Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture

Can the Mind Be Explained by the Brain?

Immanent Agency: It’s Evolution by Design, After All

Agency theory as proposed certainly is not “magic,” but it specifically invokes teleology within its operating framework.

Materialists Grapple with the Reality of Purpose in Organisms

Twentieth-century materialism treated living organisms as reducible machines governed strictly by Newtonian physics and simple genetic mechanics.

Biological Novelties “Arrive” as if Ordered from DoorDash

The question of how bodies are actually built remains as unclear at the end of these 54 minutes as it was at the beginning.

Say Goodbye to This Origin-of-Life “‘Get Out of Jail Free Card”

It’s good to be able to reflect that proponents of intelligent design have been saying things like this for years.

For Dawkins, a Second Sour Publishing Anniversary

Nathaniel Comfort stops just short of saying that Dawkins’s ideas should be pensioned off, along with himself.

For Students, Less Tech, Not More — Please!

This is a struggle going back to before anyone worried about AI. One of my worst decisions as a parent was to allow an XBOX into the house.

The Great Non-Debate and Atheism as “20-Year-Old Sushi”

If Richard Dawkins had answers to intelligent design’s evidence, he would have presented them, not least on his own home turf.

Postcard from Kraków: From Copernican Revolution to ID Revolution

Even physicists who were more familiar with black holes than dance steps got pulled into the fun.

NCSE Still Exists! A Hallucinatory Book Review

Rosenhouse is in the same gallery of shame that C. W. Howell is, and that resulted in Howell’s book being yanked by the publisher, NYU Press.

Origins of Muscular Hydrostats Are Another Evolutionary Conundrum

How does Professor Naughton explain this baffling similarity? He invokes the fallacy that a physical constraint compels natural selection to create a solution.

Dr. Iacoboni: Return of the Purpose Hypothesis

Purpose was once considered fundamental to understanding nature. But for the last few centuries, scientists committed to a Darwinian view have ignored it.

Decolonize Science? Wokeness Scrambles Journals, Writers

Yes, “decolonizing” science does mean accepting legends in place of evidence, in order to show respect for the legends’ tellers and believers.

Common Sense from a Prestige Science Journal? Yes, Believe It

Good on the editors for pushing back against the subversive notion that a machine can be the moral equivalent of a human being.

A State of Emergency in Our Dependence on AI

I sat down with Dr. Turkle for a conversation about her new book. We covered all the things about relationships we stand to lose if we depend on AI.

Teddy Roosevelt Erred on Neanderthals

Just recently, paleontologists have found Neanderthal wooden tools (62-40 kya) preserved in stone.

NOVA on Evolution of Eating: Here’s the “Science,” Trust Me, Bro!

There is only a compelling story, beautifully illustrated with plenty of AI imagineering and more scientists testifying to their evolutionary faith.

How to Shift the Gears in Your Legs?

The answer to the question: You don’t have to do anything. You have automatic transmission.

Jay Bhattacharya: For a Second Scientific Revolution

Most published research findings are still false, and AI is making things worse. What changes would help? Dr. Bhattacharya dreams big.

Howell Scrubs Fabricated Behe Quote Without Coming Clean

The ethical thing would have been to apologize and admit the seriousness of his mistake. His smoking gun, after all, wasn’t just a dud. It was imaginary.

Seed Factories Come Pre-Assembled Before Sprouting Time

Contrary to assumptions, a seed doesn’t build up its machinery as it begins to germinate. It was already prefabricated for switching on.