The Watchmaker Argument

Phil Plait, whose life I think I would like to borrow for a little while (I know, he worked hard for it...nice work, Phil!) pointed out an excellent webcomic a few days back where I discovered this little gem.

Today I'm skimming through Slashdot and come across this...uh......article. As an aside, you must understand that though an avid Slashdotter, I try to take it all in accompanied by grains of salt...numerous grains of salt, and so should you. Anyway, it got me thinking.

If a supreme being must have created the universe because of it's complexity...and let's be honest here, we're not just talking about complexity but elegant complexity, then why doesn't time keeping make any sense? Why doesn't the earth go around the sun exactly once every 360 days on the dot, to the second?

I'm not saying a supreme being didn't create the universe (nor am I suggesting that one did), but as arguments go perhaps the Watchmaker argument is a thin one to climb if you're someone who believes intelligence is required in order for complex systems to occur. Methinks chaos can be exceedingly complex, just as order can be mindboggling.

And how appropriate (in the context of my gloriously intelligent post) that the argument is called what it is. Apropos, I would say. Serendipitous, even. Such good "timing."

Well, I'm just saying...