Author: William Dembski

Intelligent Design

The promise and (under)performance of green technologies — and the lesson for us

First off, let me say that I would be delighted if green technologies could be made to work and could account for much of our energy (leaving aside the politics and powertrip that seem to lure many who push green technologies). That said, these technologies have consistently underperformed in relation to the hype used to Read More…

Design inference Intelligent Design

Updating DesignInference.com

I just want to let people on this forum know that I’m finally updating my personal website at DesignInference.com. Specifically, the page with my writings, which had not been updated for three years, is now largely up to date (though it omits articles and books in the pipeline): http://www.designinference.com/dembski-on-intelligent-design/dembski-writings. My own work and research, though Read More…

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Design Inference vs. Design Hypothesis

Evolutionnews.org just published an article by me titled “Design Inference vs. Design Hypothesis.” Here is an excerpt: The logic of the design inference moves from a marker of intelligence (specified complexity) to an intelligence as causal agent responsible for that marker. The direction of this logic can, however, be reversed. Thus, instead, one can postulate Read More…

Evolution Science

Dennett on Competence without Comprehension

[In response to Daniel Dennett’s appeal to computer scientist Alan Turing as reductionist materialism’s greatest champion next to Darwin:] …  at first blush one would think that because Turing had “invented” a “machine,” this might give even Dennett pause and lead him to take a second look at his claim that competence precedes comprehension. For Read More…

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Science and Religion at the Portsmouth Institute

Some months back I was invited to speak at this summer’s Portsmouth Institute, which took place last weekend (June 22-24). The title of this summer’s symposium was “Modern Science/Ancient Faith.” See here for the schedule of talks. The speakers included Michael Ruse of Florida State University (keynote), Kenneth Miller of Brown University, John Haught of Read More…

Intelligent Design

A Scoville Scale for Dangerous Questions

As Denyse pointed out (go here), Steven Pinker’s “dangerous questions” were really pretty mild stuff. I’d like to propose a Scoville scale for dangerous questions (based on the hotness of chili peppers). In the comments, please include what you regard as dangerous questions for materialism as well as a “hotness” measure for each question. Let Read More…