__edited

The Legacy of Terry Schiavo

TERRI SCHIAVO IS DEAD. But her death by dehydration last week need not be in vain. Great good can still come from the harsh, two week ordeal she—and to a lesser extent, we—were forced to undergo by court order. Terri’s story generated a torrent of compassion. (The root meaning of compassion is to “suffer with,” which is precisely what her Read More ›

The Best of Times

Do you think things are getting better or worse around the world? Objectively, there is a correct answer, and that is unambiguously – better. No matter how you measure it – economic growth, life expectancy, childhood mortality, democratic countries, economic freedom, literacy, tax rates, crime rates, etc. – things are improving for most people in most places; and, in fact, Read More ›

The Science of Design

This article, published by TheRealityCheck.org, mentions Discovery Institute’s William Dembski:

Dubbed “intelligent design” to distinguish it from old-school thinking, this new view is detailed in The Design Inference (Cambridge University Press, 1998), a peer-reviewed work by mathematician and philosopher William Dembski.

In contrast to what is called creation science, which parallels Biblical theology, ID rests on two basic assumptions: namely, that intelligent agents exist and that their effects are empirically detectable.

Read More ›

New Science Blog Focuses on Controversial Theory of Intelligent Design

SEATTLE, APRIL 5 –— The controversial theory of intelligent design is the subject of a new science blog called Intelligent Design The Future, online at www.idthefuture.com. Its purpose is to explore the growing scientific evidence for purpose and design in the universe and living systems. “There is a great lack of understanding about intelligent design,” says Jay Richards, vice president Read More ›

open journals.jpg
Magazines

Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design (Annotated)

Intelligent design (ID) is a scientific theory that employs the methods commonly used by other historical sciences to conclude that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. ID theorists argue that design can be inferred by studying the informational properties of natural objects to determine if they bear the type of information that in our experience arise from an intelligent cause. On this page you can download an annotated bibliography of peer-reviewed and peer-edited scientific articles supporting, applying, or arising from the theory of intelligent design. You also can read a description of the intelligent design research community and its aims. Read More ›

The Case Heard Round the Web

THE ARGUMENTS OVER THE FATE of Terri Schiavo have sowed distrust among the courts and the political branches of government, and forced a state legislature, a popular governor, both houses of Congress, and the president of the United States into tight, uncomfortable political corners. The pending death-by-dehydration of this disabled, 41-year-old Clearwater, Florida, woman—thanks to a court order sought by Read More ›

New Book by George Gilder

The Silicon Eye is the soon to be released title of bestselling author and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow George Gilder. The Silicon Eye tells the stirring and at times tragic story of an unprecedented invention that sprung from a Caltech effort to simulate a human retina in electronic form. This one-chip imager captures all three primary colors in each pixel Read More ›

teacher pen students.jpg
Teacher with a group of high school students in classroom. View from the hands of the teacher explaining the lecture

Intelligent Design A Debate Evolves

This article, published by The Seattle Times, quotes Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Stephen Meyer.


Three years ago, the Ohio Board of Education invited a small but influential Seattle think tank to debate the way evolution is taught in Ohio schools.

It was an opportunity for the Discovery Institute to promote its notion of intelligent design, the controversial idea that parts of life are so complex, they must have been designed by some intelligent agent.

Instead, leaders of the institute’s Center for Science and Culture decided on what they consider a compromise. Forget intelligent design, they argued, with its theological implications. Just require teachers to discuss evidence that refutes Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, as well as what supports it.

They called it “teach the controversy,” and that’s become the institute’s rallying cry as a leader in the latest efforts to raise doubts about Darwin in school. Evolution controversies are brewing in eight school districts, half a dozen state legislatures, and three state boards of education, including the one in Kansas, which wrestled with the issue in 1999 as well.

“Why fight when you can have a fun discussion?” asks Stephen Meyer, the center’s director. The teach-the-controversy approach, he says, avoids “unnecessary constitutional fights” over the separation of church and state, yet also avoids teaching Darwin’s theories as dogma.

But what the center calls a compromise, most scientists call a creationist agenda that’s couched in the language of science.

There is no significant controversy to teach, they say.

“You’re lying to students if you tell them that scientists are debating whether evolution took place,” said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit group that defends teaching of evolution in school.

The Discovery Institute, she said, is leading a public-relations campaign, not a scientific endeavor.

The Discovery Institute is one of the leading organizations working nationally to change how evolution is taught. It works as an adviser, resource and sometimes a critic with those who have similar views.

“There are a hundred ways to get this wrong,” says Meyer. “And only a few to get them right.”

Read More ›