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Darwin or Design by Jason Rennie
Non-Fiction
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Darwin or Design is a collection of interviews with 25 people on both sides of the intelligent design question. There are interviews on what evolutionary theory currently thinks, what is intelligent design, the philosophy of science, ID and The Law and many others. If you want to learn about about Intelligent Design and get an overview of what is going on and have 9 1/2 hours to spend on the question, then this is the book for you!
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By: Thomas in Korea
Oh boy! Here we go again. It's always fun to watch, read and listen to. Ever since our ancestors first "created" gods to explain the things around them they could not understand ... When one or two scientists out of hundereds of thousands turn religious it's hailed as validation of ID.... When religious leaders of the West lost the authority to persecute "heretics," they've been back peddling ever since with each scientific discovery ... Entire organizations created to preserve the perpetuation of gods created by ingnorant stone age peasants ... Lack of evidence cited as proof that god "must" exist ... In all respects, who really cares? Faith trancends reason. A God could appear today and say he really had nothing to do with our evolution and it would still be interpreted to suit those whose opinions differ. Ad nauseum ...By: fred van west
My contribution to the conversation is to divide the debate on origins into two equal conjectures: Spontaneous Synthesis (SS) and Instigated Synthesis (IS). Spontaneous Synthesis implies the coming together of things with no need for outside assistance. It would be most identifyable as natural Darwinism. Instigated Synthesis would then be the opposite: that some agency was necessary to cause the coming together of things. Based on my humble observations, I find Instigated Synthesis more appealing simply because it matches our observation of the universe: we might see a Ford and a Chevy lined up in a parking lot, but we would not naturally believe that the Ford plant spontaneously started genertating Chevys (or the contrary) despite the fact that millions of operations take place inside the factory and despite an abundant supply of energy. it would be more intiutive to believe that the factory was altered by someone with intelligence (unless you're a Ford fan) which caused the assembly line to start producing something new, despite the common taxonomy of both lines of trucks. Somehow, this argument is lost on most evolutionary biologists and they think that organic mechanisms don't need to abide by the same rules as inorganic mechanisms (and therefore, this belies their own biases. There is a prevailing 'life force' argument that somehow life MUST evolve, but I have yet to hear the WHY let alone the HOW.) I applaud your book at the outset and i plan on listening to the remaining chapters this week on my way to and fro from work. Hopefully, they'll be as captivating as the first chapter! Cheers, Fred van West A humble EngineerBy: Chad
The problem with this debate is that neither Evolution or intelligent design can be proven or disproven. The statement that Evolution has stood the test of time is invalid, because its defined in nebulous terms to the point where current evolutionary theory no longer represents Darwin evolution. Darwin expected that future research would clearly show a gradual change in the fossil record over long periods of time. Instead, the fossil record shows complex life developing suddenly over and over again. In fact, evolutionsists revised the ideads of evolution with names like punctuated equilibrium, thereby changing their theories of evolution but pretending that nothing has changed. Scientists still can not show how positive mutations can develop in one species to create a new species. Evolutionists unscientifically just assume that it happens. (I must happen, since we have no other scientific explanation is the evolutionsists creed). Intelligent design is just a way of saying Creation without naming any specific religion and pretending to be scientific. I.D. Fans site arguments that since complex machines like the space shuttle can not self assemble, just like complex life can not spontaenous generate. Another argument is even if you had a million monkeys typing randomly that eventually they might create something readable, but it would not matter because the monkeys can't read and therefore it would not mean anything. Likewise, even if chemicals combined to form the basic building blocks of life, without an intelligent designer to guide it into something viable all you have is garbage. But all these arguments are aimed at discrediting evolution and don't prove Intelligent design. Both sides of the fence on the issue try to shoot holes in each other, since they can't prove their own theory scientifically. In fact both sides look at the same evidence and try to manipulate it to support their own views. But the God used evolution theory does not work, because Evolution is a purely naturalistic theory with no room for any supernatural explanations. Where Intelligent Design theory does not need evolution. This is just an attempt to compromise on the issue without having to put any real thought into the arguments. Personally, I think they both should be taught in school because they are the two most popular beliefs for our existence and neither one is any more valid then the other. I. D. allows for a creator without mentioning any specific religion.
