<<Regardingthe discussion about appealing to the future for evidence to
corroborate theories: it seems to me that this is precisely how science is
done. >>
Thus, ID science can be done this way, too. Here is how it would work, again
taking a cue from Steve:
<<I have asked before, with no answer, when should science stop looking for
naturalistic explanations for a given phenomenon?>>
It shouldn't, for to find one would falsify a competing hypothesis. But when
the search has continued in the face of a recognized design conundrum (e.g.,
Darwin's black box), science SHOULD NOT rule out the hypothesis of intelligent
design.
Phil Johnson once again makes this point nicely in his review of Dawkins and
Behe in the latest FIRST THINGS (Oct. 96 @pg. 46):
"Many scientists and philosophers think that a dedication to materialism is
the defining characteristic of science. Their argument is that an a priori
adherence to materialism is necessary to protect the very existence of
science. If design in biology is real, then the Designer might also be real,
and scientific materialists contemplate this possibility (if at all) with
outright panic. Science will come to a screeching halt, they insist, because
everybody will stop doing experiments and just attribute all phenomena to the
inscrutable will of God.
"Nonsense. On the contrary, the concept that the universe is the product of a
rational mind provides a far better metaphysical basis for scientific
rationality than the competing concept that everything in the universe
(including our minds) is ultimately based in the mindless movements of matter.
Perhaps materialism was a liberating philosophy when the need was to escape
from dogmas of religion, but today materialism itself is the dogma from which
the mind needs to escape....
"Science has come as far as it has because scientists of the past were willing
to describe the universe as it really is, rather than as the prejudices
current in their times would have preferred it to be. The question is whether
today's scientists have lost their nerve."
Jim