Posted on September 14th, 2006

This is a well-made film with top-notch production values. It presents ideas about the universe that have caused a lot of controversy. The intelligentsia apparently see it as a threat to secular humanism and their outrage was so great they tried to ban public showings of this film at places like the Smithsonian.

As a scientist I’m shocked at the knee-jerk reactions and narrow-mindedness of some of my peers who ignore the film’s content and instead attack the personalities associated with its production. I see The Privileged Planet not as an indoctrination tool, but as an educational tool. Yes it posits the principle of intelligent design, but it in no way attacks any of the sacred cows of modern science. In fact, it is not anti anything. The film asks more questions than it answers, and in my book that is what real science is all about.