THE NOT-SO-INTELLIGENT DESIGNER
By Dr Abby Hafer
Cascade Books. 244 pages. £22.00
ISBN 978 1 620 329 412
Dr Hafer is a senior lecturer who teaches anatomy at Curry College in the USA. In her book she aims to demonstrate that the human body contains bad design and that this shows that either there is no God, or God is unintelligent, or he does not like humans.
Dr Hafer attacks biblical teaching such as humanity being the pinnacle of creation (Psalm 8.5) and being fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139.14). It is important for Christians to have answers to such claims.
The Fall explains decay
Dr Hafer describes several unpleasant conditions such as scurvy, appendicitis, haemophilia, tooth decay and pain in childbirth and explains why these cause serious problems for humans. Christians can fully agree with her that these are indeed bad things.
However, there is a theological explanation to disease and even pain in childbirth. The Bible says that death, disease and pain came with the Fall of man, when Adam and Eve rebelled in Eden resulting in a curse on creation (Genesis 3).
It is important to realise there is a difference between design and decay. A brand-new BMW is a masterpiece of engineering design despite the fact that it will one day develop faults and rust. In exactly the same way the human body is wonderfully designed, even though it will deteriorate over time.
The eye is not a bad design
Dr Hafer claims the human eye is wired ‘backwards’ because the light cells are at the back of the retina and light must pass through a mass of nerve cells to reach the light sensors. She writes: ‘Try to imagine a camera so poorly designed that the mechanical parts of the camera – the wires and so on – were between the lens and the imaging chip, so they left their shadows on all your pictures.’ (p.111).
One answer to this claim is that a healthy eye works perfectly well so there has to be good reason to claim a bad design. But there is an additional answer. In 2007, scientists discovered an ingenious feature in the human eye which means that light is not degraded as it travels to the light sensors. Scientists discovered ‘Muller’ cells in the retina that act as fibre optic cables that transport light from the front of the retina to the light sensors thus bypassing all the nerve cells. Not only does this avoid light degradation but it actually improves the quality of the light signals by, for example, blocking scattered light. The design is so good that Muller cells could help engineers design better cameras.
The eye is a classic example where what appeared to some to be a bad design was in fact an example of the inability of some scientists to appreciate what was a brilliant design.
The throat is not a bad design
Dr Hafer claims that the human throat is a bad design because there is the possibility of choking when someone takes a breath and swallows at the same time (p.72). She says that having a blow hole like a whale which is totally disconnected from the mouth would be a better design. But, as with the eye, a healthy throat works perfectly fine. The fact that young babies automatically learn how to eat without choking shows that it is not at all difficult to avoid choking.
There are also obvious drawbacks in having a blow hole like a whale. A blow hole would mean that the mouth is no longer a back-up for breathing air if there is a problem with the nose. If the blow hole was on the back or the chest it would also be very restrictive for wearing clothes!
Neglecting evidence
Dr Hafer says that human bodies are ‘just too badly put together to stand up to even reasonable design specifications’ (p.16). However, Dr Hafer does not seem to be aware of how engineers and scientists have judged the human body to have incredibly high levels of performance and beyond anything that engineers can currently achieve. The performance of organs like the human heart have astonished engineers who have been incapable of producing anywhere near the same performance in artificial organs.
In my work at Bristol University I have studied the human knee joint in detail, testing its performance and producing bio-inspired designs. In my extensive laboratory work over many years I have found the knee joint to be brilliantly designed in terms of strength and efficiency. There are many other examples of bio-inspired design from the human body that provide further evidence of brilliant design.
Dr Hafer also does not acknowledge that humans clearly have the potential for amazing skills and feats as shown in events like the Rio Olympics. For example, in the rhythmic gymnastics, teams of women performed incredible feats balancing ropes, balls, hoops and ribbons whilst dancing with grace, precision and skill. Such amazing feats provide powerful evidence that humans are not badly designed.
The overwhelming evidence
The overwhelming evidence is that humans are wonderfully designed. Even though there are animals that have superior abilities in some ways, this in no way diminishes the brilliant design of humans. Humans have a design that exactly suits their lifestyle and needs. Humans also have unique abilities that set them apart from other creatures including the ability to create, the ability to appreciate beauty and the potential for spiritual life.
Dr Hafer says she would give the Designer a ‘Fail’ grade in a decent design class (p.110). But Dr Hafer does not have any qualifications or publications in design to justify such a bold judgment. I have published over 150 scientific papers on the science of design in engineering and nature. As an expert in design I have to conclude that Dr Hafer understands very little about what makes a good design. From my own scientific research I have come to the conclusion that the human body is the absolute gold standard of design and that God is the greatest Designer of all.
