I think a lot of young people give up on design in the universe because they 1) don’t know the evidence for design and 2) don’t want to be considered to be stupid when confronted with intelligent atheists. For those people, it can be useful to point them to smart people who have worked through the evidence for design, and concluded that the universe (and life) is the product of design.

Here’s the story from Evolution News:

Earlier this week, John West reported on a major new exhibition on faith and science in Washington, DC, tackling the question of whether the Bible impeded or inspired the rise of modern science. (Judging from the historical record, “inspired” is clearly the correct answer.) In the article, he mentioned another Nobel Prize-winning scientist who endorsed the idea of an intelligent design behind the universe, using that phrase explicitly. This was news to me. He is physicist Arthur Holly Compton — see the slide above, which Dr. West shared from the exhibition.

Compton’s remark was, “The chance of a world such as ours occurring without intelligent design becomes more and more remote as we learn of its wonders.” Interesting. He said that in 1940.

[…]Compton joins fellow Nobel Prize-winning physicists Charles Townes (UC Berkeley) and Brian Josephson (Cambridge University) who have likewise come out for ID as a legitimate interpretation of the scientific evidence. (Townes passed away in 2015.) To those names you could add two more, Sir John B. Gurdon (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) and Gerhard Ertl (Nobel Prize in Chemistry) who, along with Dr. Josephson, endorsed the Discovery Institute Press book by chemist and ID proponent Marcos Eberlin, Foresight: How the Chemistry of Life Reveals Planning and Purpose (2019).

In case you’re wondering what intelligent design is, this simple article is pretty good:

Intelligent design — often called “ID” — is a scientific theory which holds that some features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection. ID theorists argue that intelligent design can be inferred by finding in nature the type of information and complexity which in our experience arises from an intelligent cause.

Proponents of neo-Darwinian evolution contend that the information in life arose via blind, mechanistic processes that show no scientific evidence of guidance by intelligent design. ID proponents contend that the information in life does not appear to have an unguided origin, but arose via purposeful, intelligently guided processes. Both claims are scientifically testable using the standard methods of science. But ID theorists say that when we use the scientific method to explore nature, the evidence points away from blind material causes, and reveals intelligent design.

The cell confirms our expectations from design. Our DNA contains incredible amounts of encoded information. Living cells transform this encoded chemical message into machines which are engineered to perform necessary biochemical functions. The conversion of DNA into protein relies upon a software-like system of commands and biochemical codes.  This is an information processing system which Bill Gates has described as “like a computer program, but far, far more advanced than any software we’ve ever created.”

This short video is a good introduction for those who prefer to watch rather than read:

By the way, about that conversation with Josephson. I was walking in the hall with him, and discussing intelligent design. He said “it’s easy to explain complexes sequences that conform to a pattern. I could write a program that would generate the first 100 prime numbers in 3 lines of code.” I told him that I was a software engineer, and that I was familiar with what it takes to “write a simple program”. I said that he would need computer hardware, firmware, an operating system, a compiler, and something to run the program. “And that’s where you’re smuggling in your specified complexity”, I said. I don’t remember what he said, but I’m delighted that he came around eventually.

I thought that this report from NBC News (archived) that Gavin Newsom’s WIFE ended the debate, even after both debaters wanted to stay on and extend the debate, was interesting:

What the audience didn’t see — and what at least five sources shared with NBC News — is that off-screen, there were significant disagreements happening. The DeSantis and Newsom teams were both arguing that the other side was breaking the rules that were agreed upon in advance — particularly keeping distance between the candidates and their guests.

According to four sources in the DeSantis camp — one who witnessed the moment in the room and three others who were standing backstage (where there was no press or live studio audience) — Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, came into the debate room on at least two occasions to raise some objections.

She also made her way to the stage during the break after the candidates agreed to extend the debate and put an end to it.

A fifth source on the ground, unaffiliated with either campaign, confirmed that Siebel Newsom ended the debate on her husband’s behalf, saying, “We’re done.”

“Gavin Newsom got beat so badly last night his wife literally had to throw in the towel for him. It was embarrassing,” DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo said.

To me, it looks like her husband was getting beaten like a rented mule, and she wanted to stop the bleeding.

Let’s see some clips from the debate. If you only have time for 1, then watch the bottom two clips, the poop map and California “freedoms”.

DeSantis: Newsom’s Father-in-Law Moved to Florida

DeSantis: California Basically ‘Legalized Retail Theft’

DeSantis, Newsom Spar Over Gender Transitions for Minors

Newsom: Elective Abortions Should Be Legal at Any Point in Pregnancy

DeSantis Holds Up San Francisco Poop Map

‘Pornography’: DeSantis Holds Up Page of ‘Gender Queer’

DeSantis: In California, You’re Free to Poop in Public

I watched the entire debate, and I thought it was FAR better than debates put on by the corporate news media. The strength of the debate was that they focused on evidence related to a number of interesting topics. The moderator would show a slide comparing the two states on some data: unemployment, crime, etc. And then they would discuss it. In this post, I link to a review and some clips.

First the review, from Daily Signal.

Here is the section on COVID:

DeSantis and Newsom had a lenghty exchange on COVID-19 lockdowns while discussing the economy in their respective states.

When DeSantis was discussing how businesses were doing better in Florida, Newsom interjected by asking if that was the opinion of Disney.

