Intelligent Design: Gods Of The Gaps

What would the world look like if the greatest intellects gave up when they were faced with difficulty? Now, add to this world a God that has become the answer to all of man's great questions. A world where thinkers, philosophers and scientists over the ages respond to the baffling questions of their time with “ I don't know, so it must be God”. A world where Newton, Einstein, and many others have limited themselves on their quest for knowledge and understanding about the world. Our world would look very different from the world we live in today. Most likely, society would have never made the advances in science, medicine, and technology that we take for granted today. Without these advances, we would live in a stagnant society, never to

Many scientists, thinkers and others from history and today come to this conclusion, because they cannot solve the next question, thus filling in the gaps with a God. This cycle of pushing God to the edge of our knowledge is called “Gods of the Gaps”. Today, this phenomenon is called Intelligent Design. In the book, Tyson believes strongly that this type of thinking is a dampener on critical thinking, not only on an individual level, but also on a societal level(Tyson). Take for example, Isaac Newton who, according to Tyson, was “ one of the greatest intellectuals that the world had ever seen”(Tyson,53). Yet, not even Newton could solve every problem, thus turning to God to fit in the pieces where his knowledge failed. Newton was not the only to fall to this type of thinking, many scientists such as Ptolemy, Christiaan Huygens, Galileo and others all followed the same path. These men saw a “clockwork universe” ticking to God’s will. However, as time passed the perfect cosmos that was visioned fell apart. What was reviled later though the advancement in telescopes was a chaotic and zoo like universe that was out to get us. Every time God was placed as the answer he was pushed back further and further to the edges of what is yet to be

It has frustrated many scientists, including Tyson, who have dedicated their life to answering difficult questions about our place in the universe. While he does stretch the problem in some aspects and compromises reason for humor, his ability to deliver his message are well articulated. In a time where critical thought is more vital than ever, one must separate the lines between the ignorance and falsehood from knowledge and truth. The message was to show how this form of thinking as flawed. As science progresses, the more challenging the questions are likely to become. To simply claim that the answers are impossible to come by, or there must be a higher intelligence is much more toxic than having no answers. The problem he points out about Intelligent Design is that ultimately, it does not answer the questions being posed with a conclusive answer. Tyson said “whenever comprehension fades into ignorance” is when we need to be scared of what may follow afterwards(Tyson,55). Tyson, as a teacher and scientist, in many regards knows what type of thinking is required to pursue more difficult questions about the world around us. To give up on real answers is to give up on knowledge itself. To imagine that someone like Newton would have given up on solving the mysteries of the universe, due to the difficulty of the problem, would be a tragedy for all. If we raise a