Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Topic

intelligence

C. S. Lewis
Photo: C. S. Lewis, by Asar Studios/Alamy (Photo by Hans Wild/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images).

A Profound Challenge to Materialism, Longing Is Our “Inconsolable Secret” 

Longings that are unsatisfied by the provisions of Earth are not just a weary response to our often stress-laden modern lifestyles. Read More ›
DNA
Image credit: 2541163, via Pixabay.

Is Life Just Chemistry, or Chemistry Plus Information?

Theoretical biologist Marcello Barbieri finds that many biologists see information in life forms as something that “does not really belong to science.” Read More ›
ATP Synthase
Image: A scene from "Molecular Machines — ATP Synthase: The Power Plant of the Cell," via Discovery Institute.

No, Intelligent Design Doesn’t Reason by Analogy; Here’s Why

We also see machines in living systems. That’s not to say that cells or living systems on the whole are “machines,” but they do contain machines. Read More ›
Leonhard Euler
Image: Leonhard Euler, by Emanuel Handmann, via Wikimedia Commons.

Self-Referential Absurdity in a Theory of Consciousness

Leonhard Euler was known to work out complex derivations in his head while blind. Of what possible use was this ability for survival? Read More ›
Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum
Photo: Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum, a peace lily, by JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

In Some Science Contexts, “Emergence” Really Means “We Don’t Know How”

The word often permits the improbable to be considered probable for the purposes of sounding like science without providing any. Read More ›
ravens
Photo: Common ravens, via Wikimedia Commons.

Our Ancestors Are Evolving, Just to Keep Up!

Negative biases about our forebears have long been part of science, education, and popular culture. Why? Read More ›
Chinese Han characters
Gauger
Photo: Chinese Han characters, by Michael Coghlan, via Flickr (cropped).

Blind Ambition — Revisiting Searle’s Chinese Room

For the most part, computer scientists have tended to ignore Searle’s argument and the point of view that it represents. Read More ›
Sauropods
Photo: Skeletal Reconstruction of <I>Mamenchisaurus youngi</I>, though other sources speak of the very closely related <I>Omeisaurus</I>, in the Dinosaur Museum of Zigong, by Einar Fredriksen, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Long Necks in Sauropod Dinosaurs — By Neo-Darwinism or Intelligent Design?

The origin of the ingeniously intricate long necks in sauropod dinosaurs has been postulated to have arisen more than 35 times independently. Read More ›
David Berlinski
Photo: David Berlinski, courtesy of Uncommon Knowledge.

David Berlinski on the Immaterial, Alan Turing, and the Mystery of Life Itself

If scientists thought that life's origin and nature would soon yield to scientific reductionism, they have been disappointed. Read More ›
Neanderthal Musuem
Photo: Neanderthal Musuem, Germany, by Clemens Vasters, via Flickr (cropped).

Researchers: Neanderthals Invented Process to Produce Birch Tar

The tar can be used for glue, bug repellent, and killing germs. This finding tracks growing recognition of Neanderthals as intelligent. Read More ›

© Discovery Institute