Dive Deep Down into Intelligent Design

This one at the creationist blog of the Discovery Institute is very difficult for your Curmudgeon. Either the Discoveroid post is so brilliant that we can’t grasp a bit of what they’re saying, or it’s so bizarre that no one can grasp it. We’ll let you decide. The thing is titled Fleshing Out a Theory of Biological Design, and it has no author’s by-line. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

On a new episode of ID the Future [Ooooooooooooh! A Discoveroid podcast!], author and engineer Steve Laufmann delves into the theory of biological design he develops in Your Designed Body, his new book co-authored with physician Howard Glicksman.

We mentioned Laufman and his book a few weeks ago — see Pregnancy Is Proof of Intelligent Design. As we said then, his book is published by the Discovery Institute — your guarantee of quality!

Okay, let’s get back to the new Discoveroid post. They say:

Laufmann explains how his engineering background has helped him further develop design theory and, with help from Glicksman, apply it to the human body.

Thrilling, isn’t it? After that they tell us:

In exploring the causal capacities of intelligent design [The what?], Laufmann spotlights four elements: (1) intentional actions, which in turn require mind, agency, and foresight; (2) adaptive capabilities, which involve, among other things, control systems that employ sensors, logic, and effectors; (3) design properties (e.g., modularity); and (4) degradation prevention.

We don’t know what they just said, but those things are “four elements” of “the causal capacities of intelligent design.” The Discoveroid post continues:

The last of these features [degradation prevention] is implemented by engineers to get a system to last longer. In the case of living organisms, it works at the individual level, as with our immune system and other bodily repair systems; but as Laufmann notes, it also works across generations to slow genetic degradation.

The Discoveroids seem to be experts on degradation. Let’s read on:

Laufmann and host Michael Egnor explore these and other insights at the intersection of biology and engineering.

That’s a busy intersection! And now we come to the end:

Download the podcast or listen to it here. [Link omitted!]

Okay, dear reader — you’ve been wanting to dive deeply into essence of intelligent design. This is your big opportunity. And if you can figure out what’s going on, get back here and explain it to us.

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

The Discoveroids Ask the Ultimate Question

This one from the creationist blog of the Discovery Institute is going to finally change your mind. It’s titled Wesley Smith Asks, Is Your Body “Engineered”?, and it has no author’s by-line. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

With host Wesley Smith [Who?], a new episode of the Humanize podcast [Ooooooooooooh! A podcast series we never heard of!] explores the human body. Is your body “engineered” or did it evolve through impersonal and random processes over countless millions of years of natural selection? And what difference does the answer to that question make?

What difference does it make? You’re either a Discoveroid creationist or a hell-bound Darwinist! Let’s find out if we’re “engineered” or not. They say:

Wesley’s guests are the authors of Your Designed Body [Amazon link], the new book that explores the complexity of the human physical form, not just from a biological, but also, intriguingly, an engineering perspective.

Wowie — what a book! And it’s published by the Discovery Institute, so you know it’s gotta be great. After that they tell us:

As the famous atheist proselytizer and biologist Richard Dawkins has written, “However many ways there may be to be alive, it is certain that there are vastly more ways of being dead…”

What can the Discoveroids do with that quote from Dawkins? Here it comes:

In other words, as the [Discoveroid] authors note, “Life’s margin of error is small,” and requires an intricate, complex, and integrated systems to maintain life. These could not have arisen by mere chance, no matter the time allowed [So they say!], but must have been engineered to accomplish such myriad and sophisticated tasks.

Ooooooooooooh! Life had to be engineered! The Discoveroids continue:

Whatever your views on how life came to be — whether by creation, intelligent design, or via random evolutionary forces — this is a fascinating and provocative conversation you will not want to miss. Download the podcast or listen to it here. [Link omitted!]

The rest of the post is biographical information about the two authors. We’ll skip that, but you should know that they’re both Discoveroids.

And there you have it, dear reader. A new podcast featuring two Discoveroid authors who wrote a book published by the Discovery Institute. How can you go wrong?

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Okay, Here’s the Ultimate Answer to Everything

This one appeared at the creationist blog of the Discovery Institute a couple of weeks ago. It took us that long to appreciate it. The things titled “Why Life?”: A Question Atheist Scientists Never Ask, and it was written by Stephen J. Iacoboni — a name we haven’t encountered before. He’s described at the end as an award-winning cancer researcher. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

One cannot understand organisms — that is, life itself — without incorporating the concept of purpose within biology, the science of organisms. Such purpose is observable and measurable [What?], and therefore well within the bounds of scientific inquiry.

Then he says:

The facts are clear. All life is purpose-driven, from the biomolecule up to the ecosystem itself, and everything in between. Angiosperms cannot reproduce without insects, and pollinating insects cannot live without nectar. Chipmunks cannot live without acorns, and oak trees cannot propagate without chipmunks. Even something as catastrophic as the eruption of Mount St. Helens was, in the end, a life-giving event. In the subsystem of biology known as succession, fire and even lava are sometimes necessary to bring forth new life.

Are you following this, dear reader? Everything has a purpose! After that stunning revelation, he tells us:

More strikingly, the purpose-driven nature of life precedes Darwinian natural selection as the fundamental agency of evolution. [Remember that!] Simply put, the well described Darwinian struggle for existence can occur if and only if living creatures “make the effort.” The word “struggle” is apropos. Surviving in the wild is not easy. It requires constant vigilance, exertion, and determination.

