Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35394 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-24
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

Aiming at a vacant target
A new cottage industry has arisen in the US - writing books to counter the rise of Christian anti-science in that nation. Michael Shermer has an edge on many of his colleagues in dealing with the version of "creationism" known as "Intelligent Design" - he's been one of their number. This may give him the advantage of a wider outlook, but the question remains whether it makes him more effective in countering the movement. His proposal is conciliatory, but relies on creationists accepting facts, not fantasies or ideologies. It's a difficult task, but Shermer's long experience as a sceptic of fallacious notions supports his efforts. It also provides him with a polished writing style that should convince the most obscurantist holdout.

In his Prologue, Shermer clearly targets his audience - that segment of the US population who thinks the universe is less than ten thousand years old. He portrays the demographics that refine the numbers. So much so that you feel the publisher should have packed bookstores in the American South with extra copies. The author's own epiphany - "the scales fell from my eyes" - during his university days is his justification. If it can happen to him, it can happen with other evangelicals. He uses the history of thinking about natural selection and the various arguments against it to construct a dialogue. He lists the points creationists raise, then counters them effectively. That's not terribly challenging - his "case" after all, is one contending with an empty thesis entirely lacking any supporting evidence.

Evolution is a fact, he contends, and explains the nature of how research has verified Darwin's original concept. He notes the many challenges to detailed processes of natural selection, but insists these minutiae don't refute the theory. In Darwin's time, as now, the prevailing idea was that of William Paley, who argued that Nature's "perfection" indicated a supernatural force lay behind what we see today. Paley's notion became known as "Natural Theology" and retains many adherents because no science is needed to believe in it. It would be pleasant to let that idea exist, says Shermer, except that its proponents don't want the "equal time" typical of the society he lives in, they want all the time. Particularly in public school classrooms. Shermer's rejection of "Intelligent Design" is based partly on the science of natural selection, and his own escape from dogmatic ideology.

If there is a flaw in this book, it's Shermer's own experience in dealing with his target in personal debate. He has been on platforms with the vocal promoters of the various forms of creationism. He shares taxis, gossips in the pubs, and puts up articles. By his own admission, however, he has won over none of those pleasant drinking companions. Their mind-set is obviously impervious to logic, rejects the long stream of data still flowing from the field and laboratory and expresses itself with crusading zeal of its desire to dispense with science and establish a theocracy based on their own version of Christianity. Perhaps, of all the works recently published on the fallacies of creationism, this one is the most frightening in what it reveals of US society. Shermer's book is desperately needed, yet will not be read by those who need to understand they're living under false premises. [...]

Essential reading for anyone interested in ID
Some background. Michael Shermer writes a column in Scientific American called Skeptic. He edits a journal called The Skeptic. He used to be a believer. He once wrote a book called Why People Believe Weird Things. He knows what he is talking about.

So he rightly got annoyed when the intelligent design concept began to make ground and he decided to write this thoughtful, intelligent and well written book. It is essential reading as an introduction to the against side in the on-going debate. He is not technical, not deeply scientific or philosophical: he just outlines the salient facts.

Most people reading this book will see the passion of someone who cares deeply about the truth (his earlier book spent much time concentrating on Holocaust deniers) and why the truth matters. He does not waste time praising ID for its insights - he just shows it up for what it is: a vacuous and empty attempt at bring the Christian God back into the classroom in the USA by smuggling it in under the transparent fleece of pseudoscience. Read it for yourself and you too will see. Unless, of course, you are not a skeptic in the proper sense: your mind is made up.