Detecting design or intent in nature

[bennyboy]

It's a pretty simple logical extension at work here:
-we know life exists in the physical universe
-we have not found any evidence of God, or of intellect creating the life.
-it therefore seems likely that life was created due to physical processes

Its a pretty simple logical extension at work here:
- we know intellects can implement evolutionary systems
- we have not found any evidence of evolutionary systems being implemented without intellects.
- it therefore seems likely that the evolutionary system which created us was implemented by an intellect.

Yeah, no evidence of evolutionary systems except for. . . evolution.

Here's this debate:
You: Show me a created system which was implemented without intellect.
Me: I can show you systems in nature for which there's no evidence of intelligent design
You: No, those don't count. We didn't observe those being created and implemented, so we can't know whether they were created and implemented by intellects. They don't count as evidence.
Me: Well, anything we've observed to be created and implemented must require an intellect, because "implemented" is a goal-oriented behavior, and that implies a living organism.
You: See!? It's true, it's TRUE-- everything we've observed being created and implemented IS created by intellect. Therefore everything is created by intellect.

The problem is that you haven't established that evolution, or any other part of nature, was "implemented." You just use that word to discard a universe full of evidence which doesn't support your flimsy claim.

General rule of thumb, brother: if you have to use question-begging semantics to prove your argument, and if you have no other support for your argument, your argument isn't going to stand up except to other theists. If chasing your own linguistic tail for a lifetime is really worth the effort, go for it-- but eventually you're going to realize that you could have just accepted reality for what it is, and spent your time on much more interesting things.