Here’s an old presentation from Neil some of you may not have seen yet. In the talk, Neil discusses the history of Intelligent Design, and why it still persists in society. While I’ve always liked Neil, and I’m fascinated by his idea that we should carefully study why some scientists are religious, I think at the end of the day, the answer will be quite dull and not very informative: mainly that when you’re convinced from a young age God is real, it’s not easy to let the idea go.

As for the rest of his treatise – that scientific revolutions are stopped dead in their tracks whenever religion comes around – it makes me wonder why he hasn’t taken a stronger stance AGAINST religion. He’s repeatedly refused to identify himself as an atheist, without realizing that coming out of the ‘closet’ would have strong reverberations in the intellectual scene in the country. It’s a shame, especially when he seems to understand just how dangerous religions are to science.