Got an Essay Against Evolution to Write

I have an essay due for English about Michael Behe’s Book Darwins Black Box. And i have to disprove evolution using the book and methods we learned from class. I mean the teacher said that I can go against the book idea of Intelligent design but he told me “I have read all the material there is to read and more then likely your argument won’t be able to hold up, but you can just make sure you get your facts.”

Any ideas on what i should do? Im thinking of just writing in favor of intelligent design so i can pass the class and be done. But it does kinda irk me that this teacher really believes this. He even made us watch a movie in class called “Unlocking the mysteries of life” which was basically a fucken Intelligent design propaganda movie.

Id be willing to write an essay against his stupid book but I dont think i would have enough time to write seeing as it is due on Tuesday. If anybody has read this book and has the links that refute it with good arguments i would be willing to write it and even help me. If you have read the book it would be a plus.

Man i feel like a nerd actually caring about what my teacher thinks. Everybody in class was just zoned out watching I was however in disgust. Dam Am i lame for actually caring about this?

And Yes i know there is a Evolution vs Creationism thread but I thought this belonged in there.

[quote]optheta wrote:
I have an essay due for English about Michael Behe’s Book Darwins Black Box. And i have to disprove evolution using the book and methods we learned from class. I mean the teacher said that I can go against the book idea of Intelligent design but he told me “I have read all the material there is to read and more then likely your argument won’t be able to hold up, but you can just make sure you get your facts.”

Any ideas on what i should do? Im thinking of just writing in favor of intelligent design so i can pass the class and be done. But it does kinda irk me that this teacher really believes this. He even made us watch a movie in class called “Unlocking the mysteries of life” which was basically a fucken Intelligent design propaganda movie.

Id be willing to write an essay against his stupid book but I dont think i would have enough time to write seeing as it is due on Tuesday. If anybody has read this book and has the links that refute it with good arguments i would be willing to write it and even help me. If you have read the book it would be a plus.

Man i feel like a nerd actually caring about what my teacher thinks. Everybody in class was just zoned out watching I was however in disgust. Dam Am i lame for actually caring about this?

And Yes i know there is a Evolution vs Creationism thread but I thought this belonged in there.[/quote]

Meh.

Give as good a presentation of the creationists arguments as you can.

You should be able to sum up beliefs that are not yours without being unfair. Otherwise you will have to become a pundit on Fox News.

“Suck it up, read the book, ace the test, just don’t buy into his shit…”

It won’t be the last time in your life you have to write/say something you don’t agree with to jump through a hoop. Like Orion says just take it as a chance to practise presenting someone else’s point of view fluently and coherently.

I’m going to encourage you to stick to your own beliefs. Don’t comprise them for some prick teacher. You have to decide what’s more important to you, the grade or your integrity. I’m afraid I have no background in evolutionary biology so I can’t help you there. Good luck.

There are a lot of critiques of Behe’s work out there; most of the arguments he presents in “Darwin’s Black Box” are either erroneous in their premises, or have been debunked (esp. the concept of irreducible complexity). Do some searches for critiques of his book and the concepts in it. I have some friends in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department where I’m in school; I’ll see if they can recommend some high school-friendly sources.

WTF place does this have in an English class (although better than science, I suppose)?

Do a essay against the essay against evolution…

I have to admit this is a first. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a student having to read an intelligent design book and then write an essay on how correct it is.

I will say this: @ weasel–I think the concept of irreducible complexity is not necessarily debunked, but simply that there are arguments against Behe’s specific examples. We know too little about biological specimens the world over. We know less than 10% about the biological world we live in as a whole, despite the monumental achievements and discoveries we’ve made in the last (and current) century. It is conceivable there are species or examples out there that will defy rebuttal. Only a foolish person would completely deny the possible existence of this concept.

That being said, I think you should follow your beliefs. Integrity is important. I would not blame you if you should decide that sucking it up and writing a positive essay on Int. Design is the way to ensure a good grade. In the end I would not consider that decision a real dereliction of your beliefs and so I would not blame you at all. We do have to pick which battles we fight in life, some are worth it and some are not. I still think you should take the hard road, do as much research and planning as you can, and then write a kickass essay on your beliefs. Make it perfect. You might still get a bad grade based solely on the teachers bias, but that is life. I would hate for that to happen to you, but you should face the possibility and stick up for your beliefs.

This is english though. I would say that any essay that is grammatically correct, shows good reasoning should be rewarded. It should not be necessary for you to “prove” one side or the other.

I posted an essay i wrote for my class on intelligent design vs evolution in the creationism vs evolution thread. its on page 25 if youre interested and has a ton of good info in it. Im not saying you should copy my essay but if youre looking to dispute intelligent design my essay has more then enough info to do so.

[quote]Aragorn wrote:
I have to admit this is a first. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a student having to read an intelligent design book and then write an essay on how correct it is.

