Lot's of things are going on here at the farm and I promise to update you soon. Right now, though, I'd like to add an installment in my series of Things That Don't Make Sense. This one is going to be about teaching Intelligent Design in science class.

Here is why it's a crap idea:

Science class should be about science. The study of science is based on the Scientific Method. To produce a theory, one starts with hypotheses, which are "tentative explanations for natural phenomena" and are produced by "observations and reasoning". So far so good. One could certainly argue that Intelligent Design qualifies as a "tentative explanation for a natural phenomenon". However, an hypothesis must also be falsifiable and here's where the train runs off the rails. In order to qualify as a hypothesis, it "must be at least in principle possible to make an observation that would show the proposition to be false, even if that observation had not been made." There is no way to construct an experiment that can disprove that an intelligent agent designed the universe. If Intelligent Design can't be an hypothesis, it can't be a theory. Too bad, so sad.

But, ok, so Intelligent Design does belong somewhere in school, like Comparative Religion or Philosophy. Maybe the same place that you might discuss astrology or the flat earth. But if you do get caught actually debating the merits of Intelligent Design (like the Bombadier Beetle), don't forget that, according to Intelligent Design, the great designer doesn't have to be the Christian God, but could just as well be the Flying Spaghetti Monster...or me.
- posted by Colin @ 11:38 AM