Members can view the reading discussion group on No Free Lunch.

On November 21st ISCID hosted a live chat event with William Dembski.

Join ISCID in the month of November for an online discussion and live chat with William Dembski regarding his newest book No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased Without Intelligence. Starting November 4th and extending through November 30th, participants will be given a reading schedule and will have the opportunity to engage Dembski in an online discussion forum.

In No Free Lunch, Dembski develops and expands the arguments he first put forth in The Design Inference. As in his previous work, Dembski's arguments hinge on the notion of specified complexity, what Dembski says is the best and most reliable marker of intelligent action.

Dembski spends the first two chapters explaining the technical details behind his arguments. He then develops an information theoretic definition of specified complexity, presenting a fourth law of thermodynamics, and a solution to the Maxwell's Demon problem. He follows this up by providing a critique of Evolutionary Algorithms, arguing that the information necessary for reaching a target is provided by the programmer (most often embedded in the fitness funciton). Dembski then spends chapter five refining Michael Behe's notion of irreducible complexity and calculating the probability of a bacterial flagellum developing by chance. Finally, Dembski attempts to lay out the early foundations for a design informed science.

Members of ISCID are able to participate in both the discussion and subsequent online chat free of charge. Non-members will be charged $15.00.

Both members and non-members must sign-up by clicking here. Applications will be accepted throughout November.

Limited Number of Signed Copies of "No Free Lunch" for $31.95
Order the book "No Free Lunch" for $36.95 at Amazon.com
Read the Preface to No Free Lunch

Reading and Discussion Schedule:

Week 1 (November 4-10):

• Preface    
• Chapter 1: The Third Mode of Explanation
• Chapter 2: Another Way to Detect Design?
  

Week 2 (November 11-17):

• Chapter 3: Specified Complexity as Information

Week 3 (November 18-24):

• Chapter 4: Evolutionary Algorithms

Week 4 (November 25-30):

• Chapter 5: The Emergence of Irreducibly Complex Systems
• Chapter 6: Design as a Scientific Research Program
  

Related Books:

The Design Inference by William Dembski
Intelligent Design by William Dembski
Signs of Intelligence by William Dembski

Related Papers:

Why Natural Selection Can't Design Anything by William Dembski
The Chance of the Gaps by William Dembski