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From: bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Integrated Circuits.  Part I.
Message-ID: <868@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 3-Dec-84 20:21:20 EST
Article-I.D.: utastro.868
Posted: Mon Dec  3 20:21:20 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 6-Dec-84 05:45:50 EST
References: <501@uwmacc.UUCP>
Organization: UTexas Astronomy Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 67

>> [Bill Jefferys]
>> This is just the old "Argument from Design" -- "Look, how wonderful and
>> complex life is, it must have had a Designer.  Such things just could
>> not have come about in any other way".  The argument from design
>> has been completely discredited, and is not taken seriously by anyone
>> but Creationists anymore.  It is bad theology and even worse science.
>
>(ii) Perhaps Bill is right about the status of the argument for
>design (completely discredited).  But the basis on which it is
>declared to be so is certainly specious.  For the most part, the
>statements above are simply a form of appeal to authority, ...
>
>Even if appeals to authority or majority opinion were a valid basis
>for making a point, it may be observed that one group of people
>which consistently *rejects* such appeals is the group of
>evolutionary contributors to this newsgroup.  More specifically, one
>particular member of that group is a Mr. Bill Jefferys.  ....
>
>> [article 596@utastro]
>> How impressed Ray is with academic degrees!  Unfortunately, possession
>> of a Ph.D. does not necessarily mean that what one says can be believed,
>> even when speaking on your own or a related field.
>
>In other words, academic degrees (a form of scholarly authority)
>count for very little.  I certainly agree with Bill here.  An
>argument should be judged on its own merits.  It was therefore a
>disappointment to find him arguing against himself.  But one simply
>cannot expect to reject arguments made on the basis of authority and
>then turn around and use the same basis for one's own argument.

Paul has oversimplified my position.  I agree that relative to
other arguments, the Appeal to Authority is relatively weak.  Ultimately
a case must stand or fall on its own merits, as Paul says.  However,
it is no more valid to reject expert opinion automatically than it is
to accept it uncritically.  The point of my statement in 596@utastro is 
that the weight conferred upon an individual's opinions by the mere 
possession of a degree is small.  I believe that in the same article
I also made the point (perhaps not in these words) that the weight
that an individual's opinions have in a given field depend primarily on
his/her record of research and publication in that field.  Furthermore,
if (as is the case with many Creationists, particularly Dr. Gish) the
individual in question consistently makes statements relating to
a field in which he/she is claiming expertise that are known to be
false, or uses invalid methodologies in his/her research, then the
weight given to that individual's opinion *by the scientific community*
will inevitably be very low.  The weight given to a particular opinion
may also depend upon the degree to which it is a consensus among 
similarly weighty experts in the field.  Rightly or wrongly, this is
a burden that Creationism has to bear since the assertions of Creationism
are, in fact, contrary to the findings of a very broad spectrum of
scientific research.  It is a fact that in the realm of science,
"extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence".  It is true 
that weighty individuals can be wrong, and that the consensus can 
be wrong.  But it is legitimate to consider weighty opinion and consensus, 
provided it is used with caution and is supported by other evidence.

As for the quote from my recent article, I was merely stating a fact.
If Paul wants to present reasons why scientists and theologians should
take the argument from design seriously, he is welcome to do so.
That is another issue altogether.

-- 
"When evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve"
	Bill Jefferys  8-%
	Astronomy Dept, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712   (USnail)
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