one of the most ingenious hoaxes in the history of science

in this NYTimes op-ed piece, Daniel Dennett demonstrates why people are "taken in by one of the most ingenious hoaxes in the history of science," namely the 'intelligent design' scheme. pulling no punches, he tells intelligent designers to 'get in line':

"Get in line behind the hypothesis that life started on Mars and was blown here by a cosmic impact. Get in line behind the aquatic ape hypothesis, the gestural origin of language hypothesis and the theory that singing came before language, to mention just a few of the enticing hypotheses that are actively defended but still insufficiently supported by hard facts."