Unintelligent Design

by Mark Perakh

Physicist Mark Perakh critically reviews recent trends toward harmonizing religion and science. From intelligent design theories to arguments allegedly proving the compatibility of biblical stories with scientific data and "Bible codes" containing secret messages, Perakh shows that, however sophisticated in appearance, all such approaches are little more than tailoring evidence to fit the desired theory.Beginning with the design theorists, Perakh provides a detailed critique of the publications of William Dembski, Michael Behe, and Phillip Johnson. In each case he clearly demonstrates lack of substantiation, internal contradictions, and multiple fallacies that mar their works.In Part Two he critiques the "mental acrobatics" of various Christian and Jewish writers whose works attempt to prove such unlikely propositions the inerrancy of the Bible, the harmony of the Torah and science, the duration of the six days of creation, and deriving a theory of nonrandom evolution from the Talmud.Part Three describes how genuine science is conducted, what the laws of science actually mean to practicing scientists, and what distinguishes real science from pseudoscience.In conclusion, Perakh discusses the rise and fall of the so-called Bible code as an example of how well-marketed pseudoscience can successfully cloak itself in the mantle of science.For everyone interested in separating scientific facts from the hype of trendy theories about science, this book is must reading.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Nonfiction, Religion

459 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Pete Foley · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Unintelligent Book" would have been a more apt title. Very disappointing book. In the interest of full disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian and read this book at the behest of a good friend of mine who is an atheist (we each suggest books the other should read). I read it with an open mind (as open as possible) but was very disappointed from the get-go. In fact, even in the preface, Perakh begins Christian-bashing which speaks volumes about his motivations.

More importantly, his arguments are very weak, particularly regarding irreducible complexity. His example of a chair with 7 legs was particularly ridiculous.

And, most importantly, he NEVER addresses the questions that the book's title suggests the book is about: design without an intelligent agent. Rather, there are chapters about fringe Christians, the Bible code (huh?), etc. but NOWHERE does he provide a cogent argument for the big questions:

- how did life evolve from non-life
- explanation of the mind-body problem
- the complexity of the genetic code, the human eye, through random variation

I could go on. In sum, in all sincerity, this book comes across as arrogant and "holier than thou" (pun most definitely intended). Anyone who doesn't buy into a reductionistic, science-can-explain-everything model, is an intellectual wet paper bag. Please.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my first forays into the skeptic community, years ago, after being raised a strict Southern Baptist. At the time I was schocked to read such "blasphemy", though as I progressed it only gave me more and more reasons to question my own reality. Highly recommended for anyone, of any religion, who has a sincerely curious and open-mind.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd give this four stars for reading alone, but five stars because it absolutely devastates the Intelligent Design arguments. It systematically refutes the entire ID movement. Game over! Or it should be if folks actually approached this topic with their reason instead of their emotions.

[Lesli · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, I'd say it's a comprehensive analysis of why ID proponents fail, but the writing is far less readable than, for instance, Dawkins's books.