Help:FAQ
From ResearchID.org
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do people ask so many questions?
While asked as a joke, this is a truly intriguing question that could have many interesting answers. What's yours?
Frequently Asked Questions about ResearchID.org
How is ResearchID.org different from all of the other Intelligent Design websites out there?
- ResearchID.org is a wiki. Anyone can contribute to developing an actual article, not just comments on a discussion board or blog. Our hope is that REAL, applicable, usable research will be developed, which I will get to in a minute.
- True collaboration and interactivity. The Discovery Institute's news and articles are wonderful, ISCID.org's Archive docs and Brainstorms' discussions are enlightening, and blogs are cool, etc, etc, etc. But, they are not dynamic and interactive like a wiki page is. It may be on the Internet, but the actual content within other sites is not interactive to the same degree. While there is a certain amount of interaction within a Discussion Board, a blog, and a Brainstorm, a wiki has much more. Any page of a wiki can be edited, improved, split, or merged at any time, by anyone. Editing access to all of the content is the key to the power and success of wiki interactivity.
- A final product. A ResearchID.org research article results in a final product that is clear, specific in details, and understandable. Clicking into a discussion that is already underway (or finished at Brainstorms) can often seem like a hodge-podge of ideas. (Note from the webmaster: I pointed some of my undergraduate professors to the ISCID.org Brainstorms, and all of them said something to the effect of, "I don't have time to swim through all of the repeats, replies, and reposts.") To be sure, there is great information in a Brainstorms discussion page. The information rich discussion area within a wiki page has this same "discussion" strength that is preserved for reference and continues to grow in the wiki, AND the discussion also results in a lucid article that is very practical and applicable.
- Proving ground. Because of the collaborative nature of a wiki, the research submitted does not have to be fully hashed-out. The research can be improved as more experimentation and reflection yield new insights for the application. In fact, the iteration that is natural to science is made clear by the page history of a research article.
- Highly usable. We have very high aspirations for our articles at ResearchID.org. Ideally, we would hope that what is developed would be the kind of articles that someone could print off the Internet, and take directly into the laboratory, field, or library, and have some good data and research production. This will take time, but we know that it is possible.
- Highly accessible. Because of the indexing power of MediaWiki, someone looking for an ID research application in a specific field could go straight to the category where the research articles are listed together. Good luck trying to do that on ISCID's Brainstorms or DI. (An example is helpful: Let's say there is a research biologist looking to see what ID has to offer by way of experimental application. The biologists goes to Brainstorms to find something that might interest him, and he spends hours trying to figure out what is what, and leaves frustrated because it seems ID has nothing to offer him by way of research that he can take to the lab and test.)
- ResearchID.org is free. The idea of charging people to look at web pages about research is not part of the philosophy of our group. :) We desire to be altruistic and philanthropic, and we have put our money where our mouth is.
That's several reasons, if you can think of ways that we are different from other ID sites, please add them!
What is a Wiki?
A wiki is a type of website that allows users to add, update, and edit content and is especially suited for constructive collaborative authoring. It is a very dynamic internet content management format. A wiki is a great place to share your knowledge and learn from others. Essentially, wiki's are living, breathing web sites that allow for all members to participate. The pages and content within a wiki are generated by anyone with a web browser who wants to do so. If there is a grammar or spelling mistake, or posted misinformation, the next person that views it could correct it. Editing access to all of the content is one of the keys to the power and success of wiki interactivity.
At any time, by anyone, a wiki page can be:
- created
- edited
- improved
- split
- merged
What can you use a wiki for?
- It's a medium for discussion and collaboration on documents.
- The changes are available instantly for other visitors to see.
What's in a wiki?
A wiki page has a content page and a discussion area.
- Typically, the discussion area is like a running conversation about what to put in the content page.
- On the content page is the "article," the cumulative product of the discussion.
How does a wiki organize the content?
A wiki is organized into an index of categories. People do most of the work of labeling the data into categories, but those labels are organized by the wiki itself.
How do I use this wiki?
Please visit our Help page.
What is ResearchID.org?
Please visit our About page.
Frequently Asked Questions about Intelligent Design
What is Intelligent Design?
Intelligent design is an emerging research program which examines objects and events to determine whether they posess traits not adequately accounted for by undirected natural causes, but instead bear a degree of complexity and specification normally attributed to other objects and events we know to have had an intelligent cause.
Further Reading:
- Shared Intellect FAQ: What Is intelligent design?
- Michael J. Behe, Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (New York: Free Press 2003), pp. 192-196
- William A. Dembski, Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science and Theology (Illinois: Intervarsity Press), pp. 106-109
- Dembski, The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design (Illinois, Intervarsity Press), pp. 33-37
- IDEA Center: "Primer: Intelligent Design Theory in a Nutshell"
- IDEA Center FAQ: What is intelligent design theory?"
