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Undertoad · 01-25-2006, 01:21 PM

Nood, unfortunately, you're whiffing on how science actually operates. Exchange the word "theory" with the phrase "best explanation we have so far" and you'll get closer to it.

The worst possible use of intelligent design is to get so far with science to explain the world, and then simply stop and say God (or something) fills in the bits we don't know. If we start doing that, we stop making progress. If we had done that five centuries ago, the sun would still be revolving around the earth. No need to try to work out the details; that's the intelligent designer at work. No need for alternative hypotheses to test, no need to hunt for proof or disproof.

Edit: In fact, the amount we have figured out post-ID-explanations is enough to throw the entire ID concept away. In fact, almost every time humanity says "God does this", we turn out to have been horribly wrong in short order.

01-25-2006, 01:21 PM	#96
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Nood, unfortunately, you're whiffing on how science actually operates. Exchange the word "theory" with the phrase "best explanation we have so far" and you'll get closer to it. The worst possible use of intelligent design is to get so far with science to explain the world, and then simply stop and say God (or something) fills in the bits we don't know. If we start doing that, we stop making progress. If we had done that five centuries ago, the sun would still be revolving around the earth. No need to try to work out the details; that's the intelligent designer at work. No need for alternative hypotheses to test, no need to hunt for proof or disproof. Edit: In fact, the amount we have figured out post-ID-explanations is enough to throw the entire ID concept away. In fact, almost every time humanity says "God does this", we turn out to have been horribly wrong in short order.