Watchmakers Analogy Inverted to Atheist Argument

[Josh F]

If you're not familiar, the watchmaker argument is a theological argument for intelligent design.  Its an analogy, often told as a parable.  You find a watch on the ground.  Upon examining its complexity you safely assume the watch has a watchmaker.  Similarly, upon examining the complexity of the universe one should determine it too has a maker.

 

I was thinking of an atheist equivalent.  I call it the Book Writer Analogy.  You find a book on the ground.  Upon examining its written word you safely assume the book was written by a human.  Similarly, upon examining any Holy Book, one should determine it too has a human author.  

 

Anyways, thought it was a good counter if you find yourself up against such an argument.  

[Prairie]

I was thinking of an atheist equivalent. I call it the Book Writer Analogy. You find a book on the ground.

I laughed a lot right at this point. Brilliant.

[Demosthenes_]

I feel if that analogy were to be used, it would be taken in a literal sense. No one (or not many) people deny that humans wrote the  holy books, but argue that their holy one was communicating their message to them and they just put it on paper. It is a good analogy, but I do not see it swaying anyone who is far in their life and still believes in a god.

[Lars]

That is pretty funny.The watch-maker analogy proposes the principle that inexplicable complexity necessarily requires a designer, this would apply to omnipotence above all else, representing infinite complexity relative to a created universe. It's automatically meaningless.You don't just find a stray deity floating around the boundless void of non-existence, it must have had a designer!"Everything baffles me, therefore God did it" doesn't exactly deserve much attention in the first place.

[Josh F]

I laughed a lot right at this point. Brilliant.

=)

 

I feel if that analogy were to be used, it would be taken in a literal sense. No one (or not many) people deny that humans wrote the  holy books, but argue that their holy one was communicating their message to them and they just put it on paper. It is a good analogy, but I do not see it swaying anyone who is far in their life and still believes in a god.

Yeah I kind of realized that, its still funny though, and funny works great in a debate.

 

That is pretty funny.The watch-maker analogy proposes the principle that inexplicable complexity necessarily requires a designer, this would apply to omnipotence above all else, representing infinite complexity relative to a created universe. It's automatically meaningless.You don't just find a stray deity floating around the boundless void of non-existence, it must have had a designer!"Everything baffles me, therefore God did it" doesn't exactly deserve much attention in the first place.

Oh yeah the watchmaker analogy is one of my least favorite.  

[J. D. Stembal]

I've never seen the watchmaker analogy before but I instantly dislike it. Obviously, it cannot apply universally. Is a rock complex (compared to a watch)? No. Can a human make a rock? No.