Saturday, October 31, 2009

Intelligent Design?

Ferraris, maybe. Certainly not humans, despite what legions of believers on the religious fringe believe.

Any organism that requires more maintenance than a Formula One Ferrari for its day-to-day existence and continued survival cannot be logically argued to be a product of intelligent design. Nor can any organism sporting (or sprouting) hair around its anus.

But there are other design flaws, as well. What’s with teeth that need a near-constant regimen of brushing, flossing, scraping, picking, grinding, drilling and filling to keep them relatively healthy and pain free for the duration of a normal human life span? Intelligent design would incorporate natural chemicals and chemical processes—delivered via saliva glands and activated by tongue action—to keep your teeth their whitest white and make you wonder where the yellow went, wouldn’t it?

And what about all those organs and other parts that humans seem perfectly capable of living without? You know, tonsils and adenoids, the appendix, sometimes the spleen, and—far too often—the brain. It’s kind of like adding extraneous parts to the bodywork, undercarriage and suspension of a Formula One Ferrari just so there’ll be something to fall off during a race. So much for intelligent design.

Speaking of brains, I really must take exception to the packaging of the human CPU. Were any actual intelligence involved in designing an effective housing for the brain, that fragile organ would be packed in Styrofoam peanuts before it’s inserted into the skull. As things are, it’s free to slosh around and bang against the inside of the skull at every forceful impact or sudden deceleration—occurrences that often cause cerebral hemorrhaging, coma, permanent brain damage, and even death. How intelligent is that?

6.7 billion prototypes (not counting those billions that have already been scrapped and gone to graveyards, every one), and human beings still aren’t ready for production. It’s enough to send a rational, intelligent designer back to the drawing board—with a fresh approach and a clean sheet of paper.

Q >>>