Intelligent Design FAQs & Primers

Our “FAQs” and “Primers” are summaries (sometimes illustrated) of topics of interest in the debate over intelligent design (ID) and evolution. “F.A.Q.s” are answers to Frequently Asked Questions. “Primers” are short introductions to common topics. Some of these pages are general, and might not have references…so, if you thirst for more detail, try looking at the articles section or just e-mail us.

It should be noted that answers to FAQs are our opinions of the best answers, and much of this material is covered in more (and often better) detail in the ID literature. See the links at right for more detail.

Finally, we recommend our “Evolution Primer” and “Intelligent Design Theory in a Nutshell” as the most informative introductory articles listed here. Thanks and please enjoy!

Our mission is to help people learn about intelligent design and evolution. For your convenience, all of our FAQ’s, Primers, and “Nutshells” are available in PDF [Adobe Acrobat] format, which you may download, print, and reproduce freely for non-profit educational use!

Is there some FAQ or Primer topic you’d like to see covered here that isn’t? Do you have an opinion or disagree with anything on these pages? We appreciate thoughts, criticisms, suggestions, concerns, or any other input (including encouragement)! Please e-mail us! Thanks!

Primers:

Primer: Intelligent Design Theory in a Nutshell

Primer: Evolutionary Theory

Primer: Summary of Problems with Biological and Chemical Evolution

Primer: History of intelligent design and the creation – evolution controversy

Primer: Evolutionary Theory in a Nutshell

Primer: Cosmic Design in a Nutshell

Primer: Origin of Life in a Nutshell

Primer: Irreducible Complexity in a Nutshell

Primer: Genetic Evidence in a Nutshell

Primer: Developmental Evidence in a Nutshell

Primer: Mutations in a Nutshell

Primer: Fossil Evidence in a Nutshell

Primer: Naturalism in Science

FAQs:

FAQ: What is intelligent design theory?

FAQ: Does intelligent design make predictions? Is it testable?

FAQ: Can we positively say something was designed?

FAQ: Is Intelligent Design the same as Creationism?

FAQ: Is it appropriate to justify intelligent design theory via analogies?

FAQ: Does intelligent design completely reject Darwinian evolution?

FAQ: Does intelligent design theory implement the scientific method?

FAQ: Does intelligent design contribute to other fields of science?

FAQ: Does Intelligent Design Help Science Generate New Knowledge?

FAQ: Has a lack of intelligent design theory hindered scientific progress?

FAQ: Is ID just a negative argument against evolution?

FAQ: Does intelligent design theory make the “Unexplained” = “Unexplainable” fallacy?

FAQ: Aren’t “biological machines” too different from human-made machines to be considered examples of designed machines?

FAQ: Will intelligent design lead to false positives (or could it eventually say that “everything” is designed)?

FAQ: How or When did the designer do the designing?

FAQ: Is intelligent design merely an “argument from ignorance?”

FAQ: How do we Detect Design?

FAQ: Hasn’t intelligent design theory been proven wrong?

FAQ: What sort of progress has intelligent design made recently?

FAQ: Wouldn’t intelligent design theory be the end of scientific investigation–a “science stopper?”

FAQ: Who designed the designer?

FAQ: ID is asking us to accept the existence of an intelligent designer. Where is there evidence for the intelligent designer?

FAQ: Isn’t intelligent design just a rehash of William Paley’s 19th century design arguments, refuted by Hume and Darwin?

FAQ: According to intelligent design theory, who is the designer and why can’t intelligent design theory identitfy the designer?

FAQ: Some things appear “unintelligently designed” or are poorly designed. Is ID falsified by “sub-optimal design”?

FAQ: Is ID a “god-of-the-gaps” argument?

FAQ: What is the Identity of the Designer?

FAQ: Is intelligent design an appeal to miracles or the supernatural?

FAQ: Is ID just a religious or theological concept?

FAQ: Could something be designed if it were an “evil design?”

FAQ: What are intelligent agents and how do they act?

FAQ: Can we tell the “purpose” of a designed object?

FAQ: What is the mechanism the designer used to design?

FAQ: Would teaching intelligent design violate the Establishment Clause of First Amendment of the Constitution?

FAQ: Doesn’t ID suggest eliminating evolution from schools or “watering down” the curriculum?

FAQ: Why is intelligent design theory often controversial?

FAQ: Isn’t intelligent design just a movement trying to push a political agenda?

FAQ: What prompts a group of people to challenge the dominant scientific paradigm?

FAQ: Does ID want to sneak creationism through the “back door” (into science and schools)?

FAQ: Must the first CSI come from an unintelligent source? [a subissue of “Who Designed the Designer’]

FAQ: Is intelligent design just creationism (or creationism “in disguise”)?

FAQ: Why isn’t intelligent design found published in peer-reviewed science journals?

Is Peer-Review a Requirement of Good Science?

FAQ: Isn’t ID just trying to “sabotage science”?

FAQ: Is ID just in the U.S. or is it also international?