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Intelligent design, which has recently been touted as an alternative to evolutionary theory for explaining the origin and
diversity of life, has become a source of major public controversy. Intelligent design's proponents claim that it represents
a mainstream scientific theory1, although a key formative document touts the marketing of intelligent design as a strategy
to undermine key modern scientific principles and promote a philosophy that inculcates a specified set of religious perspectives
into scientific theories2. The theory itself, which can be summarized in the claim that living systems are too complicated to
have arisen solely through evolutionary mechanisms, has been proposed without the publication of extensive scientific studies
tested and validated through the peer review process in the scientific literature, and appears to lack the predictive and
explanatory power possessed by mainstream scientific theories. A thorough examination of intelligent design would help to
define both the scope of the scientific evidence offered in its support, and the scientific context in which it is placed
by its supporters. This talk will examine how these issues were addressed in May 2005 during testimony presented before a
subcommittee of the Kansas State Board of Education in hearings on the Kansas Science Standards3. Witnesses in these hearings
represented both supporters of intelligent design and individuals who expressed more general disagreements with evolutionary
theory.
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To see the presentation as a movie, click here |