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At Evolution News: Your Intelligently Designed Body Is a System of Systems

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This excerpt from Your Designed Body, the new book by engineer Steve Laufmann and physician Howard Glicksman. Surely, the interdependent functionality of the human body stands as evidence of design.

Howard Glicksman and Steve Laufmann write:

To be alive, every cell in your body needs solutions to a complicated set of problems — containment, gates, controls, framing, transport, energy, information, and reproduction. Zooming out from a single cell, the human body as a whole is made up of around thirty trillion cells (a figure that varies widely with an individual’s size). It needs to solve all the same kinds of problems that a cell does, plus quite a few more. And it needs new ways to solve old problems, ways completely different from how the same problems were solved at the cellular level. 

For example, a single-celled organism is like a microscopic island of life. The cell gets what it needs and gets rid of what it doesn’t need from its surrounding environment. In contrast, a large multi-cellular organism (like you) is more like a continent with a deep and dark interior. Most of the cells reside deep in the interior with no direct access to the body’s surrounding environment. For a multicellular organism, then, harvesting the raw materials its cells need and getting rid of toxic by-products becomes a major logistical problem.

Photo credit: AJ Jean via Unsplash.

Several hundred such problems must be solved for a complex body to be alive. And many of the solutions to these basic problems generate new problems that must also be solved, or that constrain other solutions in critical ways. The result is that for a complex body to be alive, thousands of deeply interconnected problems must be solved, and many of them solved at all times, or life will fail.

Additionally, many of the problems the body faces are much more complex than those solved in any individual cell. For example, while it takes impressive engineering for cells to sense their environment (a process not well understood), sensing poses a considerably greater engineering challenge for a human body, since it involves much more sophisticated forms of sensing — like vision, hearing, taste, smell, and the fine-touch sensing in your hands.

The bottom line is that, as hard as it is for a cell to maintain life, it’s much harder for an organism with a complex body plan like yours.

Hard Problems Take Clever Solutions

Together, the many thousands of problems the body must solve for survival and reproduction require many thousands of ingenious solutions. Most of these solutions need special-purpose equipment across all levels of the body plan, from specifically adapted molecular machinery (like hemoglobin molecules) to specialized cells (like red blood cells) to tissues (like bone marrow) to whole body systems (like the cardiovascular system). This may involve hundreds of thousands of parts, replicated in millions of places. 

Solutions to this class of problems always exhibit four interesting characteristics:

1. Specialization

It takes the right parts to make a working whole. Each part must perform a function with respect to the larger system. Each part must be made of the right materials, fine-tuned to precise tolerances, and equipped with suitable interfaces with the other parts. This is a design principle known as separation of concerns. Virtually every designed object in human experience is based on this design strategy. And this appears to be equally true in biological systems, including virtually every capability in the human body.

2. Organization

The parts must be in the right places, arranged and interconnected to enable the function of the whole. Each part must work with the other parts in an integrated way. The parts are often made of different materials, where a material is chosen for how its particular properties support the specific needs of that particular part and how it must function in light of the whole. This is a design principle known as the rule of composition. It counterbalances the separation of concerns principle. Separation of concerns breaks large problems into subproblems that are (slightly) easier to solve, while the rule of composition puts the solutions to the subproblems (the parts) together such that the function of the whole is achieved.

3. Integration

The parts must have exactly those interfaces that enable the parts to work together. With bones, this obviously involves their shapes, especially at their connection and articulation points (the joints). For other body systems this can involve structural support, alignment, shock absorption, gating and transport systems, electrical signaling, chemical signaling, exchange of complex information, and integrated logic.

4. Coordination

The parts must be coordinated such that each performs its respective function or functions at the right time. This usually requires one or more control systems, either active or passive, and usually some form of sensing and communication between the parts and the controls. This property is achieved by orchestration or choreography, which differ in the ways the controls are achieved, the former by a more centralized approach and the latter by a more distributed approach. In an old Chevy pickup, this function for the engine is achieved by a camshaft. In ATP Synthase, this is also achieved by a camshaft.

In designing a complex system, all four of the above factors must be considered across the whole when designing each of the parts.

When a system has all the right parts, in all the right places, made of the right materials, with the right specifications, doing their respective functions, at all the right times, to achieve an overall, system-level function that none of the parts can do on its own, you have what is known as a coherent system. Coherence, in this sense, is a functional requirement for all non-trivial systems. Moreover, in life the systems are never standalone — there are always interdependencies between and among the various component systems and parts. The human body is composed of coherent, interdependent systems.

The Scope of the Body’s Solutions

It takes a lot of work to keep a sawmill running. Logs need to be obtained, sorted, and brought in. Cut lumber needs to be taken away for further processing. The motors need electricity. The saw blades need to be changed out and sharpened. The workers need coffee. Lots of coffee. All these require various systems within the larger system.

Similarly, to keep your cells alive and working properly, your body requires eleven major organ systemsto distribute, dispose, defend, generate energy, and perform other crucial tasks. The systems and their roles:

  • The respiratory system takes in the oxygen (O2) your cells need and gets rid of excess carbon dioxide (CO2).
  • The gastrointestinal (digestive) system takes in the water, sugar, fat, protein, salt, vitamins, and minerals your cells need.
  • The renal/urinary system rids your body of excess nitrogen (ammonia, urea) and helps maintain your blood pressure and control your body’s water and salt content.
  • The cardiovascular system pumps blood throughout your body to provide “just in time” delivery of supplies to every organ no matter what you’re doing. It’s also critical for managing temperature, dissipating excess heat, and distributing chemical signals throughout the body.
  • The integumentary system (skin) protects your body from the outside world while helping control your temperature through sweating. It continually replenishes itself from the inside out and is remarkably good at repairing itself when it gets cut or scraped.
  • The skeletal system (bones) provides support and protection for many of your vital organs (like your brain, spinal cord, lungs, and heart) and is the framework for the muscles. Its structures, organization, and proportions enable an amazing range of movement and activity.
  • The motor system (muscles) allows the body to move around, stay balanced, and handle things. It’s capable of a wide range of strength demands yet possesses extraordinarily fine controls.
  • The nervous system (nerves and brain) allows the body to sense your surroundings, maintain your body’s vital functions, and control your activities. It also allows you to be awake and aware — to think, communicate, imagine, and create.
  • The immune/lymphatic system protects you from invading pathogens.
  • The endocrine system sends out hormones to regulate things like your metabolism and growth.
  • The reproductive system, male and female, enables new human life.

