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A 240-Year-Old Automaton: The Idea of Man Under Materialism


Whoa, this is both impressive and creepy — a 240-year-old automaton devised by Swiss watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790). It’s a mechanical boy who can be programmed to write any combination of letters. The device suggests to me a way of appreciating the spooky idea of man under materialism: a robot, without free will or genuine moral responsibility, under the command of “selfish genes.” See Michael Egnor on that, here and here.
Darwinism in a nutshell? Except that this “boy” was, of course, intelligently designed.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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