The Theory of Flawed Design is not a scientifically proven
Alternative to evolution. It is based on the everyday life
Experience that natural selection could not have produced
Such a catastrophic outcome. Optimists and the religiously
Inclined will naturally prefer evolution as an explanation,
Since ascribing Design to the state of humanity is almost
Unbearable. For the rest of us, we must continue to insist
That the Theory of Flawed Design be taught cheek and jowl,
Neck and neck, mano a mano, with Mr. Darwin’s
Speculations. The Theory postulates a creator who is Mentally
Impaired, either through some genetic defect or because of
Substance abuse, and is predisposed to behave in a sociopathic
Manner; although some Benign Flawed Design theorists, as
They call themselves, posit the radical alternative that the
Creator was distracted or inattentive and the flaws are not the
Result of Malevolent Will but incompetence or incapacity.
From “Recalculating” (University of Chicago Press, 2013).
Charles Bernstein is author of “Recalculating” (University of Chicago Press, 2013), “Attack of the Difficult Poems: Essays and Inventions” (Chicago, 2011) and “All the Whiskey in Heaven: Selected Poems” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010).
