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Bad Design Ideas
Word count: 1306
The evolution of biology has an essential role in contemporary scientific explanations for
understanding the natural world. Prior to the introduction of the Darwinian theory of natural
selection, many scientists worked collaboratively with religions to explain biology by supporting
the belief that there is a divine or supernatural creator. Therefore, during the pre-Darwinian period,
religious beliefs were especially influential on scientists who were trying to understand certain
biological phenomena, such as organisms’ adaptation to their environment. These scientists
acquired their best scientific knowledge and assumptions on sciences by appealing to supernatural
references or through religious texts that teach about God’s thoughts on nature, in an attempt to
explain these natural phenomena. They believed that there are natural “designs” by an intellectual
mind or a supernatural intellect that created each organism to the best fit of their environment, and
organisms do not change much over generations.
However, Kitcher & Barker provided two arguments on this belief, claiming that, first of all, if
referencing a divine creator is the legitimate explanation to why organisms fit their environment,
then there should exist some phenomena that Darwinian theory cannot explain. Besides, scientific
researches would not progress further by appealing to a supernatural agent whenever science
cannot explain something, because this will only stop our capacity to explain it in natural, scientific
terms. Secondly, we should expect that there should be no instances of faulty designs. Since if
there is truly a wise supernatural being who produces perfect biological evolutionary changes and
designs all the organisms from scratch, then there should be no reason that bad designs would exist.
