Intelligent Design of the Essay Example For Students

Intelligent Design of the Essay The search for knowledge about theorigin of humanity is as old as its inhabitants. Sincethe early 1800s mankind has narrowed the debateto creation by a Supreme Being and the theory ofevolution. Ever since then, science has been atodds against religion. Now it appears that scienceis returning to religion. Scientists are finding proofthat the universe was created by a Supreme Being. The word evolution refers to the change ofsomething over a period of time(Websters 634). In biology, the theory of evolution is the complexof processes by which living organisms originatedon earth and have been diversified and modifiedthrough sustained changes in form andfunction(Valentine). This theory proposes thatbetween 4 million and 10 million years ago, allorganisms on earth had a common ancestor andthat through a process of evolution, all livingorganisms descended from this commonancestor(Coyne). Chevalier de Lamarck, a Frenchnaturalist proposed a theory of evolution in 1809. His idea did not get much scientific considerationuntil Charles R. Darwin announced his theory ofevolution(Coyne). Darwin published his mostfamous book, On the Origin of Species by Meansof Natural Selection(Valentine) in 1859. Darwinstated that offspring resemble their parents, yetthey are not exactly identical to them. He alsonoted that some of these differences were noteffects of their environment, but actually werepassed down from parents to children(Valentine). Darwin is the most well known scientist to writeon evolution. There are many different variationson the theory of evolution. Darwin states thatnatural selection is the main reason for theevolution of life. The fight for food, water andother necessities benefits those creatures who arewell adapted for the struggle. Those that cannotsurvive, die with no offspring to continue theirgenetic line. Natural selection is also called survivalof the fittest. Another related idea to evolution isgradualism. Gradualism is the idea thatevolutionary changes do not occur suddenly butover large amounts of time, ranging from decadesto millions of years(Coyne). Genetic drift isanother way that scientists define evolution. Whentwo of a species mate, their offspring gets 23chromosomes from both parents. When a genedoes not split and combine correctly, a mutationoccurs. This mutation will get passed down fromthe creature to its offspring. In this way a speciescan permanently be changed(Coyne). Scientistswh o have accepted the general theory of evolutionas fact disagree among themselves about the ratioof importance between natural selection andgenetic drift. They also disagree about whatcaused the apparent gaps in fossil layers. Newspecies abruptly(Valentine) appear in the fossilrecord with no apparent mutation from anotherspecies, then remain unchanged for long periods oftime. They do not seem to exhibit the gradualchanges that would be expected by modernevolutionists(Valentine). Many people, includingthose in the scientific community, do not acceptthe theory of evolution as fact. When Darwin wasalive, his theory was attacked by many scientistsand religious leaders(Coyne). In the 1900s,United States public high schools began teachingevolution in science classes. By the 1920s, laws intwenty states to ban the teaching of evolution inpublic schools had been proposed by people whodid not want their children being indoctrinated. They considered the teaching of the theory to bepart of a dangerous trend toward the separation ofreligious beliefs from everyday life(Coyne). Several of the proposed laws were passed intoeffect in states including Arkansas and Tennessee. The ACLU challenged the Tennessee law in1925 by defending a teacher named John T. Scopes, who had volunteered to stand trial on thecharge of teaching evolution(Coyne). The ACLUlost the case but because of bad press, creationistsappeared ignorant to science. However, in 1968the Supreme Court of the United States ruled thatlaws banning the teaching of evolution wereunconstitutional because they made religiousconsiderations part of the curriculum(Coyne). Thecourts continue to give rulings on creation andevolution in schools, some have come as recentlyas 1987(Coyne). The fight to keep evolution outof the classroom is still persevering. Those whoare pushing to keep evolution out of the publicschools are primarily creationists. Creation is thebelief that a Supreme Being created the universeand all its contents from nothing(Vawter). Manydifferent people have believed different stories ofhow and why this was accomplished. Judaism,Christianity and Islam are a few of the major faithsthat teach Creation. There are many