Evolution Icon Evolution
Intelligent Design Icon Intelligent Design

Berlinski: The Evolution Question May Be "Practically Undecidable"

This you must listen to: an eloquent and provocative discussion by David Berlinski, speaking with ENV‘s Casey Luskin. (Is DB ever not eloquent?) It’s a podcast originating with our sister site ID the Future.

Luskin asks Berlinski about Nick Matzke’s supposed refutation, from the study of cladistics, of the argument in Darwin’s Doubt. David says what he says on that. More interestingly, he draws the conclusion that major questions in science, including pertaining to evolution and the Cambrian explosion, may be "practically undecidable." He offers that phrase, a recognition that the truth may be permanently obscured from us, as a category that should be more widely applied in scientific discussion. Maybe so.

Of course it’s rejected by Matzke and other Darwin partisans, and it’s not the conclusion drawn by advocates of the theory of intelligent design either. But the ID field is more than prepared to grant a hearing to scientific agnosticism whereas Darwinian orthodoxy absolutely rejects it and demands immediate capitulation.

That tells you something.

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.

Share

Tags

Book News & EventsColleagues' ResponsesDarwin's DoubtDavid BerlinskiResponse to Criticism