If we were intelligently designed, why are bodies designed so poorly?

Question

If our designer was so intelligent, why do we have to brush our teeth? Why isn't our saliva much more powerful of a cleaner? There are many dangerous mountains and cliffs in the world, why weren't we designed with wings to save ourselves in case we fell? How come our bodies take so long to heal themselves? If we lose an arm or a leg, why don't we grow new ones? How come there are so many germs that can so easily harm the body? Why is our skin so weak that a tiny bug such as a mosquito can pierce it? How come so many people are born with genetic flaws that lead to disabilities? How come people that become paralyzed can't heal?

I don't think we were designed at all, but, if we were, it definitely wasn't done intelligently.

Answer 1

I don't believe in intelligent design at all. I think that we evolved this way for a reason. Look at how much we have in common with so many other species. Mating habits, emotions, stress, etc. Now, if we DIDN'T evolve, why do humanoid's found in etheopia believed to be 30,000 years old by carbon dating have different skulls than ours? These ancestors of ours were intelligent enough to make their own tools, like primates, and create ancient intelligent artwork, unlike primates. Also, lets say god did create Adam and took one of his rib's and made Eve. Now wouldn't we all be white/black/brown or ALL THE SAME skin color? Don't allow religion to block you from thinking intelligently for a minute. Our skin pigments EVOLVED to adapt to our surroundings. Providing further proof that we evolve to better suit our environments. Just like how goldfish can grow bigger or smaller depending on their envioronments, like a lot of dinosaurs once did too. If there were a lot of dinosaurs on an island there was not enough room for them all and more food would be needed. So, over time they evolved and adapted to their surroundings and became smaller in size as adults. Now, we don't have all of the amenities the author describes because we're meant to die so other creatures can survive. When we die our bodies become infested with maggots, which turn into flies, which are eaten by other animals so they can live. It's a natural process that evolved over time to help keep life on this planet. So the next time you think we were created intelligently ask yourself why you must eat, instead of not need nutrients.

Answer 2

I'm pretty content with my body's design, actually. Sure we have to brush our teeth, but since that's the case, isn't it a good thing we were equipped with the hands and intelligence needed to do that? If our saliva were much stronger, then it would eat through the enamel on our teeth. I may not have wings to keep my from falling off a mountain, but I can design the ropes, harnesses, and helmets needed to climb the mountain and to help keep me safe. Also, although wings would be cool, then we'd need lighter bones and less mass. It'd be easier to get hurt and harder to run or swim. Not only does my body heal even some of the worst injuries given time, but I'm also supplied with the intelligence to discover take advantage of all sorts of cures and remedies. I might not grow back a lost arm or leg, but my body can heal over stump and I can learn to get along without it. Sure, a lot of germs can harm my body, but also have a really great immune system to prevent illness and to fight it off. My skin may be weak enough for a mosquito to penetrate, but it's also porous enough to release sweat, elastic enough to allow for pregnancy, and delicate enough to let me feel all sorts of surfaces. Genetic flaws may lead to disabilities, but medecines and advanged biological knowledge has allowed us more and more to be successful and treating and caring for such problems. People may become paralyzed, but they are still able not only to live, but also to maintain quality of life.

Don't get me wrong, Intelligent Design is a crock, but all in all I think that God and evolution have done a pretty good job.

Answer 3

How do you know that our bodies are poorly designed? You're making an unthinking assumption that you know what the designer's purpose is, but you really don't. He might have quite different considerations in mind than you would, if you were to design a human body. As long as you don't know what He's trying to accomplish, then it's a waste of time for you to try to decide if He designed wisely or not. You can probably think of several things about your car that you think are poorly designed and ought to be improved, but unless you're an engineer you really don't know what the purpose of those elements might be, or why they're there, or what effects it might have if they were different. God's ultimate purpose is to draw human beings to Himself, but the way in which that purpose is worked out in the design of people, animals, nature, and so forth, is an impossibly complex question to ask. Even for a single individual, the number of factors involved is too high to allow reasonable speculation about purpose. That's why anyone who believes in intelligent design doesn't waste his time trying to figure out the purpose of a thing, except maybe in certain very limited cases where the evidence is particularly good. What we do is try to discern IF a thing is designed or not- the WHY is usually not knowable, and certainly not scientifically answerable. The IF question is another matter entirely. That's nothing but common forensics- a science we've practiced for a century or more as it relates to other things (like criminal evidence). Using forensic techniques on biological systems is nothing outrageous or off limits. Why should it be? If the techniques are valid at all (and we know they are, from long use) then why should we be afraid to apply them, unless we simply don't like the answer they give us? I'm a biologist myself, and I don't take kindly to intellectual dishonesty of any kind, nor to timidity, nor to philosophy masquerading as science. I'm quite ready to follow the evidence wherever it leads me, however unorthodox it seems, and I'm unapologetic about that.

Answer 4

Obviously you are a "the glass is half empty" kind of person.

If we were all evolved from primordial sludge, why HAVEN'T the things you mentioned been overcome? God did design us in perfection..we, as humans, brought the imperfections of life upon ourselves.

Answer 5

We ARE the designer.


we did not know how to create, so we did the best we could...we projected simple images onto our perfect mind...this came from the fear that we became separate from God, our perfectly loving Creator, Who does not create in physical terms.

It is obvious that physicality is made by someone who is going by a lack of understanding. We are one beloved Child of God, dreaming "he" is a multitude.

Answer 6

I do not know Gods reason for the design He came up with; but, I will surely ask Him one day when I come face to face with Him.

Answer 7

Well Jack-you forget the fall. You also have been brainwashed. Its easy to do-all you have to do is to get someone to believe a lie-then another. Then you can tell them that they came from a rock 3.2 billion years ago, and they will believe it. Even if you don't know where the rock came from.

Answer 8

I cannot ANSWER, but only AGREE, more people need to learn to think.
I asked this same question a while ago and it REALLY frazzled the "Radical Christian Fundamentlist non-thinkers" who sadly only "know" what they have been brainwashed with since the impressionable years of childhood.

Answer 9

only after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden did we loose invincibility, however, have you ever studied any anatomy or human biology, we are unimaginably, overwhelmingly, incredibly designed.

ide like to see anyone do better, yeah thats right, you too.
all you can do is question it right?
go make a tree, out of nothing and have the wind blow its leaves, yeah thats what i thought, cant do it.

Answer 10

I would say its because we were created to be "HUMAN"..what you are describing is a robot!! Oh and by the way...God gave some people special intellect to design those already too!!