Welcome to "The Fake Science", the random musings of Matt Inlay. This blog will primarily be about the Evolution/Intelligent Design (ID) controversy, but I also intend to write on the Stem Cell controversy, and about the anti-science movement in general. In case you're wondering where I stand, I'm decidedly pro-science. That means I'm pro-evolution, pro-stem cell research, and am a critic of ID and the anti-science movement. Occasionally I'll write about other topics that pop into my head, but for the most part I want to stick with the science.
Why is the blog called "The Fake Science"? Simple, the advocates of intelligent design have been peddling ID as though it were science. It's not. This is first and foremost the reason why ID is rejected within the scientific community. The advocates of ID have utterly failed to develop ID as a science, primarily because they have no intention of researching it. ID is entirely a smokescreen to get their version of Creationism taught in public schools. They are only interested in making ID look like science, at least to the untrained eye. ID isn't pseudoscience, or even anti-science, it's fake science. It is the modern day equivalent of snake oil, and the primary purpose of this blog is to expose it as such.
Intelligent Design isn't the only attack on science being waged today. We see other fake controversies being debated nowadays. One is global warming. Another is stem cell research. I don't know very much about global warming, but I do know a thing or two about stem cells, as that is where my professional interests lay. Like evolution, we see similar attacks on stem cell research. And like ID, we see fake science being used to attack real science, with the public unable to tell the difference. The anti-science movement is growing, and we need to defend science education in America if we're going to survive it. By survive, I'm not suggesting the demise of the United States, but rather the demise of the US as the world leader in innovation, in technology, and in science. Those are the stakes, and I think they're worth fighting for.
I should mention that the single best place to go for news on the ID movement is the blog, The Panda's Thumb (www.pandasthumb.org). It's a group blog, and most of the finest critics of ID post there. I contribute there occassionally, but I haven't felt my writing has been of the caliber of that website. Furthermore, with the diverse opinions of that group, many of us have felt hesitant to speak for the group by posting our own diatribes under the Panda's Thumb (PT) label. Therefore, more and more of the contributors are starting their own blogs to give them the freedom to speak their minds without potentially damaging PT's reputation. Those posts that they feel are relevant enough, and of sufficient quality are then linked to from PT. This is one of those blogs.
Anyway, enjoy the reading and I look forward to reading your comments.
Matt
