“Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a bird capable, say, of catching insects in mid-air, with the result that birds of similar habitats tend to have very similar anatomies, whatever their ancestry. For example, American vultures look and behave much like Old World vultures, but biologists have come to realize that the former are related to storks, the latter to hawks, and that their resemblances result from their common lifestyle.” WorldWayLooksDifficultRealizingResultsCommonAirExampleDesignFieldsEvolutionCapableBirdLifestyleFlightFormerBehaveRelatedLatterSevereInsectsCatchingConstraintsAncestryAnatomyResemblanceHawksBiologistHabitatOld WorldVultureTaxonomyStorks Author:Jared Diamond
“Humility is often only the putting on of a submissiveness by which men hope to bring other people to submit to them; it is a morecalculated sort of pride, which debases itself with a design of being exalted; and though this vice transform itself into a thousand several shapes, yet the disguise is never more effectual nor more capable of deceiving the world than when concealed under a form of humility.” PeopleMenWorldFormDesignHumilityPrideThousandShapesAmbitionCapableVicesHypocrisySubmitDeceivingDisguiseConcealedExalted Author:Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“I think nobody would claim that random genetic drift is capable of producing adaptation, that is to say the illusion of design. Random genetic drift can't produce wings that are good at flying, or eyes that are good at seeing, or legs that are good at running. But random genetic drift probably is very important in driving evolution at the molecular genetic level.” ThinkingImportantEyeRunningLevelsSeeingDesignProduceEvolutionCapableIllusionClaimsWingsLegsDrivingFlyingAdaptation Author:Richard Dawkins
“I've heard some designers talk about the design process being centred on invention, starting with a blank slate. I admire that and occasionally I'm capable of that, but I have to admit that I really have trouble working with completely open briefs.” ProcessTroubleHeardDesignCapableStartingInventionAdmireDesignerBlankSlateBlank SlatesDesign Process Author:Michael Bierut
“As many critics of religion have pointed out, the notion of a creator poses an immediate problem of an infinite regress. If God created the universe, what created God? To say that God, by definition, is uncreated simply begs the question. Any being capable of creating a complex world promises to be very complex himself. As the biologist Richard Dawkins has observed repeatedly, the only natural process we know of that could produce a being capable of designing things is evolution.” IfsKnowsWorldProblemUniverseProcessNaturalDesignProduceEvolutionPromiseCreatingCapableInfiniteComplexesCriticsNotionDefinitionsCreatorBiologist Author:Sam Harris
“It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process - that this protégé of supernatural intellect couldn't think of a better way to forgive our sins than to have himself tortured to death.” ThinkingWayIdeasLawReligionUniverseProcessSinDesignCapableForgivingCreatorIntellectPhysicsDisgustingBetter WaysInventingLaws Of Physics Author:Richard Dawkins
“Workers must root out the idea that by keeping the results of their labors to themselves a fortune will be assured to them. Patent fees are so much wasted money. The flying machine of the future will not be born fully fledged and capable of a flight for 1,000 miles or so. Like everything else it must be evolved gradually. The first difficulty is to get a thing that will fly at all. When this is made, a full description should be published as an aid to others. Excellence of design and workmanship will always defy competition.” ShouldFirstsMadeIdeasScienceBornResultsDesignEvolutionFutureCapableLaborRootsMachinesDifficultyCompetitionFortuneExcellenceWorkersAidsMilesFlyingFlightDescriptionAssuredFeesPatentsWorkmanshipFlying Machines Author:Lawrence Hargrave