The Discovery Institute (DI) is a politically conservative

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, that advocates the pseudoscientific concept Article available fro
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intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

(ID). It was founded in 1990 as a non-profit offshoot of the Hudson Institute. Its "

Teach the Controversy The "teach the controversy" campaign of the Discovery Institute seeks to promote the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (a variant of traditional creationism) as part of its attempts to discredit the teaching of evolution in Uni ...

" campaign aims to permit the teaching of anti-

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, intelligent-design beliefs in

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public high school science courses in place of accepted

scientific theories A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world and universe that has been repeatedly tested and corroborated in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluatio ...

, positing that a scientific controversy exists over these subjects when in fact there is none. The Discovery Institute expresses

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

viewpoints on social issues such as homelessness policy and the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

response.

History

In 1990, the institute was founded as a non-profit educational foundation and think tank as a branch of the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based

think tank. It is named after the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

ship HMS ''Discovery'' in which George Vancouver explored

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

in 1792.

Discovery Institute Press

Discovery Institute Press is the institute's publishing arm and has published intelligent design books by its fellows including David Berlinski's ''Deniable Darwin & Other Essays'' (2010), Jonathan Wells' ''The Myth of Junk DNA'' (2011) and an edited volume titled ''Signature Of Controversy'', which contains apologetic works in defense of the institute's Center for Science and Culture director Stephen C. Meyer.

Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity

The Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity (PSSI), formally registered as PSSI International Inc., is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit

anti-evolution Objections to evolution have been raised since evolutionary ideas came to prominence in the 19th century. When Charles Darwin published his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species'', his theory of evolution (the idea that species arose through desc ...

organization, based in Clearwater, Florida, promoting the pseudoscience of intelligent design associated with the Discovery Institute. While in the past, the organization sponsored events promoting intelligent design and fundamentalist Christianity, it is currently largely inactive. The PSSI was established in early 2006 by Rich Akin. Geoffrey Simmons, Discovery Institute fellow, is one of the directors of the PSSI. The PSSI created a public list of medical professionals who dissent from Darwinism. This list is used by the Discovery Institute in its anti-evolution campaigns. The list is used in support of the Discovery Institute claims that

is scientifically valid while asserting that

lacks broad scientific support. The PSSI, which was active between 2006 and 2008, held a "Doctors Doubting Darwin" rally at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

's Sun Dome in September 2006. Attendance was estimated at 3,500 to 4,000 people by a local reporter.'' Evolution: A Theory in Crisis''
, Hank Tippins, ''Tippin the Scales'', ''The Observer News'',

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, October 21, 2006. Apologetic organizations promoting the event had hoped to fill all 7,700 seats in the Sun Dome. This meeting featured the Discovery Institute's Jonathan Wells and fellow

Michael Behe Michael Joseph Behe ( ; born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and author, widely known as an advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID). He serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsy ...

, and received local radio coverage. This rally was opposed by the organization Florida Citizens for Science.

"Teach the Controversy"

"Teach the Controversy" is a campaign conducted by the Discovery Institute to promote the pseudoscientific principle of

, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit the teaching of

in United States public high school science courses.. The scientific community and science education organizations have replied that there is no scientific controversy regarding the validity of evolution and that the controversy is a religious and political one."Such controversies as do exist concern the details of the mechanisms of evolution, not the validity of the over-arching theory of evolution, which is one of the best supported theories in all of science.
Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, Second Edition

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

A federal court, along with the majority of scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, say the institute has manufactured the controversy they want to teach by promoting a "false perception" that evolution is "a theory in crisis" by falsely claiming it is the subject of wide controversy and debate within the scientific community."Some bills seek to discredit evolution by emphasizing so-called "flaws" in the theory of evolution or "disagreements" within the scientific community. Others insist that teachers have absolute freedom within their classrooms and cannot be disciplined for teaching non-scientific "alternatives" to evolution. A number of bills require that students be taught to "critically analyze" evolution or to understand "the controversy." But there is no significant controversy within the scientific community about the validity of the theory of evolution. The current controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution is not a scientific one.
AAAS Statement on the Teaching of Evolution
American Association for the Advancement of Science. February 16, 2006"ID's backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the ''controversy'', but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard." Ruling, ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'', page 89 In the December 2005 ruling of ''

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'', 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design ...

'', Judge John E. Jones III concluded that intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents".

Wedge strategy

The "Wedge Strategy" is a political and social action plan authored by the institute. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the "Wedge Document". Its goal is to change American culture by shaping public policy to reflect politically conservative fundamentalist

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

values. The wedge metaphor is attributed to Phillip E. Johnson and depicts a metal

wedge A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, and is a portable inclined plane, and one of the six simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by converti ...

splitting a log. In ''Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails)'' the authors wrote " Although its religious orientation is explicit, the long-term plan outlined in the Wedge Document also displays the Discovery Institute's political agenda very clearly. In ten years, the Wedge strategy was to be extended to ethics, politics, theology; the humanities, and the arts. The ultimate goal of the Discovery Institute is to "overthrow" materialism and "renew" American culture to reflect right-wing Christian values."

Center for Science and Culture

The Center for Science and Culture (CSC), formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC), is part of the Discovery Institute, beside other connected sites, such as Mind Matters, operated by the non-profit Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute. It publishes the blog ''Evolution News & Science Today'' (formerly ''Evolution News & Views'' and often shortened to ''Evolution News'' (EN)), that promotes "a rigorously God-centered view of creation, including a new 'science' based solidly on theism."*

Other issues

Homelessness

Christopher Rufo Christopher Ferguson Rufo (born August 26, 1984) is an American conservative activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He is best known for his activism against critical race theory, which he says "has pervaded every aspect of the fe ...

, an activist who later became famous for opposing the teaching of critical race theory, wrote frequently on the subject of homelessness while he worked for the Discovery Institute. In his 2018 Discovery Institute-funded policy paper "Seattle Under Siege: How Seattle's Homelessness Policy Perpetuates the Crisis and How We Can Fix It," Rufo said that four groups"socialist intellectuals", "compassion brigades", the "homeless-industrial complex", and the "addiction evangelists" had successfully framed the debate on homelessness and diverted funding to their projects. He described how the "compassion brigade" had called for social justice using terms such as "compassion, empathy, bias, inequality, root causes, systemic racism." Rufo brought negative attention to All Home, which at the time was

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the ...

's homelessness agency, by sharing a video of an adult entertainer performing at a conference on homelessness. All Home's director was placed on

administrative leave Administrative leave is a temporary leave from a job assignment, with pay and benefits intact. Generally, the term is reserved for employees of non-business institutions such as schools, police, and hospitals. The definition of administrative leav ...

and resigned shortly thereafter. Caitlin Bassett of the Discovery Institute has contributed opinion articles that criticize governmental response to homelessness as wasteful and counterproductive to the goal of ending homelessness. The Discovery Institute opposes the

Housing First Housing First is a policy that offers unconditional, permanent housing as quickly as possible to homeless people, and other supportive services afterward. It was first discussed in the 1990s, and in the following decades became government policy ...

approach, preferring to prioritize treating homeless people for mental illness or drug addiction.

2020 United States presidential election

Scott S. Powell, a senior fellow of the Institute, has promoted the false claim that the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen.

Climate change

The Discovery Institute denies the scientific consensus on climate change.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{Authority control Conservative organizations in the United States Faith and theology think tanks in the United States Intelligent design movement Intelligent design organizations Non-profit organizations based in Seattle Political and economic think tanks in the United States Right-wing politics in the United States Think tanks established in 1990 Pseudoscience