Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong

With clarity and incisiveness, Daniel Dennet has laid out exactly what is wrong with Intelligent Design theory: there is no theory. Oh, sure, ID advocates claim that their theory is that some intelligence, which they refuse to speculate on, created life on this planet. But as Dennet points out, this is not a theory. It is merely an assertion. A scientific theory (well, a hypothesis; it has to be tested and developed before it can become a theory) has to be composed of testable assertions. ID has none. It could. As Dennet says, it would be possible to come up with testable ID assertions, like that aliens designed our 6 million years ago, and then look for evidence to prove these assertions, but this has not been done, presumably because ID advocates know they are full of hot air. Anyway, this is a brilliant piece, probably the most concise and damning takedown of ID that I've seen so far.

I realize, upon reading it, that defenders of evolution are taking the wrong approach by doing just that--defending evolution. It makes it look as though there really is some doubt, something about evolution that needs to be defended. This might work with other scientists, but not with people who are not trying to be rational. Instead, this whole debate could and should be totally reframed in terms of ID. What is ID? What isn't it? Why are ID advocates doing what they are doing? How are they doing it? Why don't they do it with other scientific theories, like quantum theory or gravity or thermodynamics, some of which are on much shakier ground than evolution is? Though this information appears in the media, there has been no concerted attack on ID. I think if there was, and it was done in a way that regular people could understand, ID would have a much harder time hanging on.