H-IntelligentDesign

Intelligent Design vs Evolution

Sadness swept over me when I read that the Kansas Board of Education voted 6 to 4 in favor of including “Intelligent Design” as an option to Evolution; as if Beliefs vs Science is a democratic choice.

I grew up in Kansas and this came as an insult to those of us who went to school there and were so proud of our school system and our community of family and friends.

Before WW II in comic strips and “clever” articles they depicted someone on the slow side, in cartoon or words, as from KS.

In 1943, I was among those from KS at the Induction center at Ft Logan CO, when we were given Army General Classification Tests – a test given to all entering the military. Before giving the test the examiner asked for a show of hands by those from KS. This caused horse laughs by those from CO, OK & NB also present. The examiner knew he’d get that reaction, he always did. Then said: “I don’t know what you fellows are laughing about, the boys from KS rank 7 of the 48, their average score will be higher than any of yours in this test. That was an indelible event of lasting meaning to all of us from KS.

So, what’s happened since? I am sure the genetic make up those in KS and their school systems are still of excellent quality. I understand what happened, though I strongly disagree with the school board choice. There are many intelligent good people, motivated to make their contribution to society by serving on a school board. However some people never go on to increase their level of enlightenment. They absolutely believe what they have been told by their religion of choice and feel duty bound to defend their convictions. However, they don’t know is how much they do not know. Their very innate goodness has them trapped in the faith of ancient beliefs. They do not understand the very nature of science, a process designed to extract truth about natures laws from unproven beliefs.

When man first mastered the art of writing he began making his beliefs a matter of record. Many today are of the firm belief that those of ancient time, possessed more wisdom and knowledge than those of today. Many believe what they read in the bible and hear in church as the “word of God”, as absolute truth. Sorry folks but the bible was not written by God but by many humans over many years, who claimed to be speaking for God.

People like those on the school board, are among my closest friends, I truly like and respect them. I just don’t agree with their conclusions, and feel they are doing a disservice to young people seeking to learn what is needed by them and our society.

When I left grade school elders of our church insisted that I teach the boys Grade School Sunday School class. My arguments that I didn’t know enough to be teaching, did not counter their insistence that it was my duty to do so. Biblically unenlightened I proceeded to teach the Golden Rule in various versions. Almost all of those students went into service during WW II and seemed to have done quite well with their lives.

After graduation from high school I took mechanical engineering at KS-State, which was interrupted by military service (B-29 engineering officer), and I finished college after I returned. I first worked as civil engineer in KS, then as a process engineer for GM KC KS, then as aerospace research engineer (mechanical & electronics) for North American – Rockwell in CA.

At age 40 I went back to school taking night classes on subjects as: Astronomy, Anthropology, Biology, World History, Geology and World Religions. This was a very enlightening experience, much had been learned since I’d graduated. The Big Bang became a proven event, the theory of relativity proven, the DNA molecule discovered and they put a man on the moon. The field of astronomy opened vistas of knowledge as did reading Molecular Biology by Watson, co discover of DNA.

During this time I had developed and electronics signal processor which a friend, reviewing the design, said was actually a full blown digital computer, as it could be programmed. At lunch we spoke of what we were learning about DNA. After lunch he surprised me with the question, “could you design a computer that could replicate itself?” After a considerable pause I said no, there would be no way to solve the parts supply problem. Then with a smile he said, “I’m looking at one.” Yes indeed, we humans are computers that replicate.

I pondered how mother nature handled the supply problem?” When watching particles in motion in water it became evident. Random motion in water carries chemical building blocks so DNA codes can construct large cells from which living creatures are made. From this new vantage point I could understand how over billions of years of trial and error, mother nature evolved the many species populating our Earth. Young people entering the market place must be knowledgeable and skilled in industries essential to society. A Kansas student believing in the magic of Intelligent Design would not qualify for medical research.

Science unravels the laws of nature. Ideas put forth must be proven by test by multiple sources before they are accepted as fact. This is not an opinion or option choice based on religious or political beliefs.

Darwin was the first to get it right, an explanation of the process of evolution, his findings are based on facts. Unfortunately an unenlightened few still think Darwin said Man came from monkeys, totally missing what he really said.

Knowledge is recent, beliefs ancient.

Some ancient beliefs were answers to the unknowable, people wanted answers before there was the means to find and prove them. Star gazers pondered for generations why some stars reversed their motion? This remained unexplained until Kepler proved the earth and other solar system planet rotated bout the sun, some only appeared to reverse motion.

In World Religions I learned that the Hebrew story of Moses was handed down as an oral story for some 600 years before put in writing. To tell a story over and over, with only a verbal link, the story had to be memorable. Parting the Red Sea was memorable, though history shows the Egyptian military was engaged on two fronts at the time making it possible for the Hebrews to escape captivity without the need to walk 250 miles over a muddy sea floor. There is a time for fantasy like belief in Santa Clause with sled and reindeer, and a time to leave make believe and move on. Children are masters of make believe. Those of the ancient world were vulnerable to accepting belief as fact. Real knowledge gathered in early times and stored in the large library in Alexandria Egypt, was burn by Christians – it was the Moslems that saved much of what survived.

Beliefs fill important needs for many. How does a parent explain to a child what happened to her beloved grand mother when she dies? My grandmother felt comfortable in her later years with the conviction she would be joining Papa, the love of her life.

The Catholic church had to face reality when religious dogma was in conflict with astronomy. They eventually adapted beliefs to fit proven reality.

When Columbus discovered America he believed the Earth was the center of the universe. Knowledge replaced beliefs when Kepler developed the laws of planetary motion, proving the Earth rotated about the Sun. Building on this, Newton determined natures laws regarding inertia, momentum, pull of gravity plus the many colored wave lengths in white light. It was recent, when my grandfather was born that the Periodic table of Atoms was put together, permitting man to leap into a new era based on knowledge.

The proposition that the DNA molecule is so complicated that only an “Intelligent Designer” could have created it in one fell swoop, is a leap into a belief in magic, the Intelligent Designer becomes a magician.

If the Intelligent Designer is the great creator, then he’s the one that lit the match starting the Bing Bang. I’d prefer calling that guy the Great Experimenter. I don’t believe he had a clue that 15 billion years later there would be some 7.5 billion animals on a tiny planet, in a tiny solar system on the fringe of a one of many huge galaxies all intent on bending his ear to solve some personal need. If he set up the laws of physics and chemistry governing his great experiment I don’t believe he has any idea that ego centric humans even exist – on his time scale we just sprouted.

Nobody knows.

Perhaps the KS school board did us a favor, they made us aware of how little we humans know about our origins and our future.

Our society is face with a political dilemma. Each new citizen is born with a blank memory, it takes time to grow to maturity and achieve enlightenment. Once of voting age, all votes count the same, quite independent of their qualifications for rendering a responsible choice. A democracy is made up of imperfect people striving to make proper choices. The balance between good and bad choices can be very thin. Thus we need to protect our educational process from the legislated beliefs of the unqualified.