The Discovery Institute, the famous/infamous (depending on what your view is, of course) intelligent design think-tank from Seattle, Washington, can seemingly interpret as part of the pro-ID/anti-’Darwinist’ case they love to push so very much. Before it was Darwin’s birthday (remember the Academic Freedom Day contest?), and now it’s Earth Day.
Yep, you, guessed it, it’s a case of the old Privileged Planet Syndrome: anything you observe that you like about the environment must have been ‘put there’ for a ‘purpose’ by some ‘Designer’, who is, of course, not the Christian God, but any Intelligence. Any Intelligence at all. Preferable not a ‘naturalistic’ one though. *cough*
So who’s come down with another case of PPS? Logan Gage on the Evolution News and Views blog, the DI’s… I don’t want to say “propaganda spewer”, because I like to be civil and not particularly sensationalist. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I can call their site? Anyway, this is irrelevant. The meat of this post is Logan Gage’s post on ‘that site’.
It’s called “Save the Privileged Planet”, and it has so many convoluted statements and sentiments in it that I don’t know where to begin. But first, let’s have a little look at it:
Today is Earth Day. And it is worth pondering once again how marvelous Earth really is.
Yet I find my mind today asking why anyone should care for Earth. From the materialist perspective, we are not really “supposed” to be here. And, we’re the late-comers to the party! So it always amazes me that many materialists are such avid environmentalists. But maybe this should not be surprising; after all, if one is a materialist, the earth is all there is, so we better keep it going!
This response, however pragmatic, doesn’t satisfy me, though. For why should we keep anything going? For if the materialist is saying that the Earth is of intrinsic value, we can (indeed we must!) ask, where does the value come from? Further, why is pragmatism itself of any value?
If you find yourself asking similar questions today, pick up a copy of The Privileged Planet. For in it you will find one argument: that the very structure of the universe, and our planet itself, is shot through with purpose, with value.
If this argument is sound, it provides one answer to the question, “Why care about Earth at all?”
It grabs at you, doesn’t it? That slimy hand of theological thought, reaching up from the words on the screen to your open, dumbfounded mouth, justifications for God’s existence dripping down your throat… It just makes you want to gag.
The crux of his stupid argument, henceforth known as the “Argument from Not Giving a Damn”, is that without some sort of ‘value-giver’, ie. a Designer, ie. God, there is no value in the Earth and we should have no reason to conserve it. At this point, I would, as would most of you reading this would also, point out that the Earth has value because we live on it and depend on its existence for our survival, something that is high up in our list of priorities. But we were foiled from doing this, because Logan’s already taken care of this “response”.
But does his problem with the pragmatic response make sense? He thinks that for anything to have value, it must have a ‘higher purpose’. Who gives it this purpose? A Designer. But why is the Designer’s ‘value-giving’ any better than ours? Does the ‘value’ a painter gives to his painting any better than the ‘value’ I give when I look at it? If so, why?
Another problem is that his justification for dismissing pragmatism is completely unfounded. He gives no reasons why he finds it unsatisfying, and as such, it can be thrown out as just another emotional argument. “Oh, but if there’s no Designer then there’s no purpose, and that makes me feel sad.” Hah, grow up, Logan.
Logan also asks the question, “Why is pragmatism itself of any value?” This really got to me, because it’s the equivilent of saying, “Why do you want to live?” What? Are you serious? You don’t understand how something can have ‘value’ if it is useful in the real world? I don’t think there’s any hope for this Discovery Institute member at all.
We need a cure for this Privileged Planet Syndrome fast, before it kills off much of the world’s best scientific thinkers. Um, wait, scratch that. Just focus on the cancer, AIDS and tuberculosis for now. Oh, and don’t forget to save the planet for the people who feel like they would like to keep it the way it is.
Dude, the planet will go on no matter what we do. I'd like it to be a fit place to live though, and that's really the crux of the matter. Purpose or design doesn't really have anything to do with it.
Oh yeah, and I've seen the Disco 'Tute's blog referred to as the "complaints department" in some places. Maybe you could start using that name here.