Scientism & Philosophical Arguments

[Angrboda]

specified complexity
Isn't that this ill defined thing noone has ever found a real life example for?

The exact definition or limit of what is specified is difficult to nail down. Precisely, because the specification changes and we may not always know why it's specified.  I would point out that the demarcation of science has historically also been a difficult to set exact restrictions on.  Would you say, because we cannot find an exact limit of science that science has no real life examples?

There is a difference in that we can investigate whether some practice epitomizes science or not, we're not trying to devise a test for what is or isn't science. But just such a test of design is exactly what is required by the ID programme. Besides being a tu quoquish swipe at science, it's an implicit acknowledgement that ID has failed to deliver such a test.

I do think that we can tell the difference between a birds nest, and a bunch of sticks that fell to the ground from natural forces.  Or if a structure was found on Mars, we could possibly tell it's difference from naturally eroding rock (even if the structure is unfamiliar).   Similarly we can tell the difference between radio signals, and naturally occurring electro-magnetic radiation.  The SETI research is relying on this.

We do this by observing similarities between the designed object and other examples of design by known designers. How would we tell that a structure on Mars was designed if it in fact looked like just a pile of rocks? We would be looking for walls and roofs in a structure that doesn't obviously have them. However specified complexity is different in that it aims to identify a unique signature of design, of how designed objects are different from natural objects. That's a different type of task than identifying similarities. That's trying to find out in what way designed objects are uniquely a certain way. And so far, ID has come up empty in describing what that certain way designed things differ from natural objects is.