Booth 1

Intelligent Design
Kaz Booth
SLCC Phil 1000-023
1 May 2016

Who made us and why are we even here? Intelligent design is a less religious
branch off of creationism. It basically says that there is a greater being who took part in

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creating us and the universe. This does not necessarily mean that intelligent design
requires a god, but maybe even extraterrestrials. This is one of the main differences
between creationism and intelligent design.
Intelligent design was first brought about in 1989 in a book called Of Pandas and
People. Coining the term intelligent design made the book very popular and it was
brought into some schools in the mid 1990s. If this were a subject I was taught in
school, it would have been shocking to me that intelligent design would not be real.
Although it lacks a lot of evidence, the possibility of ID can not be disregarded as it is
non falsifiable.
The argument of intelligent design is definitely pseudoscience and is bifurcated.
The people who believe in intelligent design are, in my opinion, too close minded to see
reality as it is. The theory of evolution has been tested for over 150 years and is yet to
be proven wrong. The scientific community has spent little to no time worrying about
intelligent design because it is an irrelevant topic to discuss. For all we know, and we
may never know, there may be someone or something watching us; However we do
know that evolution is very relevant to this day and should be taught across the world.
One of the main incidents regarding intelligent design involved Judge John Jones
III and the Dover Area School District in 2005. It was a landmark case for those who
believed in creation instead of evolution.

Changing the name from creationism to

intelligent design allowed this idea to be taught until it was ruled unjust by Judge Jones.
He stated, Intelligent design is not a science, but is grounded in theology and cannot
uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents. (Simanek)
Essentially, the main groups of people pushing the idea of intelligent design were the

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same religious groups pushing creationism. This is proven when Charles B Thaxton
rewrote his book, Of Pandas and People.

He changed all the words related to

creationism and creation science to intelligent design. Many people of power have
taken advantage the populations ignorance about the subject of evolution and have
convoluted their minds.
Evolution should not be feared, but should be embraced as the way of life.
Studies have been shown that evolution is existent, we are just yet to figure everything
about it. This is something scientists are much more excited about. Although science
has not explained everything in our life, I am almost positive it can. I believe with the
amount of evidence we have, evolution is very relevant. Humans would not be as
dominant as they are on this planet without their evolutionary traits that have been
studied. We evolved to have thumbs, logic, reasoning, technology, and countless other
qualities and features. One may argue that someone could have designed us through
evolution, but that does not even enter my mind. If it can not be tested, then it can not
be proven. This is how sound science is tested, and intelligent design is definitely not a
sound science.

Bibliography
Simanek, Donald E. "Intelligent Design Creationism: Fraudulent Science."Intelligent
Design Creationism: Fraudulent Science. N.p., Feb. 2006. Web. 04 May 2016.
https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/philosop/creation.htm

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Humburg, Burt, and Ed Brayton. "How Judge John E. Jones Put Intelligent Designon the
Path to Extinction." How Judge John E. Jones Put Intelligent Design on the Path to
Extinction. N.p., 20 Dec. 2005. Web. 04 May 2016.
http://www.atheistsforhumanrights.org/kitzmiller.php