“That’s an interesting point with Disney because I had Disney open during COVID and we made them a fortune and we saved a lot of jobs,” DeSantis said. “You had Disney closed inexplicably for over a year, you were not following science, you were a lockdown governor, you did a lot of damage to your people.”

At one point, Newsom tried to deny the evidence that the moderator presented for discussion. Newsom just assert that Florida was worse than California. DeSantis replied to his assertion with a peer-reviewed study from the medical journal The Lancet that showed that Florida had a lower standardized death rate than California. This sort of exchange happened throughout the debate, with Newsom denying the evidence, making assertions with no support, and then DeSantis refuting him with evidence.

Here’s a clip:

Here’s another section of the article, about border security:

The two governors had sharply contrasting views on the border. Newsom accused DeSantis of being heartless toward illegal immigrants and DeSantis said that the policies of Newsom and fellow Democrats were creating dangerous lawlessness in America.

Newsom defended the Biden administration’s record on the border, which has seen record numbers of illegal immigrants cross in every year of Joe Biden’s presidency.

[…]He then criticized DeSantis for sending a group of illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy area and popular vacation spot in Massachusetts.

DeSantis said that Newsom was spreading a “flurry of lies.” He pointed to the Biden administration’s reassurance that the border is “secure” and said “they are lying to you, we know that’s not true.”

The Florida governor pointed out that “California is a sanctuary state” and said that “they thumb their nose at federal immigration law.”

DeSantis explained that this status has consequences. He brought up a story of Los Angeles refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the case of an illegal immigrant with multiple arrests.

“He ends up murdering the mother of a three-year-old little girl,” he said. “Those policies are deadly, they do not work.”

He also said that Matha’s Vineyard is a sanctuary jurisdiction.

“These liberal elites, they like to impose those burdens on you, they don’t want to have to face the consequences,” DeSantis said.

Here’s a clip:

The article also has a section on teachers sexualizing children with LGBT pornography in the schools:

First, he asked DeSantis if schools should be focusing on reading, writing, and math instead of getting into issues around social values.

DeSantis said that it wasn’t appropriate for schools to indoctrinate children, but it’s also important to respect parental rights and eliminate inappropriate material from classrooms.

He held up a page from a book called “Gender Queer” that depicted sex acts.

“Some of it’s blacked out, you would probably not be able to put this on air, this is pornography, it’s cartoons that’s aimed at children, and it’s wrong,” he said.

Hannity asked Newsom if he was comfortable with books like “Gender Queer,” which depict sex acts, in school districts.

[…]The California governor called the removal of books from classrooms a “cultural purge.”

[…]DeSantis responded by saying that California’s schools are being used to “impose a liberal agenda.”

“He says California respects parents’ rights, this is rich,” DeSantis said. “He’s been telling a lot of whoppers tonight, this may be the biggest.”

He then spoke about California’s education policies.

“In California, if you’re a parent in Iowa and New Hampshire, your child can go to California without your knowledge and without your consent and get hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and a sex change operation all without you knowing or consenting,” DeSantis said.

He called the policy fundamentally “radical” and “extreme.”

“It’s not for you to decide, it’s for parents to decide,” the Florida governor said while pointing to Newsom.

Here’s a clip: (more evidence)

And another clip:

Finally, the article had a section on homelessness.

Newsom said that the issues has been “decades” in the making in California since the sate started shutting down mental health institutions. He said he was the first governor in the country to tackle the issue “head on.”

[…]DeSantis then held up a map of San Francisco that showed incidents of feces and human waste being reported on the street.

“This is an app where they plot the human feces that are found on the streets of San Francisco, and you see how almost the whole thing is covered, because that is what has happened in one of the previous greatest cities this country has ever had,” he said.

DeSantis said that feces on the street has become a fact of life in San Francisco, except “when a dictator comes to town.”

He was referring to a recent visit by China’s leader Xi Jinping.

“Then they cleaned up the streets, they lined the streets with Chinese flags, they didn’t put American flags there, they cleaned everything up,” DeSantis said. “So they’re willing to do it for a communist dictator, but they’re not willing to do it for their own people.”

And the clip: (more evidence)

And here is DeSantis’ concluding speech:

If you missed the debate, it was well worth watching. At least the people debating had to stick to policy and evidence.

Gavin Newsom’s wife gets on stage to stop the fight

I thought that this report from NBC News that Gavin Newsom’s WIFE ended the debate, even after both debaters wanted to stay on and extend the debate, was interesting:

What the audience didn’t see — and what at least five sources shared with NBC News — is that off-screen, there were significant disagreements happening. The DeSantis and Newsom teams were both arguing that the other side was breaking the rules that were agreed upon in advance — particularly keeping distance between the candidates and their guests.

According to four sources in the DeSantis camp — one who witnessed the moment in the room and three others who were standing backstage (where there was no press or live studio audience) — Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, came into the debate room on at least two occasions to raise some objections.

She also made her way to the stage during the break after the candidates agreed to extend the debate and put an end to it.

A fifth source on the ground, unaffiliated with either campaign, confirmed that Siebel Newsom ended the debate on her husband’s behalf, saying, “We’re done.”

“Gavin Newsom got beat so badly last night his wife literally had to throw in the towel for him. It was embarrassing,” DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo said.

To me, it looks like her husband was getting beaten like a rented mule, and she wanted to stop the bleeding.