Intelligent Design Theory Series

Have you ever heard of intelligent design theory? If you haven’t, trust me it’s an interesting theory that suggests that certain things did not just evolve but they were designed by someone with intellect and superiority, in this case being God.

This is a controversial issue between evolutionists and creationists. Evolutionists call the Intelligent Design Theory a religion but the creationists call it a science. The one side argues that organisms evolve - that’s how we got to where we are today – nature is responsible. While the creationists view, usually associated with intelligent design theory, preach that certain organisms are created by someone with specific guidelines of design. You may be wondering how they attempted to ‘prove’ this audacious theory in accordance with logical, scientific methods. If you are still wondering, this is a big deal in religious and scientific circles.

Just for interest sake, there was a whole court case in the US whether Intelligent Design Theory should be taught alongside Evolutionary Theory in public schools. The judge ruled against teaching ID (Intelligent Design) as a science because the theory was somehow strongly rooted in religious beliefs. However, a mathematician from Baylor University, William Dembski, mathematically proved that we can distinguish intelligent design from chance/natural occurrences.

If you are still interested in what my thoughts have to say, keep reading.

Here are my thoughts...

Please be aware that I may be slightly biased in expressing my opinion on this matter, but anyway my subjectivity will not stop me. I am not a specialist or expert on Intelligent Design (ID) but I discovered it when I was researching concepts about Artificial Intelligence. In my early stages of research, I was most impressed by Dr Werner Gitt’s hypothesis that ID may actually be a scientific theory. Let me try my best to explain Dr Werner Gitt’s logic.

Let’s use an exercise to kick start Dr Werner’s logic. Take a moment and think about the following questions: 

Who creates information? Where does information come from? What is information?

If you answer that a human being can create information, then you are probably right. So, I am quite certain that most of you have seen some form of a walking robot or one of those complex robots that assemble cars. Now, what makes these robots walk or assemble cars? It’s probably the software (a list of instructions the computer follows). Given that the robots ability to perform tasks is embedded in the software, how much do you think this software or list of instructions weigh? Any physicist or computer scientist will tell you that these walking robots or assembling robots will weigh the same with the software and without the software on them. So, we can safely say that information is a non-material entity unlike mass or energy, which are material entities. Now, let’s build this idea further. Ever thought about all the information in our DNA? Following this trail of thought, you can conclude that it was coded/programmed just like the walking/assembling robots by someone. It sounds logical doesn’t it? Or maybe it was through chance that the DNA is arranged the way it is. Or it was nature’s plan to design the DNA this way...

 

We can never truly know which is which if we are narrow-minded and blinded from all other possibilities. All I can say is that we will not stop trying to understand why things happen the way they do. Is it Pre-determined or Random? Just check out the next blog to find out how William Dembski mathematically proved Intelligent Design. Do not worry; I will eliminate the high-order equations from the blog so that it is easy to understand.