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?

David Hume and divine design

Monkey minds

Can evolution produce rational minds?

Christian philosopher sees no conflict with evolution

The “God spot”

Children see the world as ‘designed’!

Related resources

Defending Genesis

Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels, Book + DVD

Evolution’s Blunders, Frauds and Forgeries

One Small Speck to Man, 2nd Edition