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Wed 14 May, 2014 12:23 am
Would you like to rewrite "to the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'" in more details?
Context:
Many religious people find it hard to imagine how, without
religion, one can be good, or would even want to be good. I shall
discuss such questions in this chapter. But the doubts go further,
and drive some religious people to paroxysms of hatred against
those who don't share their faith. This is important, because moral
considerations lie hidden behind religious attitudes to other topics
that have no real link with morality. A great deal of the opposition
to the teaching of evolution has no connection with evolution itself,
or with anything scientific, but is spurred on by moral outrage. This
ranges from the naive 'If you teach children that they evolved from monkeys, then they will act like monkeys' to the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent
design', as it is mercilessly laid bare by Barbara Forrest and Paul
Gross in Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent
Design.
I receive a large number of letters from readers of my books,*
most of them enthusiastically friendly, some of them helpfully critical
Just one question:
Does "underlying motivation for" mean "driven by the motivation of"?
@oristarA,
Quote:Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent
Design.
Do you understand how a wedge is used? It is driven by a heavy hammer, and is used to open up a crack. That's the metaphor. Creationism is religion-based of course.
The phrase the "wedge strategy of intelligent design" therefore refers to a strategy to attack the science-based position on evolution.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
Quote:Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent
Design.
Do you understand how a wedge is used? It is driven by a heavy hammer, and is used to open up a crack. That's the metaphor. Creationism is religion-based of course.
The phrase the "wedge strategy of intelligent design" therefore refers to a strategy to attack the science-based position on evolution.
Excellent!
But I failed to get the meaning of the word "underlying" there.
Again, Does "
underlying motivation for" mean "driven by the motivation of"?
@oristarA,
"Underlying motivation" means motivation which is not immediately apparent, but is basic to the reasoning.
Sorry I'm not feeling very articulate this morning.
underlying... lying under... hidden behind... core reasoning.
Does "act to the motivation" mean "act under the influence of the motivation"?
Context:
then they will act like monkeys' to the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent
design',
@oristarA,
No.
Consider the part inside the quotation marks (single inverted commas).
It fits into the pattern "This ranges from XXX....to YYY......"
Quite a complex sentence to dissect.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
No.
Consider the part inside the quotation marks (single inverted commas).
It fits into the pattern "This ranges from XXX....to YYY......"
Quite a complex sentence to dissect.
Failed to understand you.
Please use another phrase to substitute "act to".
@oristarA,
Quote:Failed to understand you.
Please use another phrase to substitute "act to".
You haven't understood the whole sentence yet.
It's not "act to" you should be considering, but "from....to".
I'll come back to this later, when I've had my breakfast.
@McTag,
Quote:This ranges from the naive" to the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent
design',
This ranges from (
this) to (
that).
this = 'If you teach children that they evolved from monkeys, then they will act like monkeys'
that = the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'
Is that any clearer?
@McTag,
EDIT: I've just noticed that the sentence in the box, which was intended to be a copy of the original, has got a clause missing. But I think my meaning is fairly clear. I hope so anyway.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
EDIT: I've just noticed that the sentence in the box, which was intended to be a copy of the original, has got a clause missing. But I think my meaning is fairly clear. I hope so anyway.
Yes, it is crystal clear now.
Thanks.
Does " the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'" mean " the more sophisticated
questions underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'"?
@oristarA,
I think you could put it that way, if it helps, without changing the meaning too much.
It's a pretty clumsy phrase in its original form, imho.
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
McTag wrote:
EDIT: I've just noticed that the sentence in the box, which was intended to be a copy of the original, has got a clause missing. But I think my meaning is fairly clear. I hope so anyway.
Yes, it is crystal clear now.
Thanks.
Does " the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'" mean " the more sophisticated
questions underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'"?
As always, more context is in order here, but this is from Wikipedia explaining what the
"wedge strategy of intelligen design" is about:
"The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the Wedge Document, which describes a broad social, political, and academic agenda whose ultimate goal is to defeat materialism, naturalism, evolution, and "reverse the stifling materialist world view and replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions." The strategy also aims to affirm what it calls "God's reality." Its goal is to change American culture by shaping public policy to reflect conservative Christian, namely evangelical Protestant, values. The wedge metaphor is attributed to Phillip E. Johnson and depicts a metal wedge splitting a log to represent an aggressive public relations program to create an opening for the supernatural in the public’s understanding of science."
@InfraBlue,
Good stuff, Infra, that is interesting.
It's amazing the efforts which go into peddling this kind of stuff.
(Still, when you consider what's at stake for the vested interests....)
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:
oristarA wrote:
McTag wrote:
EDIT: I've just noticed that the sentence in the box, which was intended to be a copy of the original, has got a clause missing. But I think my meaning is fairly clear. I hope so anyway.
Yes, it is crystal clear now.
Thanks.
Does " the more sophisticated underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'" mean " the more sophisticated
questions underlying motivation for the whole 'wedge' strategy of 'intelligent design'"?
As always, more context is in order here, but this is from Wikipedia explaining what the
"wedge strategy of intelligen design" is about:
"The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the Wedge Document, which describes a broad social, political, and academic agenda whose ultimate goal is to defeat materialism, naturalism, evolution, and "reverse the stifling materialist world view and replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions." The strategy also aims to affirm what it calls "God's reality." Its goal is to change American culture by shaping public policy to reflect conservative Christian, namely evangelical Protestant, values. The wedge metaphor is attributed to Phillip E. Johnson and depicts a metal wedge splitting a log to represent an aggressive public relations program to create an opening for the supernatural in the public’s understanding of science."
Informative.
And you? I wonder whether you yourself believe the existence of a supernatural being like God.
If God can sometimes, though very rarely, launch an invasion into nature, there must be an interface between God's force and nature's force. This interface serves as a bridge between God and nature. Thus, God can be one part of nature itself.
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