Scientific Evidence for Intelligent Design, How Mutations Fail To Invent and The Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis. ACU Sunday Series.,

American Conservative University

Scientific Evidence for Intelligent Design, How Mutations Fail To Invent and The Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis. ACU Sunday Series.

• Stephen Meyer Investigates Scientific Evidence for Intelligent Design (Lecture 1)
• Michael Behe Exposes How Mutations Fail To Invent
• Michael Denton Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis

Stephen Meyer Investigates Scientific Evidence for Intelligent Design (Lecture 1)

https://youtu.be/C5Z6h_RVhIw

Discovery Science

Visit https://www.discoveryu.org/courses/meyer for the full course.

For the first time, you can have living room access to over seven hours of teaching by intelligent design pioneer Stephen Meyer in a brand-new online course. A favorite of students young and old(er), Meyer will delight both as he explores the scientific evidence for intelligent design (ID) found in physics, cosmology, biology and the chemical origin of life. Join Stephen as he investigates the scientific evidence for intelligent design in the origin of life, the development of biological complexity, and physics and cosmology. In 42 short video lectures, Meyer explores the scientific basis for the theory of intelligent design—the idea that key features of life and the universe are best explained as the product of an intelligent cause rather than an unguided process. In this course, Meyer will guide you through the major concepts and information presented in his path breaking books Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, as well as previewing some of the material about physics and cosmology in his book The Return of the God Hypothesis. Each video lecture is accompanied by a short quiz, and a special digital certificate of completion is offered for those who finish the course.

For more about the course visit https://www.discoveryu.org/courses/meyer.

Check out these videos as well: Information Enigma: Where does information come from? https://youtu.be/aA-FcnLsF1g

Michael Behe Investigates Evolution & Intelligent Design (Lecture 1) https://youtu.be/XCTTy0ylf7A

Stephen Meyer Shatters The Myth Of The Multiverse (Science Uprising EP4) https://youtu.be/WR51OrawqIg

============================ The Discovery Science News Channel is the official Youtube channel of Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture. The CSC is the institutional hub for scientists, educators, and inquiring minds who think that nature supplies compelling evidence of intelligent design. The CSC supports research, sponsors educational programs, defends free speech, and produce articles, books, and multimedia content. For more information visit https://www.discovery.org/id/ http://www.evolutionnews.org/ http://www.intelligentdesign.org/ Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: Twitter: @discoverycsc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discoverycsc/ Visit other Youtube channels connected to the Center for Science & Culture Discovery Institute: https://www.youtube.com/user/Discover... Dr. Stephen C. Meyer: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrStephe... The Magician's Twin - CS Lewis & Evolution: https://www.youtube.com/user/cslewisweb Darwin's Heretic - Alfred Russel Wallce: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlfredRW...

Course Overview

Join philosopher of science Stephen Meyer as he investigates the scientific evidence for

intelligent design in the origin of life, the development of biological complexity, and physics

and cosmology. In 42 short video lectures, Meyer explores the scientific basis for the theory

of intelligent design—the idea that key features of life and the universe are best explained

as the product of an intelligent cause rather than an unguided process. In this course,

Meyer will guide you through the major concepts and information presented in his

pathbreaking books Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, as well as previewing some of

the material about physics and cosmology in his book The Return of the God Hypothesis.

Each video lecture is accompanied by a short quiz, and a special digital certificate of

completion is offered for those who finish the course.

About the Professor

Stephen C. Meyer received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in the history and

philosophy of science. A former geophysicist with ARCO and professor of philosophy at

Whitworth University, he currently directs the Center for Science and Culture at the

Discovery Institute in Seattle. He is author of the New York Times-bestseller Darwin’s Doubt

(2013) as well as Signature in the Cell (2009) and The Return of the God Hypothesis

(forthcoming in 2021).

Recommended Texts and Resources

You are encouraged to dig deeper into the topics explored in this course by consulting the

following books and resources:

• Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design (book)
• Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design (book)
• Debating Darwin’s Doubt (book)
• Signature of Controversy: Responses to Critics of Signature in the Cell (book)
• Explore Evolution: The Arguments for and against Neo-Darwinism (book)
• The Return of the God Hypothesis (book)
• DarwinsDoubt.com (website)
• The Information Enigma (video)
• The Intelligent Design Collection—Darwin’s Dilemma, The Privileged Planet, Unlocking the

Mystery of Life (videos)

Course Outline

Unit 1: Evidence of Intelligent Design in the Origin of Life

1. Introduction to Course. What is intelligent design, and why is it controversial? In this

first lecture, Meyer introduces the topic of intelligent design.

