the forces involved and precisely observe the effects. The Theory of Flight is something we can explain and demonstrate, but we cannot directly create flight. We can only take advantage of its properties.

The same holds true for the Theory of Evolution. We can explain it, demonstrate it and predict it, but we cannot directly create it. Time and environment are the only things that can do this. Thus it is called a theory. This doesn't make it any less valid, it is simply a way of labelling it. Flight is a theory, but that doesn't stop us from jetting off to Florida with the kids for two weeks.

There has been quite a controversy over Creationism in the US in recent years and I'm not keen for it to spread over here. We're lucky to live in a largely sectarian culture in Britain, where religion is quite separate from the rest of our lives. Those of us who have chosen to think freely can do so without encumbrance. I hope this will be the way of things for many years to come.

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