William Dembski, well-known Intelligent Design spokesperson, had a very funny article the other day entitled Evolution and the Stages of Grief. I just *have* to summarize it ;). In the article, he outlines three models for the process of how new truths are recognized. You’ve probably heard of them, but as applied to evolution, they are especially poignant. Check out the original article for Dembski’s commentary.
Schopenhauer’s Stages
All truth passes through three stages:
- Ridicule
- Violent Opposition
- Acceptance as Self-Evident
Haldane’s Stages
Theories pass through four stages of acceptance:
- this is worthless nonsense
- this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view
- this is true, but quite unimportant
- I always said so.
Stages of Grief
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
I’d say we are at stage 2 in all three models. On the stages of grief, Dembski notes
I expect soon enough evolutionists will start bargaining, attempting to minimize the importance of ID while trying to incorporate some of its legitimate insights.
As for acceptance, I doubt that much of the old guard will ever get that far. Rather, acceptance will come from a younger generation that is able to throw off the shackles of materialistic thinking.