2. Darwin’s Challenge to Intelligent Design. What does evolution mean? Meyer

explains adaptation and explains how Darwin’s theory challenges the idea of

intelligent design.

3. Theories of the Origin of Life in the Nineteenth Century. Darwin conceived of the

origin of life happening possibly in a “warm little pond.” Meyer explains the state of

origin of life research at Darwin’s time and later.

4. Oparin’s Theory of the Origin of Life. Meyer delves into Alexsandr Oparin’s theory

on the origin of life, put forward in 1936. Learn about evolutionary abiogenesis and

the experiment that sought to prove it.

5. The Amazing Complexity of Proteins. What do proteins look like? How has science

progressed in its understanding of these basic building blocks of life? Meyer traces

the work of protein scientists in the 1930s up through the 50s. What is the

importance of a protein’s shape? And how is this shape determined?

6. The Role of DNA. How did our understanding of the cell change in the 1950s and

60s? Meyer discusses the discovery of the stable double helix structure of DNA and

the key scientists involved.

7. The DNA Enigma. Meyer examines Francis Crick’s sequence hypothesis and then

goes on to delve into the question of code and biological information, explaining

what he calls “the DNA enigma.”

8. What Kind of Information Does DNA Contain? Meyer explores types of information,

explains mathematical Shannon information, and discusses what kind of

information Francis Crick, Richard Dawkins, and Bill Gates see in life’s code.

9. Explanations for the Origin of Life: Chance. Could the information in the cell come

about by chance? Today, learn the history of origin of life research from the 1950s to

the present. What is prebiotic soup, anyway?

10. Explanations for the Origin of Life: Self-Organization. Can self-organization explain

the origin of biological information? In this lesson, learn about Dean Kenyon and his

idea of ‘biochemical predestination’ of amino acids. How does DNA fit into this

whole picture?

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11. Explanations for the Origin of Life: Pre-Biotic Natural Selection. What is prebiotic

natural selection? Listen in as Dr. Meyer examines Oparin’s hypothesis and modern

attempts to reconcile evolution with the origin of life.

12. Introduction to Intelligent Design. Meyer recounts his introduction to the design

hypothesis and his quest to shape it into a rigorous scientific argument as he

explores historical science methods.

13. Objections to Intelligent Design: Is Intelligent Design Science? Meyer responds

to a key philosophical objection to intelligent design.

14. Objections to Intelligent Design: Argument from Ignorance? Some critics claim

design proponents make an argument from ignorance. Is this true? Meyer discusses

the intelligent designer of the gaps objection and illustrates why it is not applicable.

15. Objections to Intelligent Design: RNA World, pt 1. Is it possible to avoid the cell’s

chicken and egg problem? Listen in as Meyer discusses the RNA world scenario. Can

genetic information and biochemically relevant functions be present without either

DNA or protein?

16. Objections to Intelligent Design: RNA World, pt. 2. Can the RNA world scenario

overcome the information problem? Listen in as Dr. Meyer analyzes this popular

proposal.

17. Objections to Intelligent Design: RNA World, pt. 3. Have scientific developments

“overtaken Meyer’s book” as Stephen Fletcher claims? Listen in as Meyer examines

Fletcher’s supposed evidence.

18. Objections to Intelligent Design: Junk DNA. Critics claim that junk DNA disproves

intelligent design. Meyer takes on this objection.

Unit 2: Evidence of Intelligent Design in the Development of Life

19. Another Information Problem in the History of Life. Is the origin of life the main

problem with the materialistic evolutionary account of origins? Meyer delves into

the modern evolutionary synthesis. Is information a problem here too?

20. The Cambrian Explosion. What does the fossil record reveal about life’s history?

Meyer discusses how Darwin found the Cambrian explosion particularly striking and

puzzling.

21. The Mystery of the Missing Fossils: The Burgess Shale. Darwin tried to propose an

explanation for the mystery of the missing fossils. But have later discoveries

confirmed his predictions? Meyer introduces a 1909 discovery – the Burgess Shale.

22. The Mystery of the Missing Fossils: The Chenjiang Fauna. Meyer details a fossil find

with great diversity: the Cambrian era Chenjiang fauna.

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23. What Does It Take to Build an Animal? Meyer discusses the process of how to get a

Cambrian animal.

24. Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Mechanism: Combinatorial Searches, pt. 1. What

does combinatorial search mean? And how would the neo-Darwinian mechanism

produce the new genetic information needed to build new animals?

25. Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Mechanism: Combinatorial Searches, pt. 2. How

hard is it to get a new protein? Meyer does the math, further examining the efficacy

of the neo-Darwinian synthesis.

26. Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Mechanism: Developmental Mutations and Gene

Regulatory Networks. It’s a catch-22: random mutation and organism development.

Meyer gets beyond the numbers and uncovers the challenges posed for NeoDarwinism by developmental mutations and developmental gene regulatory

networks.

27. Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Mechanism: Information beyond DNA. Do protein

folds and developmental gene regulatory networks pose the biggest problems to

Neo-Darwinism? Meyer discusses a third devastating challenge to evolution. He also

discusses new evolutionary theories proposed to overcome it.

28. The Positive Case for Intelligent Design, pt. 1. Can one make a positive case for

intelligent design using accepted methods of reasoning? Meyer examines inductive,

deductive and abductive reasoning, and lays out what intelligent design proponents

need to demonstrate to make a strong case for design.

29. The Positive Case for Intelligent Design, pt. 2. Meyer applies historical scientific

methods to evaluate potential causes of the Cambrian explosion.

30. The Positive Case for Intelligent Design, pt. 3. Meyer discusses genetic algorithm

computer programs, the reason why the random mutation/natural selection

mechanism is doomed, and why intelligence uniquely can account for functional

information.

31. Responding to Critics: Charles Marshall. Paleontologist Charles Marshall challenged

Meyer’s arguments in Darwin’s Doubt, and here Meyer responds.

32. Response to Critics: Dennis Venema and Deborah Haarsma. Meyer evaluates an

objection to his book from theistic evolutionists Dennis Venema and Deborah

Haarsma. Can evolution’s mechanism of natural selection acting on random

mutations account for new protein folds? And what does the evolution of nylonase

demonstrate?

33. Responding to Critics: Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins. Meyer responds to

atheists Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins.

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34. Who Is the Designer? Who is the designing intelligence? Was it an alien? Or a

transcendent being? Meyer addresses this question, distinguishing between

evidence from biology that merely points to mind, and separate evidence that may

shed light on the identity of the designer.

Unit 3: Evidence of Intelligent Design in Physics and Cosmology

35. One Man’s Journey. Meyer recounts the story of an astronomer’s journey from

atheism to intelligent design. What do the stars reveal?

36. What Is Fine-Tuning? Meyer discusses the laws and constants of physics,

highlighting striking examples of fine-tuning.

37. How Do We Recognize Design? Meyer discusses William Dembski’s theory of design

inferences, and applies that to fine-tuning.

38. Weak Anthropic Principle and Natural Law. Meyer gives an overview of the weak

anthropic principle and natural law as explanations for fine-tuning.

39. The Multiverse, pt. 1. Meyer describes a popular explanation for fine-tuning and the

two cosmological models physicists employ.

40. The Multiverse, pt. 2. Meyer analyzes the multiverse theory. How does it stack up

against intelligent design?

41. The Multiverse, pt. 3. Meyer delves deeper into universe generating mechanisms

and what they require.

42. Who Is the Designer? In this final video lecture, Stephen Meyer shares his thoughts

on this important question.

Michael Behe Exposes How Mutations Fail To Invent (Science Uprising EP6)

