Geoffrey Simmons

Fellow, Center for Science and Culture

Geoffrey Simmons (BS in biology, coursework completed for MS in microbiology, University of Illinois; M.D., University of Illinois Medical School; Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine, LAC-USC Medical Center; Boarded in Internal Medicine since 1974) is a retired internist in Eugene, Oregon, as well as an author, lecturer, and Fellow of Discovery Institute. Former Governor of the American Academy of Disaster Medicine (AADM) and a member of the Board of Governors of the Sacred Heart Medical Center's Emergency Preparedness Committee, he is the author of six novels and of the books What Darwin Didn't Know (Harvest Publishers, 2004) which has had ten printings and was translated into Spanish, as well as and Billions of Missing Links (Harvest Publishers, 2007). He has lectured on disaster preparedness on radio and television as well as at many neighborhood associations and high schools, and has been a medical correspondent for KABC in Los Angeles and KPNW in Eugene, a guest on the Steve Allen show, and has made numerous radio appearances related to his writings.

Archives

Coronavirus Response: Design in Nature and Medical Science

On this episode of ID the Future, internal medicine specialist Dr. Geoff Simmons speaks with host Andrew McDiarmid about his recent Evolution News article on the body’s response to the coronavirus, our immune system. It comprises an enormously complex enterprise with adaptive memory for millions of pathogens and the ability to keep on learning more. Researchers study it to learn how to create vaccines for diseases like COVID-19. Their work is one of intelligent design from start to finish. But, Simmons says, we ought to recognize that it starts with studying systems in our bodies that are even more intelligently designed. One might object that if our immune system were intelligently designed, it would be utterly immune to all pathogens, but such an objection makes theological or

Can Evolution Create Mind? Can We?

On this episode of ID the Future, host Andrew McDiarmid and physician and Discovery Institute fellow Dr. Geoffrey Simmons concludes their three-part conversation about Simmons’ new book Are We Here to Recreate Ourselves? The Convergence of Designs. Our own arrival is impossible to explain through evolution, he says, in view of the incredible complexity of our neurological system, and all that had to develop simultaneously with it. The origin of thinking and consciousness itself is hard to explain in evolutionary terms, he argues. Our drive to recreate ourselves leads to a question, though, one Simmons discusses late in the conversation: will we be able ourselves to create truly thinking humanoid robots?

Dr. Geoffrey Simmons On Human Design — and Re-Creating It in Robots

On this episode of ID the Future, author and physician Geoffrey Simmons joins host Andrew McDiarmid in a wide-ranging discussion of his new book, Are We Here to Re-Create Ourselves: The Convergence of Designs. From the foresight needed in the design of eyes, to our stereoscopic and redundant hearing systems, to the mysteries of design in the nervous and circulatory systems, signs of engineered design are everywhere in the human body. And humans are mimicking some of those designs now through humanoid robots, which we’re making ever more like ourselves — in appearance, that is. Will robots ever experience empathy or other feelings, or develop a genuine sense of humor? Will robots have souls? Simmons offers his opinion on the matter, and sounds a cautionary note: as robots

Geoffrey Simmons on Patterns of Design in Human Life

On this episode of ID the Future, physician Geoffrey Simmons speaks with host Andrew McDiarmid about his new book Are We Here to Recreate Ourselves? The Convergence of Design. There’s a pattern in our re-creating ourselves, Simmons says, even in the artifacts we create, but especially in human reproduction. He sees clues of design in in the processes of reproduction, in development, and in the many complex events in the lungs and vascular system that make childbirth possible. There’s even evidence of intentionality behind aging and death, says Simmons. In sum, Simmons argues, careful observations across many decades have shown that we never see such complex and foresight-rich processes created except by the working of mind or intelligence; it just doesn’t happen any other way.

Foresight in Nature: A Hallmark of Design

On this episode of ID the Future, host Sarah Chaffee speaks with physician and author Dr. Geoffrey Simmons about nature’s foresight. Engineers designing a car have to plan for all kinds of conditions the car might encounter for the car to be successful. Something like this also appears to be necessary for organisms — including the human organism, as Dr. Simmons argues in a recent Evolution News article. Blind natural forces, he argues, don’t have what it takes. Instead it requires real foresight, a hallmark of intelligent design. Please consider donating to support the IDTF