[shuckmaster]

I find it difficult to reconcile this belief about my desk with the idea that something more complex, like a tree or the human brain, developed independently of any intelligence.

The concept is really not that hard to grasp. Intelligently designed items are generally constructed as simply and efficiently as possible to still be fully functional. Only biological evolution explains very complex life forms such as trees and human brains.

[jennyp]

I find it difficult to reconcile this belief about my desk with the idea that something more complex, like a tree or the human brain, developed independently of any intelligence.

The concept is really not that hard to grasp. Intelligently designed items are generally constructed as simply and efficiently as possible to still be fully functional. Only biological evolution explains very complex life forms such as trees and human brains.

You know, when I design a piece of software, much of my design process is taken up in making things simple enough that I can keep track of the program as it develops. The initial design process uses a lot of inspired ideas which come up almost randomly in my mind, coupled with some editing out of the truly batty ones. The overall design can be truly inspired & elegant & unusual, and sometimes rather complex when necessary. But the later stages of design involve a lot of simplifying via code re-use, modularity, & structured programming.

We mere humans can't handle the kind of staggeringly messy complexity that evolution can. Evolution tries out just about everything - and the vast majority of "prototypes" fail in the process. But when I'm designing something, I can only build & test one prototype at a time. I don't have enough time to pursue all the alternate designs that evolution is able to try out simultaneously.

It's kinda similar to how science progresses: Scientists conduct experiments, which consist of finding ways to limit some of the complexity of the phenomenon being examined. Yet in doing so, we're able, slowly but surely, to build our understanding of the world to amazing heights.

[Thane_Banquo]

Your assumption is that purely naturalistic evolution is true, and then you use it to differentiate intelligently designed items from biological items. I am saying that I cannot accept purely naturalistic evolution as an explanation of human biology because my perception of most things outside the realm of biology is that the more complex they are, the more intelligence was required for their design. It is difficult for me, absent overwhelming evidence, to accept an idea that runs counter to this trend.

[Ready2go]

Ok guys I'm just curious here...can anyone give me a example of how believing in the theory of evolution has resulted in any great inventions or cures? What are they?

Thanks all :)