Intelligent falling
Encyclopedia
Intelligent falling is a parody
of the intelligent design
(ID) movement. IF is a pseudoscientific
supernatural
explanation of the effects of gravity
that has become an Internet phenomenon. It says free fall is being caused by "the hand
of God", as depicted in Michelangelo
's Sistine Chapel
fresco
. While the current incarnation of IF has its roots in a satirical 2002 Usenet
posting, religious explanations of gravity invoking the direct intervention of God span several hundred years, including some of Isaac Newton
's own writings.
IF proposes that the scientific
explanation of gravitational force
cannot explain all aspects of the phenomenon
, so credence should be given to the idea that things fall because a higher intelligence is moving them. Furthermore, IF asserts that theories explaining gravity are not internally consistent nor mathematically reconcilable with quantum mechanics
, making gravity a "theory in crisis". IF also makes the claim that gravity is "only a theory", parodying the claims made by creationists regarding the theoretical status of evolution
. Pretend IF apologists advocate that IF should be taught in school along with the theory of gravity so that students can make "an informed decision" on the subject in accordance with demands to "teach the controversy
". IF has found common ground with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a similar critique of intelligent design, and the two are often combined when mentioned in discussions.
, which is a theory about causation which says that created substances (matter and natural forces) cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God himself.
Such a religious view was advocated by the 11th century Muslim
philosopher Al-Ghazali
in his work The Incoherence of the Philosophers. He famously stated that when cotton comes into contact with fire, the cotton is not burned by the fire, but directly burned by God or God through his angels:
The occasionalism
of Al-Ghazali is an important concept in Islamic theology today, particularly in the Asharite (Traditionalist) school of Muslim theology.
in 1692, Isaac Newton
wrote: "To your second query I answer that the motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone but were impressed by an intelligent agent." This statement is referenced by Intelligent Design
advocate Stephen C. Meyer
in The Scientific Status of Intelligent Design, who refers to this statement as "Newton's famous postulation of special divine intervention to stabilize the orbital motion in the solar system" in developing his argument of the methodological equivalence of naturalistic
and non-naturalistic (i.e. supernatural) theories.
In 1925, Rev. William Asbury Williams, D.D.
wrote, in a book titled The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved:
clearly opted for the opposite point of view. In 1842, Darwin wrote his "pencil sketch" of his theory in which he set evidence of common descent against the doctrine of separate creation and asked:
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
(ID) movement. IF is a pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
explanation of the effects of gravity
Gravitation
Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass. Gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped...
that has become an Internet phenomenon. It says free fall is being caused by "the hand
Invisible hand
In economics, invisible hand or invisible hand of the market is the term economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. This is a metaphor first coined by the economist Adam Smith...
of God", as depicted in Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
fresco
Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, at the commission of Pope Julius II, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The ceiling is that of the large Papal Chapel built within the Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV after whom it is named...
. While the current incarnation of IF has its roots in a satirical 2002 Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
posting, religious explanations of gravity invoking the direct intervention of God span several hundred years, including some of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
's own writings.
IF proposes that the scientific
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
explanation of gravitational force
Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every point mass in the universe attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them...
cannot explain all aspects of the phenomenon
Phenomenon
A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...
, so credence should be given to the idea that things fall because a higher intelligence is moving them. Furthermore, IF asserts that theories explaining gravity are not internally consistent nor mathematically reconcilable with quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
, making gravity a "theory in crisis". IF also makes the claim that gravity is "only a theory", parodying the claims made by creationists regarding the theoretical status of evolution
Evolution as theory and fact
"Evolution is both fact and theory" is a statement that appears in numerous publications on biological evolution. The statement is framed to clarify misconceptions about the philosophy of evolution primarily in response to creationist statements that "evolution is only a theory"...
. Pretend IF apologists advocate that IF should be taught in school along with the theory of gravity so that students can make "an informed decision" on the subject in accordance with demands to "teach the controversy
Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...
". IF has found common ground with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a similar critique of intelligent design, and the two are often combined when mentioned in discussions.
