Is ID dead?

[Inferno]

According to both Jason Rosenhouse and P.Z. Myers it is.

I agree, too. When I started debating Creationists/ID'ers I had about three debates open at any given time (be the opponents Muslim, Christian, Jewish or other) and I bumped into a fairly new claim every now and then. Not any more. We've got a grand total of one Creationist here at the moment and no sign of there being any more.

Is all of that necessarily a good thing? Well it would be if that were to mean that both ID and Creationism are dying but that's not quite the case. While I haven't heard a peep worth mentioning from the ID squad in ages, I have heard and seen Creation Ministries International (Kent and Eric Hovind) rear its ugly head again as well as Ken Ham's AnswersInGenesis (See Noah's Arch and the Creation museums)
It's not much, granted, but it's more than can be seen from the ID people.

Conclusion: Don't get your party gear out just yet, we've only chopped off one head of the Hydra.

PS: Ironic that those folk are always predicting the "Death of Darwinism" yet it's they who're going to an early grave. Or late grave, however you want to look at it.

 

[Squawk]

ID is dead, but I'd contend it was never really alive anyway. The problem, as always, is that the underlying idiotic idea persists. ID might be dead, but creationism is alive and well, and will be until we find a way to educate people effectively.

 

[Unwardil]

I don't know that creationism will ever truly die. It's a model that seems intuitively true to a lot of people, even those who are not indoctrinated with any particular religion. I know a load of people who, while not the least bit religious, never the less feel there must be some kind of creative force at work in the universe. We, as humans, are particularly adept at spotting the machinations of other humans and when through random chance the universe seems to behave in a similar way, it can be very deceptive. Combine that with confirmation bias and simple education is not enough to convince a lot of people.

And then of course, there are all the people in the world who secretly or otherwise actually wish to be part of some kind of heavenly autocracy, subjugating their own will entirely for that of a higher power. The idea of self actualization fills them with dread. Doesn't matter what you tell them they won't WANT to believe the truth.

Just like Catholicism somehow managed to survive in England even through Cromwell and all that, Creationism ain't goin' anywhere fast. Realists will just have to continue to out think them. Shouldn't be too difficult really.

 

[nemesiss]

i have to agree with unwardill on this, i doubt it will truely die and fade into history. it most likely will take on a new form and the battle will continue in a new way.
but the current form of I.D. has no chance of succes anymore, the decline is obvious.

What we have to do is see what kind of new nonsense the discovery institute will come up with... and other groups like iERA... the only thing to do is to educate people on the facts and explain why stuff like I.D. explains nothing.
then people will less likely be duped into false positions.

i wonder if that radio guy will EVER show up with an answer to aronra''s phylogeny challenge.
and if it comes, will it really be anything decent or just a wast of space...?

 

[CosmicJoghurt]

I've heard ID proponents are just refilling their Tragicka.



On a serious note now, I think creationists are slowly, slowly fading away, either out of existence or just out of sight.

 

[Prolescum]

They've refocussed on Revelations again, probably; there's an election coming up.

 

[RedYellow]

Creationism has been forced to become the indicator for how crazy, paranoid and uninformed you are I think. I'm sure it will remain for who knows how long, but it's just too absurd to be anything but self-destructive. Creationist = conspiracy theorist.