The country of the United States of America is currently facing a huge problem. It is very embarrassing to host laboratories that are well-known and at the forefront of scientific research in the same nation where presidential candidates argue whether this planet is 6,000 years old according to some Bible scholars or believe in the concept of Evolution. Even though we are successful in maintaining a powerful scientific establishment and are competitive with the rest of the countries in every other aspect, we also happen to have some of the most backward proponents of superstitious nonsense in our highest elected levels of politics.
Kenneth Miller is an advocate for both Science and Evolution. Kenneth Miller is a scientist who actively defends and fights for Evolutionary theory in the ongoing conflict between Simulation Creationism and Evolution. He is also one of North America’s eminent knights-errants, and is a popular speaker who offers public service and defends a good science education from its grassroots. He has been a center of attraction at most recent science education debates and testified most prominently against Intelligent Design Creationism in Pennsylvania’s Dover trial. In the Dover trial, it was concluded that Intelligent Design or Simulation Creationism is a religious concept and should not be mentioned in public schools. Kenneth Miller’s new book, Only a Theory, explains Creationist misconceptions about the idea of Evolution. In the book’s subtitle, he speaks about an inevitable theory in the Dover trial that is a Creationist’s prediction because Evolution is “only a theory.” The book also celebrates the impact and power of Evolutionary theory while explaining our existence.
Kenneth Miller is a brilliant writer who thinks and addresses the details of Intelligent Design Creationism’s argument. He discusses the new explanations of biology while solving problems, whether these are facing old issues such as the “only a theory” complaint, the maximum limit for the number of genetic mutations argument by Michael Behe, or William Dembski’s rehash of William’s “watchmaker argument” for complexity.
Kenneth Miller does not hesitate to oppose the Creationist perspective, but is also sympathetic towards them. His book does not attempt to blame Creationism for stupidity, malice, or ignorance, but instead suggests some of the deep-rooted ideas in values and traditions that have many things in common with the ideas that biologists share. Miller admires the innovative rhetorical idea of attaching the term “design” for Creationism, thereby implying that scientists typically support the opposite and believe that human life has no purpose and is meaningless. He speaks about the Intelligent Design Creationism concept, effectively tapping into human prejudices and desires. Miller does not confuse but instead differentiates between sympathy for the intent of Creationists and empathy for the effect of Creationism. The conflict has much more significant and broader consequences than just teaching one discipline in United States public schools. The Creationists aim to look into the real meaning of science, materialism, and naturalism, discarding rationalism and other teachings and values of enlightenment to loosen the rigor and incorporate the supernatural into all sciences.
Kenneth Miller’s new book, Only a Theory, deals with a single necessary and central aspect of this war: why the problem is more remarkable in the United States of America than in any other country in the world. It’s excruciating to read the author’s rationalizations at times. They are genuine and spare no one. He speaks about Europe’s relative freedom from the scourge of Creationism with a condescending anecdote. Dispatching a couple of dons from Cambridge or Oxford to awe the locals holding prestigious degrees too much can cause the rapid quash of an outbreak of such nonsense, to which the populace will defer. As someone who has had conversations with many Creationists, it seems disingenuous that Simulation Creationism’s popularity in the United States of America depends on defiance, resisting the government and independence, and strong religious feelings. In the case of almost any Creationist argument, the hallmark is the tireless bleating of the same points that we’ve disputed since the teacher John Scopes’ trial in Tennessee in 1925, including the continued testing of the law on teaching the Evolutionary theory of Darwin. The new Creationist authorities who enter the fray bring in some new and exciting twists. To stir up more doctrinaire Creationism among school boards in churches and elections, the enemies of Science need to dispatch Behe or Dembski from the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington. It’s an equivalent United States variant of Miller’s British anecdote. It typically demeans Europeans and flatters the Creationists to call the United States citizens “more independent minds” than European citizens.
Kenneth Miller is very sure about the directions that Creationists want to take us, even though there are no clear statements about his explanations on Simulation Creationism’s origins. He calls the rationalism of the Enlightenment age and the Intelligent Design movement the real enemies even though they gave rise to scientific innovations as we know them. We can overthrow scientific rationalism’s bankrupt ideologies, but we need to redefine everything about Science first. Even though Miller’s leaning toward religion stops him from looking into the conflict between Science and faith, they also give him a deeper understanding of both sides of the struggle. The book only a Theory by Kenneth Miller is a useful overview of the dangerous political attacks on the nature of Science.