Chapters
| Title | Description | Date Created |
| PZ Myers, An overview of Evolution and ID (14.49 MB) | In this opening chapter of Darwin or Design, I chat with Biologist and staunch Darwinist, PZ Myers. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Sean Carroll, What is Evo Devo ? (18.58 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I chat with Evolutionary Biologist Sean Carroll. We talk about the field of evolutionary developmental biology and he brings us up to speed on what is happening in the field. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Nick Matzke, Can the flagellum evolve (26.98 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I chat with for NCSE staff member Nick Matzke about research he did on understanding the evolutionary origins of the bacterial flagellum, that icon of the ID movement. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Salvador Cordova, What is ID ? (18.63 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I chat with Salvador Cordova.Salvador Cordova is a consultant/engineer in the aerospace, defense and financial industry. He volunteers his time at various college campuses, meeting with students and professors who are interested in exploring the hypothesis of intelligent design. He has appeared on national TV, various radio shows, in newspaper articles, magazines, and books. Salvador and I talk about what ID is and how it works. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Mike Behe, What is Irreducible Complexity ? (16.35 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Mike Behe of Lehigh University. We talk about the different ideas in Dr Behe’s two books The Edge of Evolution and Darwin’s Black Box. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Angus Menuge, Agency and how to identify it (16.92 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Angus Menuge. Dr. Angus Menuge is co-Director of The Cranach Institute (www.cranach.org) and Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin. He was raised in England and became an American citizen in 2005. He holds a BA in philosophy from Warwick University, a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a DCA in apologetics from the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights, Strasbourg, France. Dr. Menuge’s research interests include philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, Christianity and culture, and apologetics. He is editor of C. S. Lewis: Lightbearer in the Shadowlands (Crossway, 1997), Christ and Culture in Dialogue (Concordia Publishing House, 1999), and Reading God’s World: The Scientific Vocation (Concordia Publishing House, 2004). He is author of Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004), Science and the Savior (Concordia Publishing House, 2004), Aslan’s World (Concordia Publishing House, 2006) and Christian Vocation (Concordia Publishing House, 2007). | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Guillermo Gonzalez, The Privileged Planet (15.97 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Guillermo Gonzalez. We discuss the idea of a Privileged Planet, what it is and how it can be tested. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Joey Campana, Does ID research actually exist ? (24.07 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Joey Campana. Joey is the designing mind behind the website ResearchID.org. This website functions as a clearing house for ID related research and he tells us all about it. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| James Shapiro, Sentient Cells ? (30.98 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr James Shapiro. Dr Shapiro is a part of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago. Dr Shapiro and I talk about his work on sentient cells and other radical ways for looking at how bacteria work. It should be noted that Dr Shapiro is not really an ID advocate but instead advances a non-Darwinian approach to evolution based on discoveries about natural genetic engineering. Dr Shapiro thinks the evidence for descent with modifications has been strengthened by genome sequencing but suspects that molecular genetics is inconsistent with Darwinian notions of gradualism and accidental genetic change. | Aug 14, 2007 |
| Mike Gene, What is Front Loading ? (21.63 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Mike Gene. We talk about Mike's forthcoming book The Design Matrix and we discuss the idea of front loading in biology. Mike contributes regularly to the blog Telic Thoughts as well. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Elliot Sober, ID and the Philosophy of Science (9.86 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Elliot Sober. Dr Sober has taught at University of Wisconsin Madison since 1974. He is currently Hans Reichenbach Professor of Philosophy and a William Vilas Research Professor. His research is in philosophy of science, especially in the philosophy of evolutionary biology. Sober's books include The Nature of Selection -- Evolutionary Theory in Philosophical Focus (MIT Press, 1984; 2nd edition, University of Chicago Press, 1993), Reconstructing the Past -- Parsimony, Evolution, and Inference (MIT Press, 1988), Philosophy of Biology (Westview Press, 1993), >From a Biological Point of View -- Essays in Evolutionary Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1994), and, most recently (with David Sloan Wilson) Unto Others -- The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior (Harvard University Press, 1998). | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Scott Turner, The problem of Design (11.71 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Scott Turner. Dr Turner and I talk about the idea of Intelligent Design. Where it goes right and wrong and questions surrounding asking such questions. