Intelligent Design Icon Intelligent Design

When the Mona Lisa appears on a hillside, do you infer intelligent design?


(Photo by Barton Grover Howe)

Before you infer intelligent design, keep in mind that grass-cutting shears share an extremely high similarity with scissors which are used to cut paper. Since a paper stencil was apparently used in the origination of the grass-pattern, it’s likely that a pair of scissors was used to cut the stencil. This makes it plausible to assume that the grass-cutting shears were co-opted from scissors, because both are clearly homologous structures based upon their similarity.

Moreover, paper is made of plant material, and grass a plant. This could account for the origin of the stencil itself. Finally, Virginia has metal resources which could account for the origin of the original scissors. Don’t use a science-stopping explanation and infer design! We’re “on our way” to figuring this out, so don’t threaten the progress of science, medicine, and all of civilization by saying this was designed! You might as well reject round earth “theory” and the Periodic Table!

…but if you want to know about what really happened, see “Mona Lisa smile” by Barton Grover Howe (Newport News-Times)

(Note: because my parodies on this site have been misconstrued before by critics, I am forced to state what I would hope is obvious: the paragraph beginning with the words “Before you infer design” is a parody.)

Casey Luskin

Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Center for Science and Culture
Casey Luskin is a geologist and an attorney with graduate degrees in science and law, giving him expertise in both the scientific and legal dimensions of the debate over evolution. He earned his PhD in Geology from the University of Johannesburg, and BS and MS degrees in Earth Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied evolution extensively at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. His law degree is from the University of San Diego, where he focused his studies on First Amendment law, education law, and environmental law.

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