Darwinism and “Automatic” Design
Let’s recognize that Darwinism is simply a proposed automatic design mechanism for living organisms. Evolution selects advantageous mutations naturally and employs them in the ongoing struggle for survival. Darwin thought that the accumulation of small improvements might eventually lead to new species. In other words, the Darwinist mechanism is a proposed impersonal designer.
The task of creative design analysts is therefore to determine which proposed automatic design mechanisms have sufficient built-in intelligence to produce the profusion of workable designs seen in nature. Darwin made a bold step 140 years ago when he proposed that the designer need not be all-wise and all-knowing. Did Darwin cut down the designer’s characteristics too far? Is there more to discover about the designer—some essential ingredient Darwin missed?
Apparently Darwin missed something, because the mere optimization of a prepackaged merit function—survivability in biology—has consistently failed to produce new designs.
The task of creative design analysts is therefore to determine which proposed automatic design mechanisms have sufficient built-in intelligence to produce the profusion of workable designs seen in nature. Darwin made a bold step 140 years ago when he proposed that the designer need not be all-wise and all-knowing. Did Darwin cut down the designer’s characteristics too far? Is there more to discover about the designer—some essential ingredient Darwin missed?
Apparently Darwin missed something, because the mere optimization of a prepackaged merit function—survivability in biology—has consistently failed to produce new designs.