What’s so intelligent about this design?
Those who defend the concept of intelligent design often point to the mechanisms of the natural world. They say that they are too complex or two interdependent to have arisen without a guiding intelligence. I will leave that argument to others. But lately I have had a different thought. If the natural world were really designed by someone, shouldn't they have been intelligent enough to come up with a better design?
Biological systems have a lot of amazing properties, including some that we can't figure out how to replicate. But they also have some amazing shortcomings. Why do so many creatures use calcium for bones when so many other common materials on this planet are stronger? Why do so few creatures see color? Why don’t more creatures use sonar at night? Why isn't almost every creature equipped with a compass? Why do creatures communicate with sounds when radio frequencies are so much better in terms distance, energy efficiency, and bandwidth? Maybe someone could have designed it better.
The counter argument is that if biological systems were better designed they would not be sustainable because their effectiveness would put the system out of balance. Mammals with sonar might be too good at catching or evading prey at night. Etc. The natural world we have now works, and radical improvements would disrupt that sustainable balance. But to assume that the creatures are well designed because they are part of a sustainable system is ultimately a circular argument. We only know of one sustainable natural system.
Second, the idea that our biological design is the best possible because any other would disrupt the natural balance ignores history. The design of mammals in Australia could be argued to be optimal because of its sustainability, until people brought rabbits to the continent. Then the system collapsed. If biological creatures were perfectly designed to maintain a particular biological system, then that system would not be constantly disrupted by evolution or the introduction of new species.
Neanderthals may have thought they were designed in their creator's image, but it turns out they weren’t that intelligently designed.