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Please feel free to make use of the following list of hotels if trying to find lodging near the IDEA Conference. For more information about visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, please also visit the San Francisco Convention and Visitor's Bureau Website. CAMPUS AREA (Walking Distance) Vi

Click here to skip down to the list. IDEA 2002 Conference at USF. The following scientists (#'s 399-418) signed a list of scientists, calling themselves "Georgia Scientists for Academic Freedom," sent in an open letter to the Cobb County School Board in Georgia, on September 19, 2002. The scien

Welcome to our Human Origins quote collection. Many of the quotes in our collections have been verified for accuracy, but not all have been verified. Thus, we present our quote-collections as a starting point for research, and suggest you verify any individual quote before using it. If you have inf

We know you're out there. Contact us. Please choose from the options below to determine who to contact to meet your need: General Information about the IDEA Center For general questions, comments, or concerns about the Center, please e-mail us at "info@ideacenter.org". Information

"We conclude that there is a design in the evolution of the venous connections of the heart, pectinate muscles, atrioventricular valves,' left ventricular tendons, outflow tracts, and great arteries. One neglected aspect in the study of evolution is that of anticipation. Fish atria and ventricles ap

The Short Answer: Essentially, yes, but design is an inference. Yet design is an inference no more and no less than evolution is an inference. Both theories look for clues from history to infer what happened--but like any historical scientific theory, 100% confidence not attainable. Few things i

The Short Answer: No. Some biological structures may have resulted from a combination of both design and evolution. Most intelligent design proponents accept microevolution but question if macroevolutionary changes are possible. Intelligent design theory questions if evolution can produce ir

This FAQ is a work progress. In the mean time, please consider the following discussion: To answer this question, we must first define creationism. There are many definitions of "creationism" out there. However, for rhetorical purposes, let's assume a definition of creationism coming from some o

The Short Answer: Yes. The scientific method goes from observation --> hypothesis --> experiment --> conclusion. Intelligent design begins with the observation that intelligent agents produce complex and specified information (CSI). Design theorists hypothesize that if objects were designed, t

Yes. Below is a brief listing of some of the scientific fields where ID provides a framework for predicting, understanding, and explaining the patterns we observe in nature: Biochemistry, where ID explains and predicts the presence of high levels of complex and specified information in proteins and

The Short Answer: The Short Answer: The primary way that a lack of ID has hindered science is in science's pursuit of empirical truth. If intelligent design is an actual cause for the origin of life, particularly human life, then the failure of the scientific enterprise to recognize that fact wo

The Short Answer: No. Some critics have misunderstood intelligent design and claimed that it is merely a negative argument against evolution, that reasons as follows: "evolution cannot produce many irreducibly complex structures, therefore they were designed (by God)." This is not how intelligen

There are a number of scientific problems with neo-Darwinian (biological) and chemical evolution. They include: The failure of evolutionary biology to provide detailed explanations for the origin of complex biochemical features. (For details and documentation, please see: “Irreducible Complexi

Many proponents of intelligent design have cited the bacterial flagellum as an example of intelligent design and irreducible complexity in the cell. Graphic courtesy of the Access Research Network (ARN.org). The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and

The Short Answer: Yes. Intelligent design theory predicts: 1) that we will find specified complexity in biology. One special easily detectable form of specified complexity is irreducible complexity. We can test design by trying to reverse engineer biological structures to determine if there i

Copyright © 2016. Version 1.0. Permission Granted to Reproduce for Educational Purposes   Click here for a printable PDF of this article.   What is Intelligent Design? Intelligent design—often called “ID”—is a scientific theory that holds that the emergence of some features of the uni

[Editor's preface: On 6-10-02, the research of Dr. Jeffrey Shallit, brought to our attention that a minor statement on this page regarding designed objects at the Smithsonian was incorrect. The IDEA Center strives for accuracy and good scholarship, and when we learn of our mistakes, we try to corre

Click here for a reproducible PDF of this article. Intelligent design -- often called "ID" -- is a scientific theory that holds that the emergence of some features of the universe and living things is best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selecti

A. How does the theory of evolution work? Charles Darwin hypothesized his theory of evolution in 1859 in The Origin of Species. Random mutations cause changes, or variation, in a population of organisms. These different organisms then compete to survive and reproduce. Those which

Welcome to our Origin and Complexity of Life collection (a collection of introductory quotes of interest to those starting off in the debate, as well as gurus looking to back up basic claims). Many of the quotes in our collections have been verified for accuracy, but not all have been verified. Thus

The Short Answer: One need not fully understand the origin or identity of the designer to determine whether an object was designed. Thus, the question of the origin of the designer is irrelevant to whether we can detect design, the core focus of intelligent design theory. For example, if SETI wer

The theory of intelligent design is a hypothesis that can be positively tested. Intelligent design begins with observations of how intelligent agents act when designing things. By observing human intelligent agents, there is actually quite a bit we can learn know and understand about the actions of

A common question about intelligent design (ID) asks whether ID is a "scientific theory." The word "theory" gets tossed around a lot as if everyone agrees on what it means. To answer the question, we must first consider the meaning of the word "theory." Philosopher Peter Kosso explains that calli

