Page 27 - The Origin of Life and the Universe - International Conference 2016

The Origin of Life and the Universe

That every living thing can be thought to be computing something, and
that, sometimes, we can understand living things better by looking at
them as computers. (Will Clifford, Feb 2, 2003, “DNA Computing:
Meet Dr. Adleman”, [Online] Youngzine) ”
Again, DNA computing highlights the remarkable similarities between
human designs and the designs that we see inside the cell. We can make
advantage of these astounding similarities to construct a formal argument
for God’s existence by following in the footsteps of the British Natural
Theologian William Paley. In the late 1700s, Paley wrote a book called
Natural Theology. In this work, Paley advanced one of the best known ar-
guments in the west for God’s existence: the Watchmaker Argument.
Paley reasoned in this way: Just as a watch requires a watchmaker,
life requires a Divine Watchmaker. In Paley’s day, the watch was the
pinnacle of engineering achievement. Paley pointed out that a watch is a
contrivance — a machine composed of a number of parts that interact
precisely to accomplish the purpose. Paley contrasted the operation of a
watch with a rock. Paley argued that a rock finds explanation through the
outworking of natural processes. But a watch requires a MIND to explain
its existence. Based on a survey of biological systems, Paley concluded
that living systems have more in common with the watch than a rock.
And if a watch requires a watchmaker to explain its existence, then by
analogy, living systems require a mind to explain their existence.
Advances in biochemistry allow us to bring the Watchmaker Argument
up-to-date. We know from common experience that computer systems—
the pinnacle of engineering achievement in our day—require a mind (in
fact, many minds) to explain their existence. And because we find computer
systems operating within the cell, we can reasonably conclude that life
requires a Divine Mind to account for its existence. I find the Watchmaker
Argument to be compelling. Yet, in my experience when I present this ar-
gument to skeptics, they will argue that evolutionary processes can serve
as the watchmaker. In fact, they regard these processes as the Blind
Watchmaker. This idea is articulated by Richard Dawkins in his book The
Blind Watchmaker. Dawkins says this:
“[Paley] had a proper reverence for the complexity of the living world,

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