Monday, November 22, 2010

Neil deGrasse Tyson and The Worst Argument Against Design Ever

I saw a Youtube clip recently of the astrophysicist and atheist Neil deGrasse Tyson arguing against the notion that the efficiency and intricacy of the design in the universe that we observe must be attributable to a divine creator. There are many ways that opponents of the design argument attempt to respond, but this one was new to me. Tyson pointed out that human beings eat, drink and speak all using a single hole in their head. How much more efficient would it be if we had been blessed with two holes, one for gestation and one for communication. Imagine! If only Neil deGrasse Tyson were the creator of the universe, what a wonderful world this would be.

Eating and talking at the same time, without any interruption of the constant inane chatter that fills our lives. Seriously, what a lovely thought! The creator of this universe must have been smoking something when he decided it would be a good idea to make us occasionally stuff our yap-traps with sustenance. Did he not realize that we only have a limited time on this Earth, and that if we waste a great deal of it chewing, swallowing, maybe even thinking in silence, then we'll be unable to fulfill our purpose for this life which certainly must be to maximize our number-of-words-per-lifetime ratio? How shortsighted and foolish of him! No, an omnipotent being couldn't make so obvious and egregious an error, so I'm forced to conclude that no such being exists. My reasoning is exquisite, wouldn't you agree?

I believe that I have surpassed my mockery quota for the day. Suffice it to say that this argument is not only asinine, but is so in such a self-satisfied, unreflective, and arrogant manner as to be quite loathsome. Hopefully my abusive mockery made plain the ways in which the argument is utterly nonsensical, but if not, allow me to elucidate.

Tyson's argument assumes that humans are designed in a suboptimal way because our design prevents us from being able to speak incessantly. Undoubtedly Tyson also believes that the fact that the human body requires 8 hours of sleep a day is an epic tragedy--after all that's one-third of his life that is doomed to wordlessness. I know of very few humans who would admit without shame that they believe that their own words are so precious that they should never meet an occasion where they are forced into silence. Indeed there's many a fine proverb, from both East and West, that speaks of the wisdom and virtue to be found in silence. Listening, meditating, thinking, praying and, yes, eating. Not only is our value as humans not measured in the number of words we are able to utter, but there's some good reason to believe that a human's wisdom is often inversely proportional to the number of words they produce. As much as that pains me--a wordy person--to admit. If we are going to speculate as to the wisdom and efficiency of the creation then, if anything, this observation by Tyson bespeaks a profoundly thoughtful and efficient design plan of the creator. God may in fact have devised the human body in such a way--with a single hole for the dual purposes of gestation and speech--specifically to give the world some respite from the incessant, inane jabber of the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Who, in between meals, still managed to find the time to use his tragically limited number of words to formulate this preposterous argument.

4 comments:

  1. I haven't read the post, so excuse me if I'm wrong. But Tyson's point with these facts is any engineer alive today could make a human being better suited for life than we now are. If creatures, including humans, had been created, God would have had an unlimited time, energy and skill. He's all-powerful and omnipotent etc. But the fact that we see these weird "errors" in creatures and man alike, is that evolution by natural selection can only slowly shape what is already there. So these errors will be either tweaked or not removed at all. To add/remove full organs require vast time spans and it has to re-order the way organs get energy, oxygen and blood.

    Don't you think it would be rather strange for an all-powerful creator, or any creator, to make humans with organs we don't need? Like the appendix. Or that dolphins have been observed to have two legs on the tale? Why we all have all this Junk DNA, that have no purpose?

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    1. Ask anyone who has had his appendix out if their digestive system is working as good as before.
      But all of this seems to miss an obvious point, so obvious that these biased arguments only serve to expose just how pathetic their childish rants are.

      WE DIE. WE GET CANCER....HELLO? 2 mouths is your big knockdown argument? One mouth so fat Tyson can stuff his hole while spews out the worst logic in western civilizationwith the other? Oh you thank Lord.

      Because Mr Weirdo didnt realize the body can get cancer, which we all forgot about when we didn't proclaim the body was perfect, it may be necessary to point out that Christ' body was not designed well enough to repel the nails from his soft imperfect hands. We are desgined to Reveal ourselves. To use our free will and see the results of a world without Gods law being upheld. Some will only feel when they get sick, only love when others do.
      1 if Tyson were god he would make 2 mouths.
      2 we have 1 mouth
      3 Tyson is not God

      Thats all these illogical fallacies prove. No trained logician would use such pathetic nonsense.

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  2. Ordovicium, that is Truely a moronic statement if I ever heard one.
    More and more each day we are finding out that vestigial organs and junk DNA do have purposes and needs by the body, but an unthinking and uncritical atheist like you has a hard time understanding this.

    Tyson maybe a good astrophysicist but nothing s more than a simpleton when it comes to philosophy. It just proves what the medical community believed all along and that is atheism is more of an emotional worldview then an intellectual one and that there are links between atheism and mental desease. One day atheism will be cured. Hooefully that day comes soon, because it gets tiring listening to idiots speak and actually believe that they aren't idiots.

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  3. Ordovicium, that is Truely a moronic statement if I ever heard one.
    More and more each day we are finding out that vestigial organs and junk DNA do have purposes and needs by the body, but an unthinking and uncritical atheist like you has a hard time understanding this.

    Tyson maybe a good astrophysicist but nothing s more than a simpleton when it comes to philosophy. It just proves what the medical community believed all along and that is atheism is more of an emotional worldview then an intellectual one and that there are links between atheism and mental desease. One day atheism will be cured. Hooefully that day comes soon, because it gets tiring listening to idiots speak and actually believe that they aren't idiots.

    ReplyDelete