I believe you are right and Giltil was being unnecessarily modest on Behe’s behalf.
I am not sure what evolutionary biology is exactly but I believe Behe is saying, as Giltil pointed out that because
You may well opine, ‘what business has a layman contradicting a smart person’, but I begin with Behe’s comparison that “a mechanical engineer can’t contradict a physicist on fundamental principles of life.”
Will you at least agree with that statement, that, “a mechanical engineer can’t contradict a physicist on fundamental principles of life.” Or to be more precise, change the word physicist to physics. “a mechanical engineer can’t contradict the physics of the fundamental principles of life.”
I think someone here, I can’t remember who, suggested that in spite of Feynman’s warning that we not fool ourselves and we being the easist to fool, scientists ensure themselves that they don’t fool themselves.
Found it. Here,
What is one to do with a statement like that. It is so hubris-filled, so against the evidence and self-refuting. Behe, apparently a scientist is being accused of fooling himself.
One of the last things Feynman did was to sit in ‘judgment’ on the decisions of one of, if not the premiere science organisations in the world - NASA.
One can read that here, https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/Appendix-F.txt
A couple of particularly relevant lines,
“Nevertheless, officials
fooled themselves into thinking they had such understanding and
confidence, in spite of the peculiar variations from case to case.”
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over
public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
How is that not a rousing example of
“a mechanical engineer can’t contradict the physics of the fundamental principles of life.”
It cost 7 astronauts their lives. And, believe it or not some of those decision makers are still in denial - even those with PhD’s.