The Not-So-Intelligent Designer: Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and Intelligent Design Does Not

289 Pages·2015·5.78 MB·English

by  Abby Hafer

The Not-So-Intelligent Designer
Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and Intelligent
Design Does Not
ABBY HAFER
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALEXANDER WINKLER
The Not-So-Intelligent Designer
Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and
Intelligent Design Does Not
Copyright © 2015 Abby Hafer. All rights reserved.
Except for brief quotations in critical publications
or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced
in any manner without prior written permission
from the publisher. Write: Permissions. Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3,
Eugene, OR 97401.
Cascade Books
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

ISBN 13: 978-1-62032-941-2
EISBN 13: 978-1-4982-7360-2
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Hafer, Abby.

The not-so-intelligent designer : why evolution
explains the human body and intelligent design
does not./ Abby Hafer.

xii + 230 p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical

references and index.

ISBN 13: 978-1-62032-941-2

1. Intelligent design (Teleology). 2. Religion
and science. I. Title.

BL263 H24 2015

Manufactured in the U.S.A. 07/16/2015
Table of Contents
Title Page
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Introduction, or, Why Testicles
Matter
Chapter 2: Bad Design—Men’s Testicles
Chapter 3: What Is Intelligent Design, and What
Does It Have to Do With Men’s Testicles?
Chapter 4: Testicles, Part II
Chapter 5: Why Evolution Explains the Human
Body Better than Intelligent Design Does
Chapter 6: Intelligent Design According to Its
Believers: Is Intelligent Design the Same as
Creationism, and Is Intelligent Design Religion?
Chapter 7: The Infamous Wedge Strategy
Chapter 8: Why Denying Evolution Can Get
You into Trouble and Cause Mass Hunger, Too
Chapter 9: What Science Is
Chapter 10: Why Accepting Science and
Evolution Can Lead to Better Values for All
Humankind
Chapter 11: Bad Design—the Birth Canal
Chapter 12: The Handy-Dandy Intelligent
Design Refuter, Part 1
Chapter 13: Intelligent Design Requires a Leap
of Faith
Chapter 14: Animals That Shouldn’t Exist
According to Intelligent Design
Chapter 15: Bad Design—the Human Throat
Chapter 16: The Handy-Dandy Intelligent
Design Refuter, Part 2
Chapter 17: Irreducible Complexity, the Design
Inference, and Geological Formations
Chapter 18: Irreducible Complexity and Blood
Clotting
Chapter 19: Bad Design—the Human Blood
Clotting System: It Led to the Communist
Russian Revolution
Chapter 20: Irreducible Complexity, Flagella,
and Cilia
Chapter 21: Irreducible Complexity and the
Human Eye
Chapter 22: Bad Design—the Human Eye
Chapter 23: Why Denying Science is Bad for
You, and Bad for Your Neighbors, Too
Chapter 24: Why Reward in Heaven Makes No
Difference to Human Behavior, but Good
Institutions Do
Chapter 25: Bad Design—Our Biochemical
Pathways: If Cats Don’t Die of Scurvy, Then
Why Do We?
Chapter 26: Why Does Intelligent Design Act so
Much Like the Tobacco Lobby?
Chapter 27: Bad Design—Our Teeth, or, Why Is
This Animal Smiling?
Chapter 28: The Discovery Institute Hasn’t
Discovered Anything (Sort of Like the Tobacco
Institute)
Chapter 29: The Publishing Scandal that Rocked
the Discovery Institute
Chapter 30: Bad Design—Sharks Get More
Reproductive Options, Too
Chapter 31: Exploding the Cambrian Explosion
Chapter 32: Why William Dembski’s
“Information Theory” Isn’t Very Informative
Chapter 33: Bad Design—the Human Genome
Chapter 34: Bad Design—the Human Appendix
Chapter 35: Evolution: The Greatest
Indisputably True Story Ever Told
Appendix 1: The Phylogeny of Mammalian
Testicles
Appendix 2: The American Association for the
Advancement of Science’s Statement on
Intelligent Design
Appendix 3: The Life Cycle of the Immortal
Jellyfish
Appendix 4: Credits and Notes for Illustrations
and Photographs
To Les Muray—scholar, priest, helpful theologian, rock and roller, dedicated
humanitarian, world traveler, lover of things Hungarian, serious sports fan,
survivor of a life that would have worn out the rest of us long ago, colleague,
and friend. Your enthusiastic and knowledgeable support has been a delight.