Intelligent Design: A Theory for Idiots?

Intelligent Design (also known as Creationism) is the belief that life on Earth was designed by some intelligent being, and that evolution never happened. Though many citizens of the world accept Intelligent Design and reject evolution, 95% of the scientific community accepts evolution. If evolution is so strongly supported by evidence and scientists, why is Intelligent Design even being talked about?

The answer is simple. Intelligent Design is a religious belief. It comes from the idea that God created the universe and every living creature in their present forms. This is why no Atheist supports Intelligent Design; it has no supporting evidence, only religious beliefs and absurd arguments that require blind faith and an outright rejection of evidence.

The center argument of Intelligent Design is that everything designed must have a designer. Paintings, soda cans, cell phones, and cars all have designers. Life is complex, and therefore must have been designed, and there must have been a designer.

There are several problems with this argument. The first problem is obvious: the complex, designed objects (paintings, cars, ect.) that Intelligent Design proponents refer to are inorganic. You and I are organic, and so is all life on Earth. There is a huge difference, because evolution doesn’t argue that inorganic things evolve. Besides, we can see, smell, hear, touch, and taste the designer of inorganic things (assuming he would let us go as far as touching or tasting him). God cannot be observed. This obvious straw man argument is a pathetic excuse for an alternative for evolution.

The second point of Intelligent Design is that the probability of life occurring randomly is too small. True, the odds of life on a planet are indeed slim, but saying that this is proof of a divine creator is ignorance of how statistics works.

Let’s take the metaphor of rolling dice. If I roll 20 dice, the odds of every single one being all fives is 1 in 3,656,158,440,062,976. Seems highly improbable, doesn’t it? But what if I had billions of people rolling dice, and I had billions of years in order to make it happen? Sooner or later, at least one person within the billions of year’s time would get 20 fives.

In the universe, there are billions of planets, and the universe has been determined to exist for billions of years. So if there is at least one planet out there (ours, in this case) that supports life, why is this so surprising?

The final point I’ll be covering here is the idea that there is no evidence for evolution; therefore Intelligent Design is automatically the correct theory. The ignorance in such statements is overwhelming. Evidence for evolution is there, you just need to accept it when you see it. The fossil record supports the idea that we evolved from simpler beings, our genetic code suggests a relationship with monkeys, and we can see microorganisms evolve (the Swine Flu didn’t always effect humans, it evolved!). The reality is that there is plenty of evidence for evolution, and none whatsoever for Intelligent Design.

When faced with such stupid arguments, it amazes me that anyone believes in such an idea as Intelligent Design. Then again, it’s based on religion, which makes all kinds of ridiculous claims besides the creation myth. The unfortunate part isn’t that people believe such ignorant nonsense, it’s that they want to teach it all to children in public schools. Such religious dogma deserves no place in the education system, and unless people wake up and realize the idiocy behind Intelligent Design, science and the future of humanity will be held back from its full potential.