Very interesting article in Wired magazine about the emerging battle between evolution and “intelligent design“ in the classrooms and textbooks around the country.

Basically, intelligent design (ID) argues that there are some biological forms (i.e., the bacterial flagellum) that are so complex and do not appear to have any basis in natural selection that they cannot be explained by conventional evolution and therefore, are the creation of some form of “intelligent designer” or supernatural force.

Critics of ID dismiss it as the latest attempt to cloak creationism in a palatable and quasi-religious way. What I found particularly interesting is the quandry many conventional scientists and evolutionists find themselves in:

The buzz phrase most often heard in the institute’s offices is academic freedom. “My hackles go up on the academic freedom issue,” Chapman [one of the main proponents of ID] says. “You should be allowed in the sciences to ask questions and posit alternative theories.”

None of this impresses the majority of the science world. “They have not been able to convince even a tiny amount of the scientific community,” says Ken Miller [a conventional evolutionist]. “They have not been able to win the marketplace of ideas.”

And yet, the Discovery Institute’s [leading thinktank on ID] appeals to academic freedom create a kind of catch-22. If scientists ignore the ID movement, their silence is offered as further evidence of a conspiracy. If they join in, they risk reinforcing the perception of a battle between equal sides.

Should be interesting to watch how this debate progresses.