Proof of ID: An essay (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, June 25, 2015, 01:57 (3440 days ago) @ David Turell

Everyone here knows I believe in intelligent design (ID). The following essay explains that viewpoint. Basically we know when something is designed, like Paley's watch. Can anyone find something wrong with the argument presented?:-http://www.evolutionnews.org/2015/06/must_we_directl097021.html-"For example, let's say that in the year 2150, humans for the first time finally get around to visiting an extrasolar planet orbiting another star. Furthermore, they find that the planet has an oxygen atmosphere. Let's also say that in all our travels, we've never encountered any extraterrestrial alien beings.-"The first exploration party to this extrasolar planet discovers a circle of stones with charred wood and ash inside it -- the remains of a campfire! In fact, not only do we discover that evidence, but we also discover buildings and technology designed to transmit radio signals to outer space.-"Now prior to this time, humans had no evidence that there were other non-human intelligent agents in the universe. We didn't know whether they existed. But now they're finding evidence of campfires, buildings, and technology on a planet far from home.-"Are they justified in inferring design? Of course they are! In fact, even if they find no extraterrestrial beings on that extrasolar planet (maybe the alien civilization went extinct or abandoned the planet), our human explorers would still detect design.-"Thus, we may not have direct "observable" evidence of the intelligent agents in the sense that we can see them physically before our very eyes, but we still have ample evidence that these structures were designed. And we can make this design inference despite the fact that we had no prior knowledge that these designers even existed. There is no logical flaw in this reasoning.-****-"We don't logically require prior evidence that an intelligent agent existed in order to detect design, because the designer's existence is shown by the natural structures it made, which resemble things that in our experience come only from intelligence. To detect design, all we need is (a) to know the kinds of things that intelligent agents produce, and then (b) to find such things in nature. That is observable evidence of an intelligent designing agent, even if you don't directly observe the agent with your eyes, or even if you didn't have prior knowledge about whether the intelligent agent existed."