
Design: just a trick of the mind?
Life looks like it was designed. Even Richard Dawkins admits it: “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” Skeptic Michael Shermer has developed specific terminology for this, such as ‘patternicity’ and ‘agenticity’. He says they are all just the product of an overactive agency detection device in our heads, regularly inferring patterns and agents where no such things exist.
By Shaun Doyle
Originally published August 2017
Links and show notes
The article: Design: just a trick of the mind?
Can evolution produce rational minds?
Christian philosopher sees no conflict with evolution
Children see the world as ‘designed’!
Related resources
Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels, Book + DVD