Design Demands Designer
There are millions of people who give little thought to why they believe what they believe, or more importantly for doing what they do. For many, one’s “belief system” is merely the product of their actions. For the Christian, one’s actions are, or should be, the product of their belief system. It is important to understand that there are only two explanations for the reality that we are, in fact, here and that this universe does, in fact, exist. But first I need to share the following with the reader.
When going through a time when my faith was being challenged, my career as an artist gave me the logical foundation on which to build. For decades I have been teaching design and telling my art students that “design demands designer”, as a faith statement. It is more than a faith statement. It is a logical belief statement. Look up the term “design” in any dictionary and you will find that, by definition, design does in fact demand a designer and implies, if not requires, intelligence, a plan. In a conversation with an atheistic friend of mine, I made the case that design demands designer. After a few moments of reflection, his response was to say, “design certainly implies a designer”.
For the record, here are the definitions of “design” in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. You will notice that all these definitions state, or imply, an intelligent agent.
1 to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan : devise, contrive
design a system for tracking inventory
2a: to conceive and plan out in the mind
he designed the perfect crime
2b: to have as a purpose : intend
she designed to excel in her studies
2c: to devise for a specific function or end
a book designed primarily as a college textbook
a suitcase designed to hold a laptop computer
3 to indicate with a distinctive mark, sign, or name
4a: to make a drawing, pattern, or sketch of
… a curious woman whose dresses always looked as if they had been designed in a rage …—Oscar Wilde
4b: to draw the plans for
…design a building
…designing a new bike
5: to conceive or execute a plan
6: to draw, lay out, or prepare a design
was trained to design for homes and offices
There is obvious design that we recognize, from our bodies to the myriads of plants and animals, from microscopic design to our solar system…and far beyond. If “design” is not the product of intelligence, then how does it come about. There are two possibilities that are foundational to one’s belief system, whether one recognizes them as foundational, or not. These explanations are presented here as two propositions.
Proposition 1:
Things work because they were designed. (requires an intelligent agent to design and is consistent with the definition of the term “design”)
Proposition 2:
Things have what we call “design” because they work. (requires no “designer” but contradicts the definition of design) This is the proposition that an atheist, or agnostic, might adopt.
In short, design is either a product of function, or function is a product of design. Relative to all manmade things, function is always a product of design. Why would this not also be true of all things in nature. Functional “design” is, by definition, a product of intelligence. However, there is another aspect of design which I discuss in another West Side Herald article. Design also produces beauty. Beauty most certainly exists, and it is recognized as beauty because of its design. Please do not apologize for your belief in God. I believe it is the only logical conclusion that one can make.
-John Keller