https://youtu.be/_ivgQFIST1g

Discovery Science

Are chance mutations really “the key to our evolution” like they claim in the X-Men films? Or are there strict limits to what mutations can accomplish, limits that point to the need for an overarching designer and the failure of Darwinian evolution to create fundamentally new things? Be sure to visit https://scienceuprising.com/ to find more videos and explore related articles and books. In this episode of Science Uprising, we'll take a look at the real evidence for the supposed powerhouse of evolution. The featured expert is biochemist Michael Behe of Lehigh University, author of the books Darwin's Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves. Well-known scientists have been preaching a materialistic worldview rather than presenting the public with all the evidence. We are here to change that. The objective scientific evidence does not prove our universe is blind and purposeless. It does not show we are simply meat machines. It does not prove that evolutionary mechanisms can completely account for the diversity of life on earth. This is what THEY want you to think. Think for yourself and make an informed decision. Are you ready? The uprising has begun. In a lecture, Phillip Johnson cited physicist Richard Feynman on a scientist’s obligation to be honest — not only with himself or in other scientific contexts but, not one bit less, when speaking to the lay public. “You should not fool the laymen when you’re talking as a scientist.” That such a thing would need to be said is itself revealing. What’s more, Feynman insisted, you should “bend over backwards to show how you may be wrong.” The comments are taken from a Commencement address by Feynman in 1974 at Caltech. Johnson, a founding father of modern intelligent design, was so moved by this that he said “I wish it could be set to music.” As far as I know it hasn’t been set to music. But the idea is a major theme in the new Science Uprising series. Scientists fool themselves and they fool non-scientists, not about dry technical details with no special significance, but about matters that bear on huge, life-altering world picture issues. One example is the role of mutations in evolution. That is the topic of Episode 6 of Science Uprising, “Mutations: Failure to Invent.” It’s out now; see it here: The Alternative Perspective The idea that random genetic mutations lead to wondrous, creative innovations is so influential that it forms the premise of a movie franchise, X-Men, that has grossed $6 billion worldwide over the past couple of decades. That’s a lot of “fooling the laymen”! The alternative perspective would be open to the possibility of creative evolution requiring intelligence guidance. The producers of the X-Men movies aren’t scientists. However, the science media have done their best to mislead about the work of real scientists, including National Academy of Sciences member Richard Lenski. We’re all victims of that hype, including Hollywood moviemakers. Dismantling the hype about Lenski occupies biochemist Michael Behe for a significant part of his recent book, Darwin Devolves. Super-Challenges Not Super-Powers As Professor Behe explains in Science Uprising, the Long-Term Evolution Experiment conducted by Lenski has demonstrated not the creative power of unguided evolution but the occasional benefits of devolution, of breaking or disabling genes. That’s the opposite lesson from the one drawn by media such as the New York Times in reporting on Lenski’s efforts. “Think about it,” says the masked narrator of Science Uprising, against the backdrop of poignant images of people suffering from genetic illnesses, “significant mutations don’t create superpowers. They create super-challenges. Sometimes those mutations are even life-threatening.” Check out some of our other videos: Information Enigma: Where does information come from? Information drives the development of life. But what is the source of that information? https://youtu.be/aA-FcnLsF1g Science Uprising Episode 1 - Reality: Real vs. Material Has science proven we are all just matter? Or does reality extend beyond what we can see and touch? https://youtu.be/Fv3c7DWuqpM Bijan Nemati: Rare Earth https://youtu.be/vn3YpOWCrc4 Check out other videos from this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Discover...

Michael Denton Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis -- ID The Future Podcast

https://youtu.be/12i2RKct5RM

Discovery Science

On this episode of ID the Future, we listen in on a few minutes from a lecture given by CSC Senior Fellow Michael Denton. We’ve all heard of the importance of photosynthesis as an oxygen creating process. In this segment, Denton explains the “remarkable set of coincidences” which makes the creation of oxygen through photosynthesis possible. From the specific energy of visible light to the unique properties of water, this degree of improbability screams DESIGN. For more and to download this episode go to: https://www.discovery.org/multimedia/... For more on how the cosmos is designed for life, watch Discovery Institute’s documentary Priviledged Species, featuring Michael Denton, at http://privilegedspecies.com/. The ID The Future (IDTF) podcast carries on Discovery Institute's mission of exploring the issues central to evolution and intelligent design. IDTF is a short podcast providing you with the most current news and views on evolution and ID. IDTF delivers brief interviews with key scientists and scholars developing the theory of ID, as well as insightful commentary from Discovery Institute senior fellows and staff on the scientific, educational and legal aspects of the debate. You've heard the hype, now learn the truth. Subscribe to the podcast Intelligent Design: The Future. Exploring issues central to the case for intelligent design from the Big Bang to the bacterial flagellum and beyond. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i... ============================ The Discovery Science News Channel is the official Youtube channel of Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture. The CSC is the institutional hub for scientists, educators, and inquiring minds who think that nature supplies compelling evidence of intelligent design. The CSC supports research, sponsors educational programs, defends free speech, and produce articles, books, and multimedia content. For more information visit https://www.discovery.org/id/ http://www.evolutionnews.org/ http://www.intelligentdesign.org/ Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: Twitter: @discoverycsc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discoverycsc/ Visit other Youtube channels connected to the Center for Science & Culture Discovery Institute: https://www.youtube.com/user/Discover... Dr. Stephen C. Meyer: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrStephe... The Magician's Twin - CS Lewis & Evolution: https://www.youtube.com/user/cslewisweb Darwin's Heretic - Alfred Russel Wallce: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlfredRW...