Overdesign – Part 1

This month we start a new mini-series on “Overdesign in Nature.” What is overdesign? It refers to the idea that certain biological features appear to be more complex or elaborate than necessary for their function, contradicting natural selection. The theory of evolution implies that all traits, including seemingly complex ones, are optimized for survival in their environment. This makes “overdesign” unlikely because a feature that isn’t needed for survival wouldn’t be selected for and passed on. Overdesign is striking when we consider man’s extraordinary mental acuity in music, math, memory, and engineering. To support such brain power requires enormous biological resources. Evolutionist Jerry Coyne said, “We can build skyscrapers, fly to the Moon, cook elaborate dishes, and make (and solve) Sudoku puzzles. Yet such abilities could not possibly have been useful during nearly all of the period when our brain evolved.” How serious is this problem for the evolutionists? Consider the opinion of the co-founder of the modern theory of evolution, Alfred Wallace (pictured above). Wallace is famously remembered as the man who came upon the idea of natural selection at about the same time as Darwin did. Darwin got the credit because of his famous book. But Wallace was a well-known promoter of evolution by natural selection through most of his life. However, later in life, his opinions began to change. He came to see that the human brain was over-designed and thus could not have evolved. He parted ways with Darwin, stating, “a superior intelligence has guided the development of man in a definite direction, and for a special purpose.”

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Dave.