Whether evolution produces results that "look" designed depends on the
selection criteria. If selection is random, then the overall results will
look random, with a few instances looking (out of context), like instances
of design. If selection selects *for* randomness, then none of the results
will look designed, because each genome will be random (we have to assume
that there is an external method of ensuring that genomes get reproduced
even when they are not part of a viable organism).
But, if evolution occurs in a real world like ours, all living organisms
will look designed because, in order to live at all, an organism must be
functional, its components must work together, it must be able to
metabolize, or at least use externally-supplied energy in a way that does
not destroy the organism itself, etc.
Functionality, or biological viability, requires organization structure
that is not random. It is this order and the functionality of it that ID
mistakes for design. Yet, evolution in a world of physical lawfulness, and
semi-stable environments must necessarily produce these kinds of results.
It produces these results by virtue of the filtering effect of the
environment, which *only* allows "design-like" organisms to survive (and by
no means even *all* of *them*).
It is mathematically trivial to show that even truly random variations must
sometimes produce orderly results, results that, if accumulated, must
necessarily look designed by almost any standard (and *certainly* by the
low standard of ID theory, by which design is imputed to anything that lives).
Because life is necessarily orderly, the question then becomes: Is design
necessary for life as such?
The answer is: No, not if prebiotic evolution can occur that evolves
non-living molecules into living molecules (i.e., into energy-using
molecules or systems of molecules). Whether this has occurred or not is not
definitely known, but there is plenty of evidence that suggests that it
*can* occur. This, combined with the fact that life *does* exist, is
all-but-complete proof that something like this *has* occurred, at least
somewhere in the Universe (probably right here in River City :-) ).
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Aug 27 2000 - 11:48:41 EDT