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Design Arguments, Design Detection, and Natural Theology

The Center for Science and Culture
January 16, 2025
Can we detect intelligent design in nature? If so, what are the implications for “natural theology”? These questions and more were explored at the panel “Design Write Large: Design Arguments, Design Detection, and Natural Theology” at the Evangelical Philosophical Society annual meeting in San Diego in November 2024. Speakers included Center for Science and Culture (CSC) Senior Fellows Doug Axe, Bill Dembski, and Bruce Gordon, along with theologian David Haines. The event was moderated by CSC Fellow John Bloom and organized by CSC Fellow Melissa Cain Travis. Each speaker presented his work in turn, followed by an extended Q&A session. Bill Dembski led off by explaining rigorous means to detect design, including a refined understanding of specified complexity (based on the …

ERVs, Pseudogenes, and Onions

Long Story Short, Episode 14
The Center for Science and Culture
January 14, 2025
In 2012, the evolutionary “junk DNA” paradigm took a major hit when the ENCODE Project reported that over 80% of our DNA is biochemically functional. How did evolutionary biologists respond to the demise of one of their favorite arguments? Their responses fall into three main categories: (1) Get angry, (2) rewrite history, and (3) deny the data. This video explores common “junk DNA” arguments from evolutionary scientists and shows that they not only contradict the evidence — they are stopping scientific progress. …

Origin of Life: Recycling and Repair

Long Story Short, Episode 13
The Center for Science and Culture
June 18, 2024
How do our cells prevent information degradation in our DNA? This video reviews the highly complex error-correction mechanisms in cells that help maintain the information in our DNA so life can survive.

The MYTH of Junk DNA

Long Story Short, Episode 12
The Center for Science and Culture
March 26, 2024
Is the idea of junk DNA this one of the biggest mistakes in science in our lifetime? Only about 1% of our DNA codes for proteins, so what is the other 99% doing? Many evolutionary scientists over the years insisted that the non-protein coding DNA is largely junk, but intelligent design theorists predicted function will be prevalent throughout our genome. Guess which prediction turned out to be right? Learn how scientists have discovered that the vast majority of our genome has function in this installment of the “Codes of Life” mini-series produced as part of the Long Story Short show on YouTube. …

The Miracle of Man in the Image of God

The Center for Science and Culture
February 8, 2024
Professor Vern Poythress of Westminster Theological Seminary discusses what it means that humans reflect “the image of God.” This talk was part of the 2023 Westminster Conference on Science and Faith co-sponsored by Discovery Institute and Westminster Theological Seminary. The event took place in September 2023. …

Role of Winston Ewert in the New Design Inference

The Center for Science and Culture
January 29, 2024
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the role played by computer scientist Winston Ewert in the new expanded edition of his classic book The Design Inference. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The Design of DNA

The Center for Science and Culture
January 25, 2024
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the evidence that DNA is the product of intelligent design, drawing on insights from his classic book The Design Inference. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The Importance of The Design Inference to Intelligent Design

The Center for Science and Culture
January 23, 2024
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the importance of his classic book The Design Inference to the modern intelligent design movement. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The Design Inference and the Conservation of Information

The Center for Science and Culture and William A. Dembski
January 18, 2024
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses how the idea of the conservation of information can be connected to the framework for design inferences provided by his classic book The Design Inference. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

Biology and The Design Inference

The Center for Science and Culture and William A. Dembski
January 16, 2024
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses how biology is “chock full of design,” drawing on insights from the new expanded edition of his book The Design Inference, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

Reception of the New Design Inference

William A. Dembski and The Center for Science and Culture
January 13, 2024
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses his hopes for the reception of the second edition of his classic book of The Design Inference. The new expanded edition has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

Reception of the Original Design Inference

The Center for Science and Culture and William A. Dembski
December 14, 2023
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the reception of the original edition of his landmark book The Design Inference, which explored how we can detect intelligent design. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The Explanatory Filter

William A. Dembski and The Center for Science and Culture
December 12, 2023
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses his “explanatory filter,” which provides a rigorous method to detect intelligent design in nature and daily life. Find out more in the new expanded edition of Dembski’s book The Design Inference, now co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert: https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The Most Thoughtful Objection to The Design Inference

William A. Dembski and The Center for Science and Culture
December 7, 2023
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the most thoughtful objection to the original edition of his landmark book The Design Inference, which explored how we can detect intelligent design. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The Most Ridiculous Objection to The Design Inference

William A. Dembski and The Center for Science and Culture
December 5, 2023
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the most ridiculous objection to the original edition of his landmark book The Design Inference, which explored how we can detect intelligent design. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …

The New Design Inference: William Dembski Updates a Classic

The Center for Science and Culture
November 16, 2023
Twenty-five years ago, mathematician William Dembski unveiled a rigorous scientific method for detecting intelligent design in his book The Design Inference. Originally published by Cambridge University Press, Dembski’s landmark book sparked vigorous debate among scientists, scholars, and the public. In a dramatically expanded new edition, Dembski and co-author Winston Ewert show how Dembski’s method of design detection has stood the test of time, and they demonstrate its applicability to biology, cosmology, and daily life. For more information visit https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig… …

Biochemist Michael Behe On Off-Roading in a Jeep to Teach Biology

The Center for Science and Culture
November 16, 2023
Biochemist and bestselling author Michael Behe will go to great lengths to teach us about the stunning complexity and engineering prowess found in the living cell! In this clip from the ID The Future podcast, Professor Behe tells host Andrew McDiarmid about one of his favorite scenes to shoot in his popular video series Secrets of the Cell. …

Origin of Life: Information

Long Story Short, Ep. 11
The Center for Science and Culture
November 7, 2023
Life depends on information, but can unguided material processes produce the information needed for the first life? This episode of Long Story Short shows why unguided natural mechanisms can’t produce new biological information, and therefore can’t explain the origin of life. REFERENCES AND NOTES 1. Sara Walker & Paul Davies, The Algorithmic Origins of Life, 10 J. Royal Society Interface 1 (2013) https://royalsocietypublishing.org/do…. 2. Technically, the term “information” represents a decrease in uncertainty. Now that we have conveyed this information, you should be less uncertain. 3. See: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-t… 4. This is related to the concept of “specified” information, but it is not “complex”. 5. OK, a …

The Backlash to The Design Inference

William A. Dembski and The Center for Science and Culture
November 3, 2023
Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski discusses the backlash provoked by the original edition of his landmark book The Design Inference, which explored how we can detect intelligent design. A new expanded edition of the book has now been released, co-authored with computer scientist Winston Ewert. Find out more at https://www.discovery.org/b/the-desig…. …