Taner Edis: Intelligent Design - A blind alley

Posted 14 October 2007 by Mark Perakh

Taner Edis (author of An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam , Prometheus Books, 2007), writes in an essay about the sitiuation with intelligent design vs. evolution in Muslim countries: "Muslim populations have not been very hospitable to Darwinian evolution, supporting some of the most successful versions of creationism in the world. Lately, some Muslim intellectuals have been showing interest in intelligent design as well." Taner Edis argues that this is a mistake, and that enthusiasm for intelligent design can only harm the already weak state of science in Muslim lands. Read Intelligent design: a blind alley by Taner Edis at Talk Reason.

3 Comments

Stanton · 14 October 2007

Didn't Harun Yahya say that Intelligent Design is another trick of the Devil, nevermind that he's plagiarized a great deal from the Discovery Institute?

raven · 14 October 2007

Taner Edis: That being said, maybe I can also make a pragmatic point. Where natural science is concerned, the Muslim world really is a disaster area. Many Muslims are worried about this state of affairs, regardless of whether they are more observant or more secular in outlook -- they correctly perceive that Western accomplishment in science and technology is a key to unwelcome Western military and economic domination of Muslim lands.

This is a point, I've made for a while. The US is the dominant power in the world today although arguably, some would say our star is setting. So what is our edge? It isn't population or natural resources or climate. It is science and technology. The US spends between 30-50% of the world's R&D funds. For a country with 5% of the world's population. This process is autocatalytic. The more you spend on research/tech, the higher the standard of living, and the more money you have to spend on R&D. Which is why the current attack on science by the fundies is so stupid. It is also an attack on what has made us what we are. You could call it stupidity. Or you could call it suicide. Or treason. That is one reason why many, myself included, call them the Death cults.

David Stanton · 14 October 2007

Raven,

I completely agree. This is a point that should be driven home at every opportunity. If we roll over and let the fundies win, then virtually all of modern cicvilization could be at risk. We have already created a dependence on technology that would not be easy to reverse, even if there were a strong will to do so. In addition, we have created many problems with technology and lack of foresight that can probably only be solved by developing more technology. The decision to trust our own intellect and wisdom has already been made. To try to reverse that decision now would be like trying to put the genie back in the bottle. It is way too late to decide that materialism and naturalism are wrong. Trying to convince people otherwise is just hypocritical.