A few thoughts for UR, YWC, Lonestar, others:
The reason the ID argument "works" for you, is because you already believe in an intelligent designer. Essentially, you have already accepted the conclusion of the theory, and so it appears convincing, totally and completely. In a sense, you are "begging the question" when you convince yourself that this theory must be true, because you already contain the premise that an intelligent being exists before you even approach the argument. Therefore, how can you claim to honestly assess its merits? I doubt that you have. You're forgetting that others haven't already accepted the conclusions of the argument.
I supsect ID theory is accepted by many simply because of confirmation bias (those who already have faith), although I will admit that it is the teleological and cosmological arguments that most often convert people to faith. I can understand this: it simply seems intuitive. The problem is that intuition is not truth. This, if anything, is what science teaches us: that our intuition about the true nature of reality is usually wrong. Just look at quantum mechanics. It is fundamentally unintuitive, even for todays particle physicists.
Let's compare and contrast, shall we?
A few thoughts for Daws, Hawly, NP, others:
The reason the evolution argument "works" for you, is because you already believe in materialism. Essentially, you have already accepted the conclusion of the theory of evolution, and so it appears convincing, totally and completely. In a sense, you are "begging the question" when you convince yourself that this theory must be true, because you already contain the premise that evolution is true before you even approach the argument. Therefore, how can you claim to honestly assess its merits? I doubt that you have. You're forgetting that thousands of scientists have not accepted the theory of evolution. (twist on NP's appeal to the mob)
I suspect evolutionary theory is accepted by many simply because of confirmation bias (those who already have a need to believe it is the only explanation), although I will admit that it is the teleological and cosmological arguments that most often convert people to materialism, in addition to the need to justify their atheism, which many times is brought on by traumatic childhood experiences, including sexual abuse that results in same sex attraction (I just added that for NP and Hawly). I can understand this: they simply cannot come to grips that a loving God would let this happen to them. The problem is that intuition is not based on real science. This, if anything, is what the pseudo science of evolution teaches us: that our intuition about the true nature of reality isn't right. So instead, we keep repeating to ourselves, even though this looks designed it isn't. And professors brainwash their students by pre programming their reaction to design by telling them when they make their observation, just keep remembering it wasn't designed. The theory of evolution has also dumbed down the other sciences, with its just so stories and inductively arrived at conclusions that they pretend are deducted "facts". Just look at quantum mechanics. One must accept that our reality isn't the only reality since it requires multiple universes, invisible forces like dark matter and dark energy, other dimensions, and particles that disappear and reappear.