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Michael Behe

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The Resume

    (January 18, 1952- )
    Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania
    Intelligent design proponent
    Senior Fellow for the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture
    Wrote 'Darwin's Black Box' (1996) and 'The Edge of Evolution' (2007)
    Best known for the 'irreducible complexity' argument that some biological systems are too complex to be explained by evolution and therefore must have been designed
    Last name pronounced 'bee-hee'

Why he might be annoying:

    The college where he teaches (Lehigh University) published an official statement refuting his views on intelligent design.
    He acts as if he came up with a new criticism of evolution, but Darwin addressed the 'what good is half an eye?' argument in 'The Origin of the Species.'
    His approach amounts to declaring that if he cannot figure out how something evolved, no one else ever will, therefore goddidit.
    He has a knack for declaring things 'irreducibly complex' only to be proven wrong.
    For example, he declared the blood clotting system irreducibly complex; six years later, pufferfish were discovered to lack three out of 26 clotting factors, but still have a workable blood clotting system.
    In his testimony in Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District, he admitted that when he described intelligent design as a scientific theory, he was using so loose a definition of 'scientific theory' that astrology would qualify.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He earned a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
    He ticks off young-earth creationists by admitting the earth is billions of years old.
    He conceded, 'There's no reason to doubt that Darwin had this point right, that all creatures on earth are biological relatives.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 30 Votes: 53.33% Annoying