differences inwhat different people believe. Many Jews a ndChristians with a literal interpretation of the Bibleor the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible,believe that God created the universe and all thatis in it in six 24 hour days. They believe that eachspecies on earth has remained relatively the samesince the Creation. These people base theirbeliefs on the Bible(Eve) and some use fossilevidence of long consistencies and abruptchanges(Valentine). Others believe that Godcreated everything, but not in six days. Still othersbelieve that God created the universe by lightingthe fuse: the big bang was Gods way of creatingthe universe. Many people have gone in search forproof that the universe was created by a SupremeBeing. The case for Intelligent Design was arguedby Reverend William Paley of Carlisle, England inhis 1802 book Natural Theology. Take, forinstance, a rock and a watch. How old are thetwo objects? The rock has remained more or lessthe same perhaps since the earth wasformed(Miller 24). The watch is different becauseof t he intricate gears, springs and parts. It wasproduced with a specific design and knowledge ofthe watchmaker, and watchmakers have not beenaround forever. Paley knew there cannot bedesign without a designer; contrivance without acontriver. The marks of design are too strong tobe got over. Design must have had a designer. Unemployment has always been a problem in our soci EssayHumans have the ability to use reason and humanshave certain inherent desires that cannot bereasonably explained: love, marriage, and a senseof right and wrong. Still the debate continues. Itseems the double standard at work here isbreathtaking(Glynn 32). Scientists who believe inevolution are free to use detailed accounts of whathappened 4 billion years ago and base it onDarwin(Sagan). But the moment scientists beginmarshalling rather considerable and persuasiveevidence for the opposite case, their speculationrisks being branded by colleagues asunscientific'(Glynn 32). This parallels the thirdbook of Gullivers Travels. The ways of therespected Laputan people were very precise,according to Gulliver. All their wise men rejectwhat seems obviously the best way preform atask(Williams 49). Member of the Academy areseen trying to weave with spider web and makeice into gunpowder(Swift 196). Such acts ofstupidity are Swifts attack on the Royal Society ofEngland in Swifts time; however the applyperfectly to many of the scientists who reject whatthey do not want to see. The argument about theorigin of the universe will definitely continue. Therewill be those who argue both sides until this worldcomes to its end. To what extent people believethe Biblical teachings or what some scientists teachis a personal decision. Darwin concluded hisbook: There is grandeur in this view of life, withits several powers, having been originally breathedby the Creator into a few forms or into one; andthat, whilst this planet has gone cycling onaccording to the fixed law of gravity, from sosimple a beginning endless forms most beautifuland most wonderful have been and are beingevolved(Miller 32). The more science seems todig and research about the origins of humanity, theless likely it is that Earth and all the creatures on itwere an accident. All the precision, consistencyand detail point to an universal architect, aSupreme Being, Go d. Bibliography (pleasedisreguard my mess for now) Coyne, Jerry A. Evolution. World Book. CD-ROM Eve,Raymond A. Creationism World Book. CD-ROM Glynn, Patrick. Beyond The Death ofGod. National Review May 6,1996:28-32. Limbaugh, Rush. The Way Things Ought to Be. New York:Pocket Books, 1992. Miller, KennethR. Lifes Grand Design. Technology Review. Feb./March 1994:24-32 CD-ROM. 1996 SIRS. SIRS 1994 Life Science. Article 59 Sagan, Carl. Snowflakes Fallen on the Hearth: The Evolutionof the Earth. Planetary Report. Jan./Feb. 1993:4-9 CD-ROM. 1996 SIRS. SIRS 1994Earth Science. Article 53 Schneider, E.D, Kay,J.J. Life as a Manifestation of the Second Law ofThermodynamics. Mathematical and ComputerModelling 1994: 25-48. Suits, Conrad. The Roleof the Horsesin A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms.'Modern Critical Interpretations, Jonathan SwiftsGullivers Travels. Ed. Harold Bloom. NewYork:Chelsea. 116-125 Swift, Jonathan. GulliversTravels. New York:Penguin,1960. Valentine,James W. Evolution. Encarta. CD-ROM. Microsoft Corp:1994 Vawter, Rev. Bruce. Creation. Encarta. CD-ROM. MicrosoftCorp:1994 Websters New Twentieth CenturyDictionary. Second Edition. 1983 Williams,Kathleen. Animal Rationis Capax. ModernCritical Interpretations, Jonathan Swifts GulliversTravels. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:Chelsea. 37-82