Exposing Discovery Institute Part 3: Michael Behe

Continuing this series exposing all the frauds at the religious propaganda mill "Discovery Institute", we arrive at Michael Behe. He became famous for his concept of "irreducible complexity", which is pretty much the go-to creationist argument. Unfortunately for them, it's very stupid. Everything Behe says in his three books is very stupid, in fact. In this video I go through his books and explain how stupid they are for all to see, even those without a background in evolutionary biology. Enjoy!

Check out "Is This Wi-Fi Organic?", my book on disarming pseudoscience!

[carrias]

I was raised creationist - I’m now a scientist. This kind of content is a balm on my scars from those days - it’s So helpful

[fxygem]

Also, I was on a PA school board when the Dover Trial was going on. The ID people lobbied us HARD bringing in 10 boxes of materials--one for each school board director and the superintendent.
Among the items was Behe's book. We politely told them to go to hell.

[radlerdramatizations]

Thank you for continuing to expose these con artists and others, your work is admirable and inspirational!

[ramptonarsecandle]

Here's what his colleagues think of him;
"The department faculty...are unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory, which has its roots in the seminal work of Charles Darwin and has been supported by findings accumulated over 140 years. The sole dissenter from this position, Prof. Michael Behe, is a well-known proponent of "intelligent design." While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific." - Department of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University.

Priceless.

[Trigger-xwgq]

The "Discovery Institute" has never discovered anything.

[midlander]

I love the way creationists have this almost homoerotic obsession with Darwin. Like no other scientist - before or since - has ever done any work on evolution, natural selection or speciation.

[ethancole]

I'm a biology major who struggles with chemistry. Very much struggles with chemistry. I passed my first year with a 57%, and my second year with an 87% when i just began saying "these numbers look like they are good pals so i will multiply them together now" and pure luck.

I litterally wrote that out as an explanation for my work on an exam, and presumably the professor thought i was joking so they didnt remove marks for it

Somehow i had less chemistry misunderstandings on your james tour vidoe then james tour himself did. Makes me feel damn smart lol

[finnguy]

I can't express enough how important it is for experts to highlight relevant studies and papers that contradict these claims. As a layperson it is excruciatingly difficult to find the proper articles amongst the thousands that are published. Thank you for your hard work!

[Jonperk]

I get so much joy from witnessing the merciless dismantling of these clowns who once fooled me with their blatant lies. I was raised under creationist propaganda. It’s shocking how many people believe in some form of creationism where I live, in the southern US. A family member of mine is a science teacher in a public high school and still believes the earth is 6, 000 years old. He used to proudly share with me how he would dismiss evolutionary science in the classroom. Nowadays I try to talk about this stuff with him but he seems to never want to actually discuss the details. I think he knows deep down how the facts will quickly unravel his faith. It’s amazing how much this pseudoscience promotes irrationality in otherwise intelligent people. That’s why this is some of my favorite content on the internet. The more people know about the truth, and the more they are encouraged to think critically, the better the world will be.

Thanks for another incredible resource, Dave!

[HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke]

14:40 *"Some* bacteria have a flagellum" - Behe
15:20 ~'Any bacteria without a flagellum will die' - Behe

[Apomber]

The fact these people, who have been shown to be liars, continue to use the same arguments without any real evidence is infuriating.

[sciencenerd]

I'm so happy that you gave Dr. Dan (Creation Myths) a shout-out because I love that channel and he deserves more viewers

[stevon]

I love the normal content but not going to lie I get so excited to see you posted a new debunk. I love watching you play the piano by the way.

[smergthedargon]

The fact that a propulsion method not only evolved but evolved _within 4 days_ is absolutely hilarious.

[Twisted_Cabage]

These debunk videos are some of my favorites of yours. They are sorely needed. So many educators don't want to take the time to debunk garbage from religous communities or conspiracy theorists. I feel this has resulted in our current situation.
where conspiracies and misinformation is running rampant. Thank you for taking the time!

[guybguyb]

This might by the most hotly anticipated and critically well-received series of 2022

[Rryan]

Behe pulled a Kent hovind move in the trial. Like you said, 58 peer reviewed articles, 9 books and multiple text books, and behe just puts his hand up, turns his head and says “that’s not evidence that’s just a bunch of paper” which is exactly what hovind did.

[thatgut]

I just laugh at Behe's analogy now with the mouse trap, because thanks to other YouTubers, I've learned that there were at least two grad students who were petty enough with him to make papers explaining how a plank of wood with simple changes over time could change slowly and adapt into a mousetrap, and also show different traps co-evolving to have similar purposes while having different functions (i.e. glue traps, door traps and so on)

[andreasplosky]

I just saw this turn up. I am stoked. I was waiting for a new episode on the creationist frauds and liars.
Prof. Dave you are my hero. Your content is unique, and I realize how much work must go into the production of a video like this.

[ericlakeauthor]

A Professor Dave debunk of Behe, on the same day Forrest Valkai did a Reacteria where he skewered the same irreducible complexity arguments? I love it. I really appreciate, Dave, you really going into the details here of the science. I'm a math/physics guy (and a college math professor), so the biology is extremely interesting to listen to. I remember on a previous debunk you talking about autocatalytic systems and telling my wife (who has an immunology degree) of them and she was fascinated. Cheers man.