Philosophers of science have long debated the precise definition of science. In fact, current trends in philosophy of science eschew the use of demarcation criteria to distinguish between science and non-science. Philosopher Larry Laudan comments on the consensus of this field:[T]here is no demarcat

[Editor's note: This article was posted on behalf of Discovery Institute as part of a series of articles both for and against ID at OpposingViews.com.] "In all irreducibly complex systems in which the cause of the system is known by experience or observation, intelligent design or engineering pla

Delving into the writings of intelligent design theorists, one will encounter a large number of terms reminiscent of things out of a nightmare about a failed college math midterm. This intellectually intimidating nomenclature can come in the form of what appears to be esoteric jargon, cryptic acron

Intelligent design is a scientific theory which has its roots in information theory and observations about intelligent action. Intelligent design theory makes inferences based upon observations about the types of complexity that can be produced by the action of intelligent agents vs. the types of i

Dr. Michael Ruse or Dr. Cornelius G. Hunter will debate whether evolution is compelling or not.

Ryan is the current President of the IDEA Center. Ryan officially joined the IDEA Center staff in June, 2002, shortly after our initiation procedures were finished. Ryan was the principal organizer behind the IDEA 2002 Conference at USF, and has worked to help us schedule and successfully put on a n

Please read on to learn more about how to start an IDEA Club! Are you interested in intelligent design and the debate over origins? Do you agree that there is a strong scientific case and many lines of evidence showing that life was designed by an intelligence? Would you like to promo

Welcome to our Fossil Record quote collection. Many of the quotes in our collections have been verified for accuracy, but not all have been verified. Thus, we present our quote-collections as a starting point for research, and suggest you verify any individual quote before using it. If you have inf

Your donation to the IDEA Center helps support IDEA Clubs, where students on college and high school campuses around the U.S. and world educate their fellow students about scientific evidence supporting intelligent design and challenging evolution. Pictured here is an IDEA Club booth from a c

IDEA staff converse with attendees at the IDEA Conference 2002 (above), where many signed up to become IDEA Center members. We keep IDEA Center members apprised of happenings in science, and in the IDEA Center. Please read the text at left for more information about how to become an IDEA Cent

The IDEA Center does not have an official geographical location at this time. The official location of the Center is "virtual" (on the internet), but it does have a mailing address: IDEA Center 1480 Moraga Road, Suite I, PMB 241 Moraga, CA 94556 IDEA's present "virtual location" is preferable

Welcome to our General Evolution of Life quote collection. Many of the quotes in our collections have been verified for accuracy, but not all have been verified. Thus, we present our quote-collections as a starting point for research, and suggest you verify any individual quote before using it. If

Welcome to our Philosophy quotes collection. Many of the quotes in our collections have been verified for accuracy, but not all have been verified. Thus, we present our quote-collections as a starting point for research, and suggest you verify any individual quote before using it. If you have infor

[Editor’s Note: The following article is Casey Luskin’s chapter, “The Top Ten Scientific Problems with Biological and Chemical Evolution,” contributed to the volume More than Myth (Chartwell Press, 2014). It has been posted with permission of the book’s editors, Robert Stackpole and Paul Brown. A PD

Editor's Note: This is a less-technical version of an article by the same name that was originally published in the journal Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design in 2005. For the original, more technical version, click here. Two Different Views of Origins Figure 1. Paleoanthropolog

Eddie is one of the original co-founders of the IDEA Center as his desire to start a non-profit organization dealing with philosophical and bioethical issues surrounding intelligent design theory drove him to make a proposal to Casey Luskin to found the Center in 2001.    From his

Pictured above is an early version of the IDEA Center's logo. The current logo (see graphic at top left), designed by Justin Kerr at Newfangled Web Factory, was implemented in 2003. The Origins of the IDEA CenterThe Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness (IDEA) Center is a 501(c)

Pictured here is Michael Behe speaking at an IDEA-sponsored event. With a bit of planning and work, IDEA Clubs can sponsor events like this at their own campuses to outreach to their respective communities. The following is an adapted section from the IDEA Club Leadership Manual. All

For more comprehensive yet concise response to the Kitzmiller decision, coauthored by the author of this page, check out Traipsing Into Evolution by David DeWolf, John G. West, Casey Luskin, and Jonathan Witt. Version 2.0, last updated March 20, 2006 Introduction: This is a response to

The best legal resource you can find is an attorney. Nonetheless, below is a list of resources we have enjoyed reading which you might also find informative regarding legal issues! "Intelligent Design Will Survive Kitzmiller v. Dover," by and David K. DeWolf, John G. West, Casey Luskin, publishe

Need information? We hope that as you use the resources links at left, you'll find what you're looking for! The IDEA Center aims to provide useful resources related to intelligent design and evolution. Please select from the following links which contain resources: Articles on Intell

The Boston Review is a neutral "political and literary forum" which contains essays and articles written by noteworthy authors. Their evolution page contains articles by many big names on both sides of the creation - evolution issue.

This blog about the media and evolution says the following: "The misreporting of the evolution issue is one key reason for this new blog. The newsmedia in the U.S. seem to have rediscovered the evolution controversy recently. Unfortunately, much of the news coverage has been sloppy, inaccurate, and