I will say this: @ weasel–I think the concept of irreducible complexity is not necessarily debunked, but simply that there are arguments against Behe’s specific examples. We know too little about biological specimens the world over. We know less than 10% about the biological world we live in as a whole, despite the monumental achievements and discoveries we’ve made in the last (and current) century. It is conceivable there are species or examples out there that will defy rebuttal. Only a foolish person would completely deny the possible existence of this concept.
[/quote]

That’s a fair statement, and I’ll certainly concede the point that there may be structures out there that are irreducibly complex. I was not suggesting that the OP simply argue that the concept has been “debunked”–I would certainly expect him to do the relevant research, i.e. investigate the bacterial flagellum, the eye, and the other structures that Behe uses as examples.

However, as a more general criticism, I do think Behe is often very disengenuous in his writing, though–he relies a lot on “clever” analogies that are prima facie convincing, but not accurate reflections of evolutionary theory.

@ Push: How do you feel about the way Behe talks about “design?” His argument seems to be that of a “god of the gaps,” reasoning that we don’t understand how this structure might have developed, so that must mean that God intervened. It seems to me a very limited and pedestrian view of God: a real-life deus ex machina, so to speak. I have a hard time swallowing the concept of an omnipotent creator far beyond the comprehension of mortals, who intervenes in so heavy-handed a manner.

I’m sorry but the whole idea of irreducible complexity is absolutely ridiculous and has been more than disproved.

also an exert from an essay

“Michael Behe, a proponent of Intelligent design believed that the vertebrate eye, along with several other biological functions, are irreducibly complex. Michael Behe tried to show that this is the downfall of the theory of evolution because there is no selection pressure for the intermediate steps in the construction of an irreducibly complex function. However, Michael Behe completely neglects the possibility that the eye, and other irreducibly complex systems evolved in steps in which the function of the system changed. â??Irreducible complexityâ?? was disproven, and the evolution of complex systems in which the function of the system changed over time was demonstrated in (Lenski et al. 140) where it was demonstrated that â??parts of an organism can trade off functions, even losing them for a time, while evolving more complex and useful onesâ??.”

[quote]pushharder wrote:
Sneaky weasel wrote:

@ Push: How do you feel about the way Behe talks about “design?” His argument seems to be that of a “god of the gaps,” reasoning that we don’t understand how this structure might have developed, so that must mean that God intervened. It seems to me a very limited and pedestrian view of God: a real-life deus ex machina, so to speak. I have a hard time swallowing the concept of an omnipotent creator far beyond the comprehension of mortals, who intervenes in so heavy-handed a manner.

If your fundamental presuppositions, your philosophical foundation, begins with, “I have a hard time swallowing the concept of an omnipotent creator far beyond the comprehension of mortals…” then of course you’re going to have a problem with Behe and his design argument. You can’t help it. You could do nothing BUT have a problem with him.[/quote]

And if you start out with the “bias” that pasta is not divine you will have a problem accepting the Great Spaghetti Monster.

What kind of argument is that?

[quote]pushharder wrote:
Aragorn wrote:
I have to admit this is a first. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a student having to read an intelligent design book and then write an essay on how correct it is.

I will say this: @ weasel–I think the concept of irreducible complexity is not necessarily debunked…

Irrelevant. Just saying it has been debunked means it really has been. Right?

'Course then a creationist can say the debunking has been debunked. Then an evolutionist will debunk that.

If I were this guy I would write the essay just the way the teacher asked him to. Then as a epilogue I would attempt to debunk it. And I would give it an honest effort. It’s lazy to say, “It’s been debunked.” Plumb lazy.

…but simply that there are arguments against Behe’s specific examples. We know too little about biological specimens the world over. We know less than 10% about the biological world we live in as a whole, despite the monumental achievements and discoveries we’ve made in the last (and current) century. It is conceivable there are species or examples out there that will defy rebuttal. Only a foolish person would completely deny the possible existence of this concept.

That being said, I think you should follow your beliefs. Integrity is important. I would not blame you if you should decide that sucking it up and writing a positive essay on Int. Design is the way to ensure a good grade. In the end I would not consider that decision a real dereliction of your beliefs and so I would not blame you at all. We do have to pick which battles we fight in life, some are worth it and some are not. I still think you should take the hard road, do as much research and planning as you can, and then write a kickass essay on your beliefs. Make it perfect. You might still get a bad grade based solely on the teachers bias, but that is life. I would hate for that to happen to you, but you should face the possibility and stick up for your beliefs.

Man, this has some religious overtones to me. If we were talking about writing an essay on say…opposing viewpoints how the Gulf Stream affects the weather in Ireland…would we be so passionate about ‘beliefs’? No, it’s when we talk about hypothetical unprovable events that may or may not have happened in the distant past that it gets all emotional. “Principles” are invoked. Passions are aroused. On both sides of the aisle. That’s why this debate transcends science.

This is english though. I would say that any essay that is grammatically correct, shows good reasoning should be rewarded. It should not be necessary for you to “prove” one side or the other.

What would you be telling him if it was the other way around? What if a creation-believing student were asked to present a paper touting evolution? Would your advice change?

[/quote]

Yup, my advice is the same either way regarding one’s beliefs.

Also, while I think one should give as strong an argument as one can in any paper one writes, in english the paper should not be graded on whether the argument is “right” or “wrong”. That is not the function of an english class.

This is bullshit man. Are you a man or what? Don’t be stupid and swallow what everyone in your socially retarded creationnist village wants you to believe.