Richard Dawkins: Designer!

Richard Dawkins: Designer!

Richard Dawkins (1987) describes a computer example of changing letters, one at a time at random, in a string and shows that, after only 41 generations of "breeding", the desired Shakespearean phrase is obtained. At each stage, however, the criterion for retaining a new letter is that it shall agree with the letter in the corresponding place in the final design!

Dawkins chose the Shakespearean sentence at the outset. He then used it as a template for accepting or rejecting all subsequent letter changes. This is a clear example showing the influence of a designer. The fact that each letter change was made using random choices (continued until the template-approved letter was found) addresses only the question of efficiency.

Reference

Richard Dawkins The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design (W. W. Norton, New York)

Dawkins' famous computer example is an argument for design, not for the NDT!	Arthur S. Lodge \| home Darwin's Eye: Bait and Switch \| Fisher's Fallacies \| Shapiro's Shenanigans \| Huxley's "Hoary Objection" Howler \| Richard Dawkins: Designer! \| Dembski's Disaster \| Do Highly Improbable Events Ever Happen? \| Miller's Mistake \| Wald's Wand \| The Typing Monkeys Fallacy "Unlikely Events" Fallacies: Evolution
	Richard Dawkins: Designer! Richard Dawkins (1987) describes a computer example of changing letters, one at a time at random, in a string and shows that, after only 41 generations of "breeding", the desired Shakespearean phrase is obtained. At each stage, however, the criterion for retaining a new letter is that it shall agree with the letter in the corresponding place in the final design! Dawkins chose the Shakespearean sentence at the outset. He then used it as a template for accepting or rejecting all subsequent letter changes. This is a clear example showing the influence of a designer. The fact that each letter change was made using random choices (continued until the template-approved letter was found) addresses only the question of efficiency. Reference Richard Dawkins The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design (W. W. Norton, New York)