Intelligent design doesn't mean perfect design

However, you have to take into account the designer. If the designer is said to be perfect, for example, God, then the creation itself would have to be perfect. A design that was less than perfect would imply that the creator was also less than perfect.

Of course, perfect means perfectly designed for the desired task/goal, so some things that may be considered flaws may be due to using the item designed for a different purpose than intended.

But given that this was written in relation to the creationist theory of intelligent design, the lack of perfection in the human body, as seen in little things that appear purposeless and jury-rigged, go a long way toward refuting such a "theory".

Now, it's fine and dandy to discuss whether or not the appendix has a purpose, and that maybe it's not useless. However, there are plenty of other parts of the human body that can't seem to be anything BUT flaws. For example, the urethra in a male goes right through the prostate - a gland that is very susceptable to swelling, and thus blocks the urethra. Or the "funny bone" - a nerve that, for no reason, runs on the OUTSIDE of the elbow, making it very easy to hit it on something.

There are plenty of other examples in other species that have no purpose and no explanation other than jury-rigged design due to evolution.

Some thoughts:

• Perfection is not required to create perfection. If you could create only perfection, you would be limited, and therefore not omnipotent. God is omnipotent, and therefore can create both imperfection and perfection. In any case, the Bible (and most other religious writs) make no claim that God (or a deity of your choice) can only create perfection.
• The world isn't supposed to be perfect. Christianity, as well as many other religions, mention a little event we Christians like to call The Fall. This is, essentially, that bit with the apple, which ended in Adam and Eve getting expelled from the Garden of Eden. One of the results of this event was that the world turned nasty. One theory states that until The Fall, everything was herbivorous. Although this really puts plants at a disadvantage, it made it a world free of death and destruction. There is some evidence that all creatures were once herbivores.

  In any case, the world went from a nice place to a nasty place. Animals turned evil, and people start doing Bad Things. (See: Cain and Abel, for one example)

  In addition, it seems likely that a number of non-obvious changes occured. Such as certain changes in our genetic makeup to cause us to be mortal. (Geron has some interesting information on this subject.) God is all powerful, after all - this sort of change would not be surprising.

• We Are Mortal. Another major Christian belief is that we are more than our physical bodies. God, being a fellow into layers of meaning, no doubt had this in mind when He created us. What better way to make sure we remember this than to not make us perfect?

  After all, if we were perfect, why would we care if we had some sort of afterlife?

• In any case, is there a perfect way to design a human? It may well be that at a certain point, it is necessary to make certain tradeoffs. After all, our bodies work very well. No one ever died from a funny bone injury, and such "weaknesses" help teach us proper care of our body. (don't poke yourself in the eye with a stick being one of these lessons, and it hurts to cut myself with broken glass being another.)

Just a few thoughts as to why the lack of "perfection" isn't necessary evidence towards a lack of intelligent design.