Society

I helped Bruce Chapman form Discovery Institute some 25 years ago and over that period, if I may use the term, it has evolved. Bruce and I believe that this evolution expresses an intelligent design, a unified vision that transcends the various programs at Discovery Institute. We do not only believe in intelligent design in the universe; we believe such a design manifests itself across the sciences and pervades economics and culture. Not only is God the creator; but human beings are creative in his image, in the image of the creator. This is a scientific proposition, following the insights of a great new science called information theory. Information theory upholds the idea of a hierarchical universe and underlies all the Read More ›

Dinesh D’Souza is currently the perplexed benificiary and victim of an uproar over his book “The End of Racism,” which emerged in the midst of a momentous furor over the centrality of race in America. Except for the always bravely Olympian sage Thomas Sowell, even conservative blacks have fiercely renounced much of his argument along with his intemperate language. How can anyone deny the power of racism in the face of the taped ruminations of Mark Fuhrman, the rhetoric of Louis Farrakhan the indignant voices at the Million Man March, the radical split between the races reacting to the acquittal of O.J. Simpson?  I know how Mr. D’Souza feels. In 1979, I published a book called “Visible Man: A True Story of Post Read More ›

Playboy: In the recent past, your ideas and writings have enraged feminists and political liberals. Today, those ideas seem to be among the guiding principles of a changed political climate in Washington. We’re going to ask you to summarize the major themes of your books. But, for starters, just what is it you believe in? GILDER: I believe in a free capitalist system in a larger cosmic order, founded on absolute truth. I believe there are such things as absolute truths and that society will necessarily reflect those truths, over time, in its organization and behavior. PB: Tell us an absolute truth. GILDER: An absolute truth I propound in Wealth And Poverty is “Give and you will be given unto.” Read More ›