Wednesday 2 November 2005

Incompetent Design

If you enjoyed Penn & Teller skewering Intelligent Design fruitcakes on Prime last night in their show 'Bullshit,' or if perhaps you caught up with my own recent efforts in that area (see here for Part 1), then you might also enjoy the new theory of Incompetent Design developed by a University of Massachusetts geology professor.
To combat the Intelligent Design idea, Wise has come up with his own theory: 'Incompetent Design.' This theory challenges the idea of Intelligent Design with the argument that if the human body were designed, the designer did a terrible job in doing so...

Picking on three examples of where evolution is very obvious: [the] pelvis slopes forward for convenient knuckle dragging like all the Great Apes, but only because of an extreme bend in our vertebrae do we walk upright. It?s the kind of mistake no first year engineering student would make. So it?s either evolution or bad design? Wise said.

Wise also explained that the human mouth also has far too many teeth, with wisdom teeth becoming impacted and needing removal. Wise also criticized the design of the sinus cavity, crammed between our expanded braincase and shortened muzzle, which is so easily clogged, that a plumber would be ashamed of it.
Linked article: UMass professor presents new theory of 'Incompetent Design'

4 comments:

Rick said...

That doesn't refute God's work, it just tells us his ways are elaborate. Mysterious even.

Some people say 'If God had meant us to fly he would have given us wings.' But others say 'If God had meant us to fly he would have given us the Wright brothers'.

The God thing is a phil question. Can't get anywhere with anthropological answers to philosophical questions. Got to fight fire with fire. Mr Wise should be redubbed Mr.....Something-Else.

Peter Cresswell said...

Wises argument should be seen as a supplement, not the main course. The main argument is of course philosophical.

Berend de Boer said...

So they've dropped the eye from the list of bad designs? Someone is getting through.

I wonder why these people are so upset about Intelligent Design? All that time and effort spend on it, have they nothing else to do?

Anonymous said...

Peter: Penn & Teller featured as themselves on Monday night's 'The West Wing', in a superb episode on freedom that libs would have relished.

They (P&T) were entertaining guests at the President's (adult teenage) daughter's birthday party - and vanished in a burst of flames the US flag, formally-wrapped inside a copy of The Bill of Rights.

So did they 'burn' the flag - and in the White House to boot? Should flag-burning be a crime; if so, why? Shouldn't what happens in a private adult party *be* private, flag-burning in the White House, or not? And, as they pointed out, does burning the flag matter so long as the freedoms enshrined in the BoR remain legitimate?

Superb storyline. Best drama ever on TV by a country mile. The creator, Aaron Sorkin, was a genius, but the guys writing/making it now are every bit as good. Worth watching for the superb cast, especially the lovely Lily Tomlin as the President's PA and the likes of Alan Alda (as a liberal Republican senator).