Q&A: The Difference Between the Argument from Design and the Argument from Complexity
The Difference Between the Argument from Design and the Argument from Complexity
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
In your book “God Plays Dice,” chapter 3, you point out that in the argument from design there is a certain addition beyond the argument from complexity, in that design is a “divine fingerprint” visible to the eye, unlike complexity, which only proves that there is someone who assembled it.
Could you explain a bit more what the difference is?
After all, just as design is a “fingerprint” of the designer, so too one could say that complexity is “the fingerprint of the assembler.”
Or alternatively:
Just as complexity shows only that there is an assembler, so too design only shows that there was someone who planned everything
Answer
I don’t even remember that comment. The difference isn’t significant. Design points to the intention of whoever created the thing, whereas complexity is just statistics.
It’s on page 119, under the heading “Two Types of Physico-Theological Arguments”