Designs Embedded in Nature Presuppose Intelligence

By Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D. - March 2006

My E-mail no. 30

On February 11, I received a brief e-mail asking me "to explain my philosophy concerning the theory of Intelligent Design". I could answer that question in one sentence. But my correspondent surely expects and deserves more. However, if I should go beyond what nature's designs reveal, I will let my readers know. 

An example from real-life will facilitate my explanation. On September 12, 1940, four boys went looking for their lost dog. The lads lived in Southwestern France where many limestone caves dot the hillside. One of them had been sealed off for centuries by the forces of nature. In the late 1930's, a storm uprooted a big pine tree leaving a small opening into the Lascaux cave. The boys squeezed through it and called their dog.

Combing through several chambers, the boys saw vivid paintings on the walls and ceiling. They first noticed the galloping horses and reindeer. The boys had discovered a fabulous treasure of Paleolithic cave-art dating back 17,000 years. To view these paintings, click: http://www.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/.

Since that eventful day in 1940, a million people have visited the Lascaux cave. No one ever asked, "Did someone paint those animals?" That fact was self-evident. Rain or wind and dust could not account for those graphic animals. Nor could any subhuman animal. The only plausible artist was a human being.

But the visitors of the cave paintings did ask. "Who painted them? What was his name? What did he look like?" The tour guide answered, " No one knows. He never signed his paintings. Nor did he leave a self-portrait."

From the paintings, however, we know that he existed and that he was smart. He painted on uneven and rugged walls of a cave. He made his paint by grinding ocher, an earthy red or yellow iron ore, and mixing it with animal fat. He fashioned brushes with bone or wood and horse hair. Our cave artist was intelligent. This much we know from his work. 

And so it is with the trillions of different designs and structures in nature, such as that of DNA. Its complex structure has been observed by scientists. It exists without a doubt. 

When the scientists are asked what or who is responsible for the design of DNA, they simply answer, "We don't know. We can only observe the designs but not their designer."

Fortunately, however, human knowledge is not limited to what is observed by our senses. The human mind can deduce further reliable information. Just as the visitors of the cave paintings concluded that their painter was intelligent, so too can humans deduce that the agent of nature's designs, such as DNA, is intelligent - supremely intelligent.

But just as the cave paintings reveal nothing more about their artist, so also nature's designs reveal nothing further about their designer. Whatever else is said about them is the product of human imagination. 

In final analysis, the designs in nature reveal a supremely intelligent agent who exists. I can accept that truth and live by it. If the Intelligent Designer had wanted more recognition or any specific reaction from humans, he could have expressed his wishes in nature. He did not; nor need we.

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