Expert: Walter Hintz - 3/23/2006

Question
To start with I must state a fundamental fact of the universe. That is, any finding can be interpreted in more then one way, depending on the  accepted theory. Now of course one view is true, and the other false or maybe both are false, but you get my drift. My question is, how would the world be different if Intelligent Design had become the accepted worldview, rather then Evolution. I am writting a science fiction story that deals with this.

Answer
This is a tough one Sam but I do not think the world would be any different. Why do you assume that evolution is the accepted worldview? And what world are we talking about?  The Christian world?  The Muslim world?  Are Creationism(which is really what Intelligent design is)and Evolution mutually exclusive?  You mention that with theory perhaps one is true and the other is false or maybe both are false.  How about the third possibility? Maybe both are true. Maybe the evolutionary process is a result of a designer.
 I used to fret about the conflicts over creationism and evolution then I came to the conclusion that most of the people in the world know nothing about evolution or if they do, do not even care about it.
I suppose that if I could envision a world where everybody accepted only intelligent design and rejected speciation through a natural selection process it would have to be a world that was void of scientific thought and progress, perhaps like a conservative Amish community. Actually it might even be a better more peaceful world.