In this blog post, we will compare the perspectives of evolutionism and intelligent design theory on the origin of human existence and consider whether we are the product of chance or intentional beings.
Where did the universe begin? This question is one of the most fundamental questions that has been asked throughout human history. Humans have sought answers to this question in their own ways, depending on the era and culture. In ancient times, people assumed the existence of supernatural beings that could not be explained by human knowledge or imagination, and sought answers to the origin of the universe through myths about these beings creating the world. However, in 1859, a naturalist named Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species,” presenting a completely different scientific explanation that did not require the existence of a transcendent being. Based on observable phenomena, he established a systematic theory on the origin and evolution of life, including humans. As a result, perspectives on the origin of the world and the nature of life were divided into two camps: “evolutionism” and “creationism.” These two positions remain central topics of philosophical, scientific, and theological discussions to this day.
In fact, not knowing where humans came from does not immediately cause major disruptions in daily life. Even without knowing the origin of life, there seem to be no significant problems in living our daily lives. However, the world we live in is filled with numerous values and the conflicts that arise from them. In such a world, without contemplating questions such as “Where did I come from?” and “Why do I exist?”, it is easy to lose direction and become unstable in life. Knowing who we are and what we live for is not simply a matter of knowledge, but is connected to our attitude toward life. In this article, we will first examine what evolutionary theory claims, consider its limitations and the alternatives proposed by intelligent design theory, and then explore the possibility of the existence of an absolute being through philosophical considerations of time and existence.
Evolutionary theory consists of three core propositions. First, biological species are not fixed and can change over time. In other words, no species exists in an absolute form, but rather can evolve gradually through environmental and other conditions to become new species. Second, through this evolutionary process, diverse life forms have emerged, and their roots can be traced back to a single common ancestor.
Third, these changes occur through a process called natural selection. So, what is natural selection? A representative example that explains natural selection is the story of the peppered moth in England during the Industrial Revolution. At that time, industrial pollution caused the bark of trees to darken, making the moths, which were originally light in color, easily visible and prey to birds.
On the other hand, moths with darker colors were better camouflaged in their surroundings and had a higher chance of survival, resulting in an increase in their population. In other words, individuals that adapted to the environment survived and reproduced, passing on their genetic traits to the next generation. The phenomenon of bacteria with antibiotic resistance surviving and reproducing is another example of natural selection.
In this way, natural selection is a mechanism by which genetic traits that are best suited to the environment accumulate in a direction that is advantageous for survival. The core of evolutionary theory is the claim that these changes have accumulated over a long period of time to form the diversity of species. Genetic variation is a phenomenon that has been scientifically proven through experiments and observations. However, this raises the question: Can genetic variation alone explain the emergence of entirely new species?
The example of the peppered moth mentioned earlier is merely a change in color within a single species of moth, not an example of the emergence of a completely new species. If moths gradually developed larger bodies and stronger defenses to survive against their predators, birds, then over time, the existing species of moths should have disappeared, and new flying creatures capable of resisting birds should have emerged.
In response to such questions, evolutionists argue that the pace of evolution is extremely slow, and that changes accumulate over millions of years, so significant changes are not observable in the short term. Ultimately, they explain that the emergence of new species is possible given sufficient time. However, if evolution is a gradual process, there must have been intermediate forms of life between the present and the past.
And these intermediate stages should not be just one or two, but a series of gradual forms. Nevertheless, evolution theory has not yet been able to clearly present a complete evolutionary model for any biological species. Furthermore, evolution theory can explain the “change” of life, but it cannot explain the “origin” of life.
It cannot answer questions such as how life originated, how the first living organisms appeared, and, going further back, how the universe began and when time came into existence. The position proposed to address these limitations is “intelligent design.” This is a modern variation of creationism and an attempt to approach the issue scientifically, starting from the premise that complex and sophisticated life forms cannot have arisen by chance.
Richard Dawkins cites William Paley’s 19th-century essay “Natural Theology” to explain the philosophical foundation of intelligent design theory. Paley presented the following analogy: If a person walking in a field kicks a stone, and someone asks why the stone is there, the answer “it has always been there” is easily accepted. However, if instead of a stone, they find a watch, it is difficult to believe that the watch came into existence by chance and ended up there. A watch is an object with a complex structure and purpose, created based on someone’s intention and design. He argued that living organisms in nature are much more complex than watches, and therefore, there must be a designer of living organisms.
Even with modern science and technology, it is nearly impossible to completely replicate or assemble a living organism. The human body is made up of numerous organs and systems that are organically connected, and all of their functions are precisely coordinated. It is difficult to accept the explanation that such an existence came into being without any purpose or design, merely as the result of countless coincidences. Therefore, complex and sophisticated living organisms must have a clear designer, and this designer holds the key to explaining the origin of life, which Darwin’s theory of evolution cannot explain.
If so, can this designer also explain the origin of the universe? Some may ask, “Then where did the designer come from?” If there is another designer who created the designer, this lineage would ultimately be infinite. However, there is a philosophical contradiction here. This is because the concept of time cannot be infinite in reality. If time has no beginning, then the present moment cannot exist. This is because it is logically impossible to reach the present moment from an infinite past. The philosophical proposition that infinity cannot be reached and that a point in the flow of infinity cannot be absolutely defined applies here.
The concept of “infinity” is not simply a very large quantity, but a concept that has no boundaries in itself. Take a vertical line as an example. There are countless points on a line that extends infinitely in both directions, but no point can be described in terms of its position without an absolute standard. The way we indicate numbers is arbitrary, with 0 designated as the starting point, and it is impossible to accurately define a position on an infinite line. The same is true for time. The fact that we currently exist is decisive evidence that time is not infinite. Therefore, there must be a beginning to time, and there must be a “first being” that transcends that beginning and causes time to function. We can call that being the Absolute or God.
So far, we have approached the origin of the world through the limitations of evolution theory, the logic of intelligent design theory, and philosophical considerations of time and infinity. Of course, this discussion is limited to logically supporting the possibility of the existence of the Absolute, and does not claim that it is identical to the god of a particular religion. The important point is that the existence of the absolute being does not make the world random and chaotic, but rather implies the existence of a single, orderly law. This enables us to reflect deeply on human existence and provides a foundation for moral standards and direction in life.
Our knowledge is limited, and our understanding has its limits. However, when we acknowledge human limitations and approach the truth beyond them with humility, we can begin to live life with greater care and depth. This attitude will provide the inner core necessary to navigate the chaos of values without losing one’s bearings. And that core ultimately begins with the question of who we are and why we exist.
