Sam Harris on The argument from design
Harris argues that the appearance of design is fully explained by evolution and that the universe's hostility to life undermines the design inference.
Harris's treatment of the design argument combines the biological response (evolution explains the appearance of design in life) with the cosmological observation that the vast majority of the universe is spectacularly hostile to life. If the universe were designed for us, it is a bizarre design — billions of galaxies, trillions of dead planets, and life clinging to the surface of one.
He emphasises that the design argument commits a basic error in probability: it looks at the end result and works backward to marvel at its improbability, when the correct approach is to recognise that some outcome had to occur. Every particular deal of a deck of cards is astronomically improbable, but some deal had to happen.
Harris also notes that the design argument has been losing ground steadily for centuries as science has explained one apparent instance of design after another. At some point, the pattern should be clear: 'God did it' is a placeholder for ignorance, not a genuine explanation.
“There is no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable.”