Even if there was a Designer, does it matter?

A question I've asked repeatedly and never gotten a response is:"Even if ID was true, is there any value to the concept of a Designer beyond a historical footnote or in the case of Product Liability suits?"Yeah, it's interesting to point out the tail fins were designed by Harley Earl and that Bill Mitchell had an entirely different point of view, or in the case of obviously piss poor design having an individual that can be held responsible for compensation.But other than those two specific areas, historical footnotes and product liability, is there any other value to Intelligent Design?likely in Intelligent Design please

---

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Can I get this promoted?

---

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Thread copied here from the Even if there was a Designer, does it matter? thread in the Proposed New Topics forum.

My first reaction to this is: well, yeah, it kind of does.Knowing that this designer exists means that at least some part of it must be tied to reality; surely we could study this part to learn more about it. It also validates a heck of a lot of religious mumbo (but I can see this easily leading into various religious conflicts, potentially much worse than those of the past -- either way, there'd not be many atheists left around).Then there is the contrasting question about abiogenesis: "okay, we *know* it happened, why do we need to study it?" The answers in both cases are the same; "well, why not?" and "because we can".Of course, that assumes that the designer does exist, something which is severely lacking in support. And like any other hypothesis, it would also need to account for exactly what we already know too. Again, something which does not appear very likely.

Yes, it matters very much whether there is a designer or not. The question of the designer's identity may be perceived as a parochial one, but if ID is true it means that just about everything we think we know about the world around us is bunk, and worse, that our methods of gaining knowledge are seriously flawed. Not a small matter, I'd say.

---

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." - Charles Darwin.

Even if it wasn't important, it would be interesting.Most of the facts that I know will never put a cent in my pocket, but then that's not why I acquired them.

What would be on my mind would be the conceptual equivalent of killing him and taking his stuff.Just think how I could improve things if I had his power.

Nah, a quick fix would work all we would have to do is print god did it at the end of every scoolbook.

Not really. Apples would still fall from trees because of gravity, not god. Unless, of course, god has been lying to us all that time and tweaks all our senses and measuring devices in to making it look like he didn't do it.

quote:

---

But other than those two specific areas, historical footnotes and product liability, is there any other value to Intelligent Design?

---

It seems to me that even given indisputable, scientific evidence of a designer, ID wouldn't necessarily be less a bunch of voodoo just because it predicts a designer.It would of course make it more difficult to show that ID is not science which would IMO have a tremendous social impact.

Hi Parasomnium, I don't agree on this one. Why would the scientific method be flawed if god/ID existed? The fact that some things are designed (cars, etc.) does not mean that everything is designed. We can distinguish between design and non-design (although sometimes it's really hard), and so far no design has been detected in nature. But that does not prove that god does not exist and that nothing is designed in nature. He could theoretically still have designed the first life or the big bang and then sit back and drink cocktails the rest of his life, while watching his self-created soap unfold...

Good answer; but now you must explain why. Why? Does the Earth not go around the Sun now simply because we found out some intelligent being made it that way? Did the Big Bang not occur now that we know it was meant to happen like that? Are the processes that brought the Earth into existence no longer real having discovered they were instigated by an intelligent force?Does the moving particle no longer move only because we figured out who was ultimately pushing it? Why does it mean this? All else constant, does figuring out that your sports car was designed and built by an intelligent being as opposed to merely falling into existence really affect how it currently operates? Does suddenly knowing this now tempt you to fill the fuel tank with jello instead of gas?If there was a designer, there was always a designer. How does discovering this designer change the reality of the Universe?How does our knowledge of a designer in any way alter objective Reality?JonEdited by Jon, : word order

---

Check out Apollo's Temple!

And, if there was a designer, since we couldn't very well sue them, the 'product liability' boils down to little more than knowing who to curse when things break down.Ultimately, the only value the designer has to us is as a tidbit of knowledge.But, you already knew my take on the matter; hopefully, we can get some IDists in here to offer theirs.Jon

---

Check out Apollo's Temple!

If the designer's existence had no impact on what we discovered in the past, why should it now?If there was a designer, there was always a designer: There was a designer when we discovered the Earth goes around the Sun; there was a designer when we discovered that the origins of the observable Universe rest with the Big Bang; there was a designer when we dropped some binary onto a circuit and called it a computer. If there was a designer, there was always a designer.The designer is a factoid; nothing more.JonEdited by Jon, : Jon

---

Check out Apollo's Temple!

I'm not convinced that is an issue. We can still be pretty sure about how the model and mechanics work and knowing there was a designer would not change that.The remaining question would be to discover HOW the designer actually influenced and effected change.Once those processes were understood the designer would remain important only in the two areas mentioned.Again, look at history.Does it matter who invented, designed the first radio?How about the first car or boat or airplane or Slurpee?The fact that something has a designer is not really that important. In fact, even when the original design is unavailable it is possible to reverse engineer something and even improve on the design.It would be exciting though.

---

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!