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June 20, 2005

Marginal Revolution on Creationism -vs Evolution

An interesting post, and open comments for debate, over at Marginal Revolution.

"Suppose that you find a watch in the forest. If you know there is no watchmaker then the theory of evolution is a brilliant and compelling explanation for the presence of complexity without design. But suppose that you know a watchmaker exists then surely the simplest and most compelling explanation is that the watchmaker made the watch. Any other explanation, particularly one so improbable (see extension) as evolution would seem to be preposterous and beside the point.

"Thus for someone who knows, really knows, that god(s) exists (and there are many people who claim to know that god(s) exists) then some form of creationism (see the extension) follows as a rational deduction from the premises. It's no point telling these people that creationism is unscientific because given the premise that god(s) exists creationism is scientific. If god(s) exists then evolution is almost certainly false, if not in every particular then surely in the grand claims of a undesigned nature.

"Evolutionists don't like this argument because they know that if the public is forced to choose between evolution and god they will choose god every time. Better inconsistency, they say, than a foolish consistency. Moderate theists don't like it either because they wish to maintain their theism whilst still being modern, scientific and progressive.

"Only creationists and atheist evolutionists are consistent, everyone else is in a muddle."

Posted by Lockjaw at June 20, 2005 9:57 AM

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