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Why Intelligent Design should not be taught in science class
I wrote this persuasive speech for school and i thought some of you would appreciate it. But i do wanna know if it makes sense and, in your opinion, disputes intelligent design as being science while also respecting religion. Thanks!
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines Intelligent Design as-: the theory that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by a designing intelligence.
And defines science as- knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation.
Now that we’ve established these things, we can get to the issue at hand, the teaching of intelligent design in science class.
The high school day is divided into multiple periods, each devoted to a different area of study as you’re no doubt familiar with. This categorization is extremely important in keeping the vast amount of information we have organized. For example, you don’t teach Shakespeare in Algebra class. This isn’t because Shakespeare is wrong or inferior to algebra, it is just because Shakespeare does not fit the math category and is therefore inappropriate to be taught in that class. The rules that math operates under, and the way we analyze literature are two entirely different things. It is for this reason that intelligent design should not be taught in science class. Its simply inappropriate.
Science is performed by adhering to a strict method. The scientific method. It goes roughly like this. First a hypothesis is formed, usually based on previous scientific findings, next, experiments are conducted and/ or things are observed seeking to disprove the hypothesis. Based on the findings a conclusion is made about the hypothesis, either that it was supported by the data or not. If it is supported it keeps being tested, if it isn’t supported it is rejected.
If it is supported, experimentation will continue until it is proven untrue, if ever. This is the method by which every, well, every self-respecting and reputable scientist conducts their work today, and it is the only foolproof method of discovering truth. It is the method by which germs were discovered and the lighbulb was invented. Science class should only teach knowledge gathered through this method. Nothing else.
Intelligent design is not science because it was not formed through the scientific method. In truth it was formed essentially by doing science backwards. Intelligent design proponents began with their conclusion: an intelligence, ie a god, created the world and everything in it. They then sought to gather evidence to back this up instead of prove it false….to then reach the conclusion that an intelligence ie; a god, created the world and everything in it. Its circular.
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