Design without intelligence

I receive National Geographic in print. I am not sure what their online policy is. I took a quick look through the web site and it looks like only small excerpts of articles are available, even for subscribers. I am not sure.

But recently, I was reading this article (the full one in print), and thought what a great argument this is against Intelligent Design. I would think if there was some intelligent force actively involved in the creation of our species, complicated process like child birth would be a bit easier, as well as simple things, like scratching one's own back.

The point is, evolution is not intelligent per se and is not meant to be. It is a trade of and balance of characteristics that make a best fit for the species. But sometimes there are negative consequences. This article discusses how man's evolution to walk upright greatly benefited humankind, although with it we get all sorts of back and foot ailments, as well as risky and difficult birth processes. It's not intelligent, but it works for us. And I would say, if it did have some direct and active intelligent control pushing it forward, we wouldn't have these downsides. (And lastly, it doesn't mean that you can't believe in God and evolution of course).

Here is an excerpt from the article (describing the author looking at a skeletal model of a child size skull passing through the birth canal) and the web link above:

Turn the little oval skull face-forward, and it drops neatly into the pelvic brim, the beginning of the birth canal. But then it jams against the protrusions of the ischial bones (those that bear the burden during a long car ride). More shoving and rotating, and it's quickly apparent that the skull must traverse a passage that seems smaller than itself, cramped not only by the ischial bones but also by the coccyx, the bottom of the tailbone, which pokes into the lower pelvic cavity. Only by maneuvering the skull to face sideways in the middle of the canal and then giving it a firm push, does it move a centimeter or two—before it gets hung up again. Twist it, jostle it: The thing won't budge. Rosenberg guides my hand to turn the skull around to face backward, and then, with a hard shove, the stubborn cranium finally exits the birth canal.

And here is a really funny parody of Intelligent Design from the Onion.