What are the proposed mechanisms of Intelligent Design?
What is Intelligent Design research?
Where can I find information about theoretical and empirical research?
Here is a good place to start. The International Society of Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID) is also a very good source for information on ID research. The URL for their website is http://iscid.org.
Is Intelligent Design pseudoscience?
No, Intelligent Design is not pseudoscience. As a theory it follows the time honored principles of the scientific method and relies solely on empirical evidence. It does not rely on extra philosophical presuppositions or religious authority. Similar to many other scientific endeavors, intelligent design offers concrete predictions and can be falsified.
There is often a lack of clarity about how the nature of ID Theory and empirical scientific research relate to one another. Many claim that Intelligent Design is not science, or that ID is merely religion masquerading as science. Whether a study is pseudoscience or not has less to do with the ideas under study than the approach used to study or validate them. Testing Intelligent Design with proper scientific research is a current effort, already underway. ResearchID.org has been established to give greater accessibility to this research. As more intellectuals become aware of the rigorous scientific research, ID will be shown to be scientific, and not pseudoscience.
For more information on proper approaches to scientific research and its proper perspective, explore these links: Coming Soon...
I read and hear many people criticizing ID, what are the facts?
Intelligent Design Theory is not based on a false understanding of science. ID is testing the hypothesis that intelligent agents leave distinct marks or signs that can be detected empirically. This is not a false premise. In fact, it is the fundamental premise of forensic science, archeology, and other current scientific disciplines. It is a direct correlate to the most foundational concept in science; cause and effect. Empirical knowledge is an incramental process that involves using accumulated knowledge of effects in order to better understand the cause. ID is accumulating knowledge about the effects of intelligent activity in order to better understand the cause of natural phenomena.
It is claimed that ID is circumventing conventional means of gaining scientific acceptance.
ID is not creationism.
ID is not supernaturalism.
ID is not a religious argument, it is a scientific inference.
ID is not a hypothesis based on faith.
ID does not claim that evolution is false on every point.
ID does not derive information from the Bible or any religious presuppositions.
ID has yet to make many substantive claims regarding biological phenomena, the research is still in process.
Are there any meaningful scientific questions posed by ID that are not already addressed within the current scope of science?
Is there any good reason to consider perspectives other than Darwinism or its subsidiary views?
According to 500 scientists Darwinian evolution is deficient to account for the complexity of life. What does this fact imply? Among many other things, it implies that there are questions arising in the minds of modern scholars which Darwinian evolution isn't answering. These answers may lie in other formulations, and these new perspectives could hold the key to fresh scientific discovery.
On the other hand, over 700 scientists named "Steve", believe that "Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry. Although there are legitimate debates about the patterns and processes of evolution, there is no serious scientific doubt that evolution occurred or that natural selection is a major mechanism in its occurrence. It is scientifically inappropriate and pedagogically irresponsible for creationist pseudoscience, including but not limited to "intelligent design," to be introduced into the science curricula of our nation's public schools."
While the list of 700 scientists named "Steve" is a telling sign of what most scientists think about evolution, the statement does not address whether or not there is any good theoretical or empirical reason to consider other perspectives.
Is there a meaningful distinction between Creationism and ID?
Yes. Although Creationism can mean many different things to different people, in general the term is used to describe a belief based on the assumption that a literal interpetation of Genesis 1 & 2 is scientifically accurate.
In contrast, Intelligent Design does not depend on any religious text or authority but depends solely on empirical evidence. Because ID does not assume any supernatural entity or religious authority it is worldview independent.
ID also differs because, unlike Creationism, it has nothing to say about the age of the earth.
Can we detect a signature of intelligence that is independent of knowing the designer?
Infering design is not dependent on knowledge of the designer. This is obvious in other fields where design detection is important such as archeology or SETI.
Where can I find other FAQ's about Intelligent Design?
FAQ @ http://ideacenter.org
FAQ @ http://arn.org
FAQ @ http://discovery.org - Center for Science and Culture
FAQ @ http://intelligentdesignnetwork.org
Encyclopedia @ http://iscid.org
How did you get the Google Adwords on the left of each page?
Ultimately, it is about familiarity with PHP and CSS, but these links helped:
http://www.how2setup.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=Google_AdSense_in_Wiki
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Joncutrer/Extensions/Google_Adsense_Search
http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-l/2004-August/001087.html
http://www.dankohn.com/archives/000338.html
What operational definition of information do design theorists use?
Because of its centrality to ID there are probably several definitions in use; usually you'll find them given in the particular context you are interested in. In general, design theorists are most interested in differentiating unspecified or specified information.
The standard information theoretic definition of information is the reduction of possibilities or uncertainty.[1]
Can I ask a question that is not on this FAQ?
Yes. You can ask a new question here on this page, just edit this page and ask new questions below this one.
