In Nolan's supposal, the mad scientist takes on the mystique of a wizard. Perhaps this is fitting, given that he sees science and wizardry as the same thing.
The nature of the surveys to which Phil Halper appeals is that they measure what physicists believe. They cannot measure what the evidence actually supports.
Macrobiological features have been cited as irreducibly complex, including animal joints and the trap mechanisms of carnivorous plants, even the cell itself.