ID the Future Intelligent Design, Evolution, and Science Podcast
Topic

modern evolutionary theory

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survey form

NCSE Pushes Unscientific Pro-Darwin Survey

On this episode of ID the Future, Robert Crowther interviews Sarah Chaffee, Education and Public Policy Program Officer for the Center for Science and Culture, on a recent survey conducted by the dogmatically pro-Darwin National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and published in Nature. The NCSE claims that the survey shows that science teachers “advocate evolution” even more now than in 2007. But as Crowther and Chaffe’s discussion suggests, the survey appears gamed to produce a pro-Darwinist outcome, so much so that even teachers who follow the Discovery Institute’s policy of promoting critical thinking skills by teaching biology students both the strengths and weaknesses of modern evolutionary theory could be counted as evolution advocates by the survey. Then too, as Crowther and Chaffee further note, how likely are biology teachers with doubts about modern Darwinism to participate in a survey by an organization famously instrumental in attacking Darwin-doubting biology teachers?

Photo by National Cancer Institute

Honoring Phillip Johnson, Pt. 3: Michael Behe

On this ID the Future we continue a series of messages from a November 2019 symposium in Berkeley, California, presented in honor of the late Phillip Johnson, who played a crucial role in the flowering of the intelligent design movement. Read More ›

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Chinese hieroglyphs

Peter Robinson Interviews David Berlinski, Pt. 1

This episode of ID the Future features Part 1 of an interview between Uncommon Knowledge host Peter Robinson and Discovery Institute senior fellow David Berlinski, author of The Deniable Darwin and the newly released Human Nature. Berlinski begins by noting that living systems possess “a degree of complexity that is almost unfathomable” and explains how this poses an acute problem for Darwinism. The two also discuss discontinuities in the fossil record as well as Berlinski’s insistence that “any theory of natural selection must plainly meet what I have called a rule against deferred success.” Berlinski also rebuts Razib Khan’s claim that in rejecting modern evolutionary theory, conservatives sacrifice “the most powerful rejoinder” to the claim “that male and female are merely categories of the mind.” Quite the opposite, Berlinski insists.

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Fractal multiverse - astract illustration for topics such as physics and astronomy

The Modern-Day Phlogiston: Darwinism Explains Everything and Nothing

On this episode of ID the Future, Andrew McDiarmid reads an excerpt from Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design by Finnish bioengineer Matti Leisola and Jonathan Witt. It makes the case that modern neo-Darwinism is today’s “phlogiston,” a theory that explains everything but nothing, faces mounting contrary evidence, and survives only with ever more ancillary hypotheses. In the excerpt Leisola and Witt also discuss the well-documented pattern of scientists defending an existing scientific paradigm even after fresh discoveries have turned against it, with the obsolete dominant paradigm dying only very slowly. An especially dramatic and tragic example gave the name to this all-too-human tendency — the Semmelweis reflex. Listen in to learn more.

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Cancelled planning, appointment, schedule, meeting concept. Business planning cancelled with blank calendar, pen and cancelled rubber stamp on black background.

Herman Bouma: “It Was Like the Darwinian Gestapo”

On this episode of ID the Future, attorney Herman Bouma tells the story of how his talk at a National Association of Science Teachers conference last April was canceled at the last minute. His talk highlighted how Darwin’s Origin of Species (sixth edition) set an example of engaging his scientific critics with civility and reason. Bouma says in response to the incident, “It’s almost as if they considered Darwin a threat to Darwinian evolution.” Three conference officials shut him down, accusing him of promoting fake science. As Bouma notes, Darwin wrote that “I look with confidence to the future, to young and rising naturalists, who will be able to view both sides of the question with impartiality.” Alas, Darwin’s example — and his hope — weren’t much in evidence among the three conference officials who decided to shut down Bouma’s talk. For information from Discovery Institute on teaching the controversy, go here.

Behe Responds to the Journal Science, Pt. 2: Darwin Devolves on Trial

On this episode of ID the Future, Andrew McDiarmid continues his conversation with biochemist Michael Behe, author of the newly released Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution. Here Behe further presses the case that the review bypasses his book’s main point and that the reviewers appear to have misunderstood the plain language of one of his arguments in a previous book. Also, the reviewers claim that Behe hasn’t answered his critics’ objections on key points, a charge Behe shows is demonstrably false. Despite the negative review, Behe says he remains optimistic. Listen in to learn why. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

The Journal Science Reviews Darwin Devolves. Behe Responds.

On this episode of ID the Future, Andrew McDiarmid interviews biochemist Michael Behe, author of the forthcoming Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution (order here) to get his response to a review of the book that appeared in the prestigious journal Science. Behe says the review largely ignores the central point of his book; the reviewers fail to distinguish between claims that evolution built something, and explanations for how it could have built it; and they miss something crucial about lab experiments that engineer examples of evolution. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

Dissent from Darwin List Tops 1000 — Scientists Weigh In

Did you know that a growing number of scientists doubt the Darwinian theory of evolution? This in spite of the fact that over the past two decades the scientific establishment has ramped up their support of modern Darwinism with increasing agitation. And ramped up the persecution of scientists who dissent from Darwinian evolution. Robert Crowther explores why some scientists are willing to risk their research and careers to voice their skepticism of the theory. Listen in, and be sure to visit dissentfromdarwin.com to learn more and meet some of the scientists on the list.