argumentum ad nauseam is alive and well

You must not be too bright. That appears to be the assumption of those who engage in discourse in popular culture today. A fun game to play if you have the time is to read or listen to someone report the news or attempt to persuade you. Logical fallacies are the rule rather than the exception. Few seem capable of stating anything in a principled, reasonable fashion.

One technique that really questions public intellect is argumentum ad nauseam. This was the specialty of Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister of Nazi Germany. If you tell a lie over and over again people begin to believe it. One that this is accomplished is to simply change the definition of a word without the understanding of all interested parties.

An example of this is the lie that intelligent design theory is simply another way of saying, “creationism.” Here we get two lies for the price of one. Intelligent design states there is too much information present from DNA strands to the fine tuning of the universe that the weight of evidence is there is design. A creative agency of some sort appears to be the most logical conclusion. Who or what that agent is doesn’t enter in to the equation. If by “creationism” you mean “created by a God,” then this may be the viewpoint of many in the ID movement but it is not part of the theory. To call ID “creationism” is a lie.

The second lie is to switch the meaning of “creationism,” simply the understanding that the universe was created by a deity, and deliberately make the assumption of young earth creationism,” the view that the universe is 6-10,000 years old and was created in 6 literal 24 hour days.

Just click on this google news link for “intelligent design” and have some fun.