He continues:

To an atheist scientist [The fool!], none of this seems mysterious.  The shark, the lion, and every other predator is simply driven to the hunt by hunger. And that is just a chemical reaction, when the gut sends a message to the brain that there is a need for nutrition. It is the same with reproduction, they would say. The urge to mate is purely physiological. Despite the great risk, bulls and boars and bucks will fight it out for the right to breed.

But it’s not that simple. Let’s read on:

Of course, that is all true. The issue is not whether we can understand the behavior of animals surviving in the wild. […] The real question is why things are the way they are.

Ah yes, that’s the real question. So what’s the answer? Here’s another excerpt:

However, did we not just decide that animals eat because they are hungry and avoid danger to eschew harm? Yes, these are clearly purpose-driven activities, and they all have a biochemical or physiologic basis. True enough. But the deeper question is, why are these physiologic stimuli there in the first place?

Ooooooooooooh! That’s the deeper question. So what’s the answer? Be patient, dear reader. He’s getting to it:

Answer: to allow for life. But then… why life?

“Why life?” is the ultimate question.

Ooooooooooooh! This is so profound! Here’s more:

If, as the atheist scientists endlessly insist, we exist merely as an accidental collocation of molecules strewn together on some small planet in the backwater of an insignificant galaxy, then again, “Why life?”

We’re getting close to the ultimate answer to the ultimate question. Isn’t this exciting? Here it comes:

The answer, finally, comes all the way back to where we started: purpose. Time, energy, and inanimate matter carry on ceaselessly with no apparent purpose. But arising out of the inorganic are living creatures, utterly purpose-driven. There is absolutely no reason for purpose-driven life to exist within this milieu, unless purpose itself exists at the fundamental core of reality itself.

Stunning, isn’t it? And now we come to the end:

Every religion has taught this, always. It is not a new revelation, however forgotten in modern times. Let us return to the wisdom of our elders.

Well, dear reader — are you overwhelmed? If not, why not?

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Discoveroid Poo for 2022: Number 3, 2, and 1

[Imagine Twilight Zone Music] You are about to leave reality and travel into another dimension — a dimension of the mind, a dimension that exists beyond the laws of nature, unknowable by evidence and reason — a wondrous land of Oogity Boogity! You have embarked on a journey into the realm of miracles and mysticism, where your only guide is faith. There’s a signpost up ahead: Next stop — The Drool Zone.

At last, this annual chore is coming to an end. Yes, dear reader, we’re going to finish our summary of what the Discovery Institute regards as their ten most wondrous events of the year that just ended.

To remind you of the glorious events we’ve already mentioned, this was Number Ten, and Number Nine, and then in one post we described Number #8 and Number #7. After that, in another thrilling post, we told you about Number 6, 5, and 4.

The most amazing thing about those is that despite what the Discoveroids regard as their obvious importance in demolishing Darwinism, we somehow failed to mention them when they originally appeared at the Discoveroids’ creationist blog. Ah well, we can’t hide The Truth™ forever. Now you know about those events. And today, dear reader, in this one powerful post, we bring you news of the Discoveroids’ Top Three events for the year just ended.

On 30 December the Discoveroids posted #3 Story of 2022: Did Researchers Explain the Origin of Life?, written by Brian Miller. It originally appeared at the Discoveroid blog on 22 March — and yes, somehow we failed to post about it. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

The University of Tokyo offers a press release lauding research by a team of their scientists that purportedly helps explain the origin of life.

[…]

The research paper itself avers, “These results support the capability of molecular replicators to spontaneously develop complexity through Darwinian evolution, a critical step for the emergence of life.”

If the scientists had accomplished such an astonishing feat, the team leads would almost certainly receive a Nobel Prize. So, did they accomplish it? Unfortunately, these claims do not even remotely resemble the reported experimental results.

The rest of the Discoveroid post explains why the claims of the researchers were exaggerated. Whoopie! That was their third biggest story of the year!

And now for Number Two. They originally posted it on 11 May: #2 Story of 2022: If a Fetus Isn’t a Human Being, What Is It?, written by Michael Egnor. Skipping all the blather, he says:

So the biological answer to the question “When does human life begin?” is easy to answer from a scientific perspective: human life begins at the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. This is not merely common sense and the claim of pro-life advocates, it is clear and straightforward science, as settled as heliocentrism and the existence of atoms.

This is amazing! The Discoveroids have solved one of the big social issues of our time, but for some reason, no one knows about it. Anyway, now we get to what you’ve been waiting for — the Discoveroids’ Number One triumph for the year. It’s titled Happy New Year! #1 Story of 2022: Evolutionists Admit Their Field’s Failures. It originally appeared at their creationist blog on 01 July, written by Klinghoffer.

It’s about article in The Guardian. It seems that evolutionists don’t yet have perfect answers to everything, therefore (infers Klinghoffer) evolution is bunk.

So there you have it, dear reader: the ten biggest stories of the year — according to the Discoveroids. We don’t know what to say about it — except what we said after a prior year’s list: it’s a tragic pile of [*bleep*]. What’s your opinion, dear reader?

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.