A Scheduling Nightmare...

I have written a few posts on the aspects of a schedule or, a plan, and how those aspects relate to an intelligent design. Although I will continue to write on this subject I’d like to close off this particular series with a final look at one way a schedule implies design and how such an implication proves problematic to evolutionary theory. The Summer Olympics typically start on a certain date. The date that they start is usually set well in advance of the actual Olympics and the date is usually considered fixed (i.e., the Olympics WILL start on that date). Have you ever considered the logistics nightmare involved in planning for and executing all that is necessary just to get to the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics? Anyone involved in such an endeavor surely understands the need for a well laid-out plan. Inherent in laying out the plan is the need for a complete understanding of the activities required to achieve the target date, whether they be the details of material availability, purchasing cycles, workforce availability, weather issues, etc. These expected constraints determine the optimum timing of the various activities in the schedule. As I’ve written previously, a good analysis of a schedule will reveal this essence of fine tuning which, in turn, is an indicator of design. But what about unexpected constraints? We all know that things don’t always go as planned. Take a look at virtually any construction project and you will find this to be the case. Craft go on strike, the rainy season lasts longer than expected, a material supplier goes belly up, there is a fire on the project, etc. Is the schedule thrown out or ignored simply because these things occur? No. What happens are what we call workarounds. Those people in charge of running the project take a look at the impacts of the unexpected constraints, assess the damage, and recommend a workaround solution - all with the original intent of meeting the target date. An excellent example of this process was found in the movie Apollo 13 where a CO2 filter for one system had to be co-opted to work in place of a CO2 filter from another system. It was an unexpected constraint and required a workaround to solve. Note clearly what is happening: when the target date for an overall schedule completion is impacted by an unexpected constraint, intelligent agents devise workaround plans with which to ensure that the optimally timed target date is achieved. This is problematic for evolutionary theory. The reason it is problematic is that evolutionary theory mandates that change will only occur through the effects of chance and natural selection accumulating over long periods of time. If this were the case then, when we lay out the schedule of life’s history and do an analysis, we should not expect to see optimum timing. Yet we do see evidence of optimum timing from the Big Bang event to the present. More about that later…