Each of these is a specialized subsystem in the body. The body needs all of them, organized properly, and coordinated to remarkably fine tolerances. In turn, each of these subsystems is a complete system, itself composed of many specialized subsystems and parts, organized in specific ways, and precisely coordinated.

See Evolution News.

Natural processes tend to destroy information-rich, functional systems over time. The body’s remarkable hierarchy of interdependent life-support systems stands as the most unnatural physical phenomenon in the universe.

Comments
Bornagain77 @1,
And yet, despite the sheer wonder of it all, and yet, despite the fact that Darwinists can’t even explain the origin of a single protein of that sheer wonder, Darwinists still have the audacity to, day in and day out, claim, right here on UD, that all of this sheer wonder is somehow the result of unguided natural processes.
Exactly. This exhibits their blind leaps of FAITH. The scientific evidence goes against them so they have to cherry pick and rationalize the data.
By all rights, Darwinian evolution should be classified as some sort of “psychosis”, i.e. “a loss of contact with reality”, that some people are suffering from.
No, it's a combination of ideological poisoning enveloped in social and professional intimidation. -QQuerius
December 15, 2022
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Martin_r @3,
Like I said … Biology is all about engineering. Period.
Exactly. One observes a beautifully harmonized collection of features and compromises typical of engineering expertise! -QQuerius
December 15, 2022
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Also, consider dexterity studies involving motor control of muscles. If we're into science FANTASY with regard to evolution, I have a far better theory: Humans became bipedal as they depended increasingly on dexterous use of their hands. Bipedalism allowed humans to travel using two limbs, freeing up two limbs for wielding tools and throwing rocks with deadly accuracy. Any Darwinist care to disagree? -QQuerius
December 15, 2022
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And THIS is called science???? Early humans may have first walked upright in the trees https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221214180655.htm "May have"???? Hahahaha. If the researchers ever climbed any actual trees, they'd know that having hands at your lower limbs is FAR better for survival. Also, most travel in trees is vertically up and down, plus the fastest way to travel horizontally is by swinging and hurtling to the next branch. One wonders whether the researchers ever visited a zoo. -QQuerius
December 15, 2022
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Like I said ... Biology is all about engineering. Period.martin_r
December 8, 2022
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Ba77 at 1, Allow me to remind you of your recent post that quoted a man that accused ID supporters and the Discovery Institute of being part of a terrorist organization. Followed by what that would mean for millions of people. It should be clear to you and unbiased readers that something not seen for a long time will alter the average person's thinking about very fundamental questions. And the first question involves human identity. Namely: Who am I? If the answer is some accidental result of an unguided process well, no one made you. But if there is an [unnamed] Intelligent Designer then many people will naturally conclude that 'I was made by someone, not nothing.' Those who fight against ID here know the end result. They call it a "theocracy" but it is just an acknowledgement of ancient truths. And shouldn't the truth be the primary concern? In any case, such a paradigm shift in the thinking of the average person will spark a revival of religion. Suddenly, God is back in the picture. And they fear God. Not as God but the people who believe in Him. They believe that all the perverse lifestyles they promoted will get more scrutiny. They want others to live like they do, or at least, to ignore certain truths. That was the documented plan since at least 1965. Tear down the family, and more. I submit to you that no "psychosis" occurred but a well-documented, heavily promoted plan that spread out from the United States and Western Europe. The goal of some here does involve keeping that plan alive.relatd
December 7, 2022
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And yet, despite the sheer wonder of it all, and yet, despite the fact that Darwinists can't even explain the origin of a single protein of that sheer wonder, Darwinists still have the audacity to, day in and day out, claim, right here on UD, that all of this sheer wonder is somehow the result of unguided natural processes. By all rights, Darwinian evolution should be classified as some sort of “psychosis”, i.e. "a loss of contact with reality", that some people are suffering from.
It’s Really Not Rocket Science - Granville Sewell - November 16, 2015 Excerpt: "It is not enough to say that design is a more likely scenario to explain a world full of well-designed things. It strikes me as urgent to insist that you not allow your mind to surrender the absolute clarity that all complex and magnificent things were made that way. Once you allow the intellect to consider that an elaborate organism with trillions of microscopic interactive components can be an accident… you have essentially “lost your mind.”" - Jay Homnick - American Spectator - 2005 ,,, Seeing design in living things is not at all difficult, it’s really not rocket science. You don’t need an intimate knowledge of microbiology, or of the details of evolutionary theory, or even of the concept of irreducible complexity. Max Planck biologist W.E. Loennig once commented that Darwinism was a sort of “mass psychosis” — then he asked me, is that the right English word? I knew psychosis was some kind of mental illness, but wasn’t sure exactly what it was, so I looked it up in my dictionary when I returned home: “psychosis — a loss of contact with reality.” I wrote him that, yes, that was the right word. https://evolutionnews.org/2015/11/it_really_isnt/
bornagain77
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