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Glenn Morton, Can ID work in Biology ? (6.84 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Glenn Morton. Glenn and I talk about his take on the current ID debate and where he sees problems with the current approach. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Ryan Nichols, Are ID and Theology Inseperable? (13.25 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Ryan Nichols. Dr Nichols wrote an interesting paper called Scientific content, testability, and the vacuity of Intelligent Design. So we chat about that. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Georgia Purdom, Isn't ID just Creationism in Disguise? (19.91 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Georgia Purdom. Dr Purdom works for Answers in Genesis and is a molecular geneticist and bona fide Young Earth Creationist. I talk to her about the similarities and the differences between ID and YEC and where she thinks ID falls short. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| David Livingstone, Evolution and Christianity, The History (28.14 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr David Livingstone. Dr Livingstone teaches at the Queens University in Belfast and he talks to us about the history of evolution and Christianity and the interaction between the two. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Del Ratzsch, Can ID be Science ? (23.47 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Del Ratzsch. Dr Ratzsch is a philosopher of science and joins us to talk about whether or not intelligent design can be science or not. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Massimo Pigliucci, Evolutionary Epistemology and ID (26.16 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Massimo Pigliucci. Dr Pigliucci is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution as well as of Philosophy at Stony Brook University in New York. His research is on questions of nature vs. nurture and on the conceptual issues in evolutionary theory.He received a Doctorate in Genetics from the University of Ferrara in Italy, a PhD in Botany from the University of Connecticut, and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tennessee. He has published more than 75 technical papers and several books on evolutionary biology. His most recent technical book is Making Sense of Evolution: Toward a Coherent Picture of Evolutionary Theory. Prof. Pigliucci has been awarded the prestigious Dobzhansky Prize from the Society for the Study of Evolution.In 2004 he has been elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement ofScience for fundamental studies of genotype by environmental interactions and for public defense of evolutionary biology from pseudoscientific attack. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Henry Schaefer, Science and Religion (13.43 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Henry Schaefer. Dr Schaefer and I discuss the idea of science and religion with a particular emphasis on the relationship of Christianity to science from Dr Schaefer's perspective. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Donald McConnell, Intelligent Design, Creationism and The Law (28.57 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dean Donald McConnell of Trinity Law School. We talk about ID, Creationism and the Law. Professor McConnell practiced real estate litigation with the firm of Harbin & Frost. previously he was with Baker, Hostetler, McCutchen, Black, where he practiced personal injury defense and commercial shipping litigation, including representation of Underwriters of Lloyds of London defending their insured companies and vessels. Professor McConnell has taught at Trinity Law School since 1988. He is a past recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award. Professor McConnell teaches Legal Institutions and Values. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Steve Fuller, ID and Social Epistemology (17.57 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr Steve Fuller. We discuss the idea of Social Epistemology, what it is and how it is relevant to the question of Intelligent Design. Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, England. Originally trained in history and philosophy of science, he is best known for the research programme of 'social epistemology', which is the title of a journal he founded in 1987 and the first of his dozen books. His most recent books relevant to the interview are Science vs. Religion? Intelligent Design and the Problem of Evolution (Polity, 2007) and The Knowledge Book: Key Concepts in Philosophy, Science and Culture (Acumen and McGill-Queens University Press, 2007). | Jun 13, 2008 |
| John Davison, The Price of Dissent (27.63 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Dr John Davison. Dr Davison has dissented from the Darwinian conception of origins for all of his academic career. Something of a maverick Dr Davison seems to attract critics from both sides of the fence but does have some interesting ideas. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Denyse O'Leary, ID and The Media (20.93 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Denyse O'Leary. Denyse O'Leary is a Canadian author, journalist, and blogger. We talk about Intelligent Design and the media from her unique perspective | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Geoff Simmons, Darwinism, ID and Medicine (25.34 MB) | In this chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with Geoff Simmons M.D. Geoff Simmons is a practicing medical doctor and a author, so we talk about his recent books and the relevance of Darwinism to his practice as a doctor. | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Rob Sawyer, Calculating God (23.31 MB) | In the last chapter of Darwin or Design, I talk with science fiction author Rob Sawyer about his book Calculating God and his thoughts on the ID movement. | Jun 13, 2008 |