IF as an Internet phenomenon
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 14, 2002 | "Jeff Stubbs" posts a draft of a letter to the editor that mentions intelligent grappling to the alt.atheism and talk.origins usenet groups. "I don't like the theory of gravity, I feel personally insulted that engineers design structures only considering physical mass. What about our souls? I propose that science classes also teach the theory of "Intelligent Grappling". There's no way a weak force such as gravity can possibly hold everything onto the planet. It must be God, using our souls, to hold everything together." |
| June 18, 2002 | Elf Sternberg Elf Sternberg Elf Mathieu Sternberg, born May 7, 1966, is the former keeper of the alt.sex FAQ. He is also the author of many erotic stories and articles on sexuality and sexual practices, and is considered one of the most notable and prolific online erotica authors.... posts a "FAQ on intelligent grappling" on the sci.skeptic usenet group. |
| May 16, 2005 | D. C. Simpson D. C. Simpson Dana Claire Simpson is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of Ozy and Millie.... publishes an I Drew This I Drew This I Drew This is an online political cartoon created by Dana Simpson, the creator of Ozy and Millie. The strip is primarily about politics and is of proudly liberal orientation... comic strip titled "Teaching Gravity". |
| May 26, 2005 | Joshua Rosenau, a graduate student at the University of Kansas University of Kansas The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The... , presents the idea on his blog Blog A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in... , citing Isaac Newton. |
| August 17, 2005 | Intelligent falling is the subject of an article in The Onion The Onion The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club... . |
| January 4, 2010 | Indian news satire website Faking News Faking News Faking News is an Indian news satire website that publishes fake news reports containing satire on politics and society of India. The website also publishes occasional serious articles related to television journalism in India... uses the concept to write a spoof news - Apple dropped from Burj Dubai Burj Dubai Burj Khalifa , known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest structure in the world, at . Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009... to validate Newton’s laws disappears. |
Occasionalism in Islam
IF is a version of the philosophical and theological idea of occasionalismOccasionalism
Occasionalism is a philosophical theory about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God...
, which is a theory about causation which says that created substances (matter and natural forces) cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God himself.
Such a religious view was advocated by the 11th century Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
philosopher Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali
Abu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzālī , known as Algazel to the western medieval world, born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia was a Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic....
in his work The Incoherence of the Philosophers. He famously stated that when cotton comes into contact with fire, the cotton is not burned by the fire, but directly burned by God or God through his angels:
...our opponent claims that the agent of the burning is the fire exclusively;’ this is a natural, not a voluntary agent, and cannot abstain from what is in its nature when it is brought into contact with a receptive substratum. This we deny, saying: The agent of the burning is God, through His creating the black in the cotton and the disconnexion of its parts, and it is God who made the cotton burn and made it ashes either through the intermediation of angels or without intermediation. For fire is a dead body which has no action, and what is the proof that it is the agent? Indeed, the philosophers have no other proof than the observation of the occurrence of the burning, when there is contact with fire, but observation proves only a simultaneity, not a causation, and, in reality, there is no other cause but God.
The occasionalism
Occasionalism
Occasionalism is a philosophical theory about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God...
of Al-Ghazali is an important concept in Islamic theology today, particularly in the Asharite (Traditionalist) school of Muslim theology.
Isaac Newton
In a letter to the Reverend Dr. Richard BentleyRichard Bentley
Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge....
in 1692, Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
wrote: "To your second query I answer that the motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone but were impressed by an intelligent agent." This statement is referenced by Intelligent Design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
advocate Stephen C. Meyer
Stephen C. Meyer
Stephen C. Meyer is an American scholar, philosopher and advocate for intelligent design. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture of the Discovery Institute , which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at...
in The Scientific Status of Intelligent Design, who refers to this statement as "Newton's famous postulation of special divine intervention to stabilize the orbital motion in the solar system" in developing his argument of the methodological equivalence of naturalistic
Naturalism (philosophy)
Naturalism commonly refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know...
and non-naturalistic (i.e. supernatural) theories.
In 1925, Rev. William Asbury Williams, D.D.
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
wrote, in a book titled The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved:
The power of attraction, which we may call a property of matter, is really the power of God. The effects are the results of power and intelligence..... Gravitation requires the computation of countless millions of the most complex and difficult problems, every instant, by the divine mind.... These innumerable calculations prove that God is everywhere. We are continually in the immediate awesome presence of an Infinite God.
Charles Darwin's response
Charles DarwinCharles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
clearly opted for the opposite point of view. In 1842, Darwin wrote his "pencil sketch" of his theory in which he set evidence of common descent against the doctrine of separate creation and asked:
What would the Astronomer say to the doctrine that the planets moved (not) according to the law of gravitation, but from the Creator having willed each separate planet to move in its particular orbit?
External links
- Parody by The Onion
- intelligentattraction.com
- Intelligent Murderer Theory Paraphrase of the Intelligent Design argument into legal terms
- The Wrathful Dispersion Controversy Paraphrase of the Intelligent Design argument into linguistic terms
- External Delivery the Future, Santa delivering ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
presents promoted as science by the Delivery Institute