Specified Complexity: Darwin's Panic?
On a radio show Benjamin Wiker of the Discover Institute makes the following claim:
Specified Complexity: Darwin's Panic 03/20/2004 Recently the Ohio State School Board voted to allow discussion of challenges to evolutionary theory in Ohio's schools. Despite claims that intelligent design is religion in disguise, Darwinists are nervously shuttling around, trying to avoid confronting the scientific impediments "specified complexity" presents to evolutionary theory. They won't be able to keep the "barbarians" out forever. Benjamin Wiker of the Discover Institute ( Discovery Institute ) in Seattle guests.
I find Wiker’s arguments somewhat interesting in the light of the vast amounts of scientific criticisms of specified complexity and other scientific ID ‘fables’.
Perhaps Wiker may take some notice from Dembski’s own remarks:
"What has to happen," says Dembski, "is that ID has to generate research that's more fruitful for biology than neo-Darwinism."
Is Wiker perhaps not familiar with the scientific arguments? Perhaps ID is all about ignorance after all?
Perhaps Wiker missed this letter in response to his article?
for instance
Wiker also fails to reveal that the arguments of both Behe and Dembski, supposedly the leading intellectuals of the ID movement, are fatally flawed. Brown biologist Kenneth Miller has completely dismantled Behe's claims about "irreducible complexity," and I addressed Dembski's bogus claims about "complex specified information" in a recent issue of BioSystems.
Ah I see, Wiker responded to these letters… Funny… At least he was aware of the existence of such rebuttals. So why this claim that Darwinists are nervously trying to avoid addressing specified complexity?
That just does not make sense, or does it?
Wilker stated in the above article
The worst thing that could happen to the Intelligent Design (ID) movement would be refusing to face the most trenchant criticisms of its presuppositions, arguments, and conclusions.
I could not agree more and yet we see ample evidence that ID is exactly doing this while pretending that those who criticize ID are in panic and unable to address the claims.
Links
Kenneth R. Miller: The Flagellum unspun
Richard Wein: Metanexus Specified Complexity and Information, Part 1/2
Richard Wein: Metanexus Specified Complexity and Information, Part 2/2