Wojtek
RE "Intelligent design" debate
The notion of "intelligent design" indeed touches upon the foundations of science and human knowledge in general. Most reasonable people agree that human mind is not a passive reader of the order inscribed in the nature, but rather crafts that order from the received data. The most fundamental concepts of science, such as cause and effect, or genres and species, are not simply "found" in the natural world. Instead, they are introduced by the human mind to order the data collected from the nature, provided that they fit the available data. Therefore, the natural world as we know it has an "intelligent design" element in it, because it was partially created by an intelligent agent, the human mind.
However, the political debate about teaching "intelligent design" in public schools has nothing to do with questions concerning the foundations of human knowledge. Our schools often struggle to teach basic skills, such as reading, writing and arithmetic, so the boundaries of human knowledge are the least of the educators' concerns. This debate is not about knowledge, but about power.
A great number of people in this land were left behind the technological, scientific and cultural progress the world has made. They do not understand the complexity of modern world or science, and dread it. They are a natural prey of right wing demagogues who manipulate their fears to launch political attacks on the so-called "liberal intellectuals."
Let's make no mistake. This debate is not a bid to improve our schools but rather a vicious mob attack on the people of learning.
S. Wojciech Sokolowski, Ph.D. (pronounced Voytek Sokolovsky) Senior Research Associate Institute for Policy Studies Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 21218 (USA) email: sokol at jhu.edu voice: +1 410 516 4056 fax: +1 410 516 7818