beyond design

at 07/10/07 6:39PM
In a recent book (Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt, "A Meaningful World") our old friend Richard Dawkins is taken to task over some monkey business he has tried to pull off with some primates and a computer (he has apparently got them to produce a phrase from Shakespear’s hamlet by random chance). Their book, has received excellent reviews as it takes the intelligent design argument a step further. They argue that creation not only evidences design, but genius. Like the kind of genius seen in Shakespear’s Hamlet. One illustration is that of whimsy - which not only requires order and design, but design with a funny twist. To illustrate this they use the Panda which they call an instance of “comic relief” or “divine whimsy.” Of course they anticipate a reaction from creationist because, as a whole, we tend to be a bit too focused on finding flawless design in everything and forget that God is not a humorless engineer, but more like a quirky inventor.

They write:

"To spurn the notion as if it were patently ridiculous, as beneath consideration, is merely to expose one's utilitarian presuppositions. Why, after all, should the designer's world read like a dreary high school science textbook, its style humorless, homogenous and suffocating under the dead weight of a supposedly detached passive voice? Why should not the designer's world entertain, amuse and fascinate as well as 'work'? Why, in short, shouldn't we expect it to have the richness of variety and tone we find in a work of art like Hamlet?"
  • adampual
    well, i was in BG sunday but i only came to Lost River for the pm service so i missed you.
    by adampual at 07/10/07 6:59PM
  • ed
    anyone that's ever been snorkeling or gone to an aquarium should know that our God had ALOT of fun making his creatures!! His creation is truly a work of art!
    by ed at 07/10/07 8:37PM
  • joeyself
    Darryl Dawkins? Chocolate Thunder is experimenting with apes and computers?
    by joeyself at 07/10/07 8:44PM
  • joeyself
    Maybe it was Richard Dawkins? :)
    by joeyself at 07/10/07 8:44PM
  • padre
    we enjoyed seeing you Sunday. Also, it was good to see Janice. She's prettier than you.
    by padre at 07/10/07 10:49PM
  • zack
    heyhey,,what's up..working hard? love you ,host dady
    by zack at 07/10/07 11:39PM
  • evilmonkey
    I would think that the giraffe and the duckbilled platypus would make this obvious.
    by evilmonkey at 07/11/07 9:29AM
  • wberk
    H. Turner always wanted to know - what about the Woodpecker? Did they beat their brains out before the pad in the back of their head evolved? Good ole' Turner.
    by wberk at 07/11/07 10:20AM
  • kytar_heel
    thoughts needed on my post
    by kytar_heel at 10/12/08 4:26PM