The Washing Machine from the Bad Place: A Lesson on Intelligent Design
Why suboptimal design is often better
What do washing machines have to do with intelligent design? Of course, they are designed by "intelligent" agents, so we should be able to see some parallels if the design is truly "intelligent."
Out with the old...
Our tale begins with our 20+ year old washing machine. It had experienced some minor problems in recent years, but one day would not run at all. The question was, "Do we fix it again or get a new one?" The new washers were tempting, since they had a capacity that was probably double our 20 year old model. This feature would be especially appreciated in our household of three very active boys. We decided to get a highly-rated Maytag washer and get rid of the old one.
...in with the new (and improved!!?)
It was several days between the death of the old washer and the delivery of the new one. As a result, the laundry began to pile up when the washer was delivered and installed. Carole was anxious to get caught up, and so ran a load while I was at work. I got the bad news at work - the washer had flooded the garage. It seemed that the drain was unable to keep up with the water pumped out of the washer. When I got home, I tried running a "large" instead of "oversize" load. The results were the same - the drain could not keep up with the washer's pump. The manufacturer recommended that the top of the drain be 36 inches above the floor. Upon measuring, it was exactly 36 inches. I was off to Home Depot for some advice. The helpful people at Home Depot recommended that the height of the drain be increased 6-8 inches. I bought an extension and installed it on the top of the drain. However, the results were the same. I noticed that the drain had a trap at the bottom. My studies of physics told me that eliminating the tortuous course of the drain water would probably increase the flow of water down the drain considerably.
Do we have a design problem here?
The next evening after work, I took apart the plumbing and got rid of the trap. Removing the trap had an additional benefit of raising the level of the drain another 3 inches. The drain was now 46 inches above the floor. The water now had a straight shot down to the sewer pipe. I tested the new plumbing by running a garden hose to the drain and turned on the water full pressure. No leaks, no overflow. This had to work! Confidently, I ran another load. Unfortunately, water flowed over the top of the drain as it had done before. Was I going to have to re-plumb the entire sewer system of the house so that the over-industrious washing machine pump could empty the washer in 30 seconds flat?
A direct hose to the gutter maybe?
Fortunately, in relating my problems to my co-workers, one of them mentioned that her washer dumped its water into a laundry sink. That was the answer! Of course, to put in the laundry sink, I had to move the washer, since the sink would have to be there. The washer had to go where the dryer had been, because of the water hoses and drain side. This meant that the dryer had to be moved and the gas line to the dryer had to be extended, since the dryer was now six feet from its line. In addition, the drain from the wall had to be extended 4 inches, since the sink drain could not get as close to the wall. In the end, it all worked, as our new washer pumped out its 3000+ cubic inches of water into the nearly filled sink in 30 seconds. I am convinced that not any ordinary household drain in the world would be able to keep up with the fabulous pump that came with our new Maytag washer. And, it saves 30 seconds in the washer cycle, since it works so well!
Conclusion 
In case you haven't yet figured out what lesson the washing machine teaches us about intelligent design in biology, here it is. Sometimes systems that operate in tandem with other systems must be suboptimally designed in order to work most efficiently. Take the washing machine, for example. A slightly less robust pump would have worked fine - even if it took an additional 30 seconds to empty its load of water. It certainly would have saved me a whole bunch of extra work. In biology, the vertebrate photoreceptors of the retina are "wired in backwards," causing the light to pass through the nerves before striking the receptors themselves. Although this design seems stupid at first glance, there are some very good reasons why the retina is designed this way. In fact, if it were "wired correctly," the system would fail within a short period of time due to other, much larger problems.
More information on why biological systems seem to be poorly designed can be found on the link below:
Examples of Bad Design Gone Bad
Related Resources
The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism
Darwin's Black Box author Michael Behe takes on the limits of evolution through an examination of specific genetic examples. Behe finds that mutation and natural selection is capable of generating trivial examples of evolutionary change. Although he concludes that descent with modification has occurred throughout biological history, the molecular devices found throughout nature cannot be accounted for through natural selection and mutation. Behe's book claims to develop a framework for testing intelligent design by defining the principles by which Darwinian evolution can be distinguished from design.
Footnotes
If your old washing machine has died, I recommend trying to get it fixed first, unless you are good at plumbing.
P.S. A couple years after the incident, a plumber wrote to say that the rubber hose could to made to seal inside the pipe (by using a smaller diameter pipe), preventing overflow. For some reason, our installers had cut the top so that it would NOT seal, so it wouldn't have been an option for us, unless we bought a new drain hose. So much for our intelligent designers!
P.P.S. Our new top-rated Maytag washer died after only four years of service (R.I.P., 2002-2006). Needless to say, we didn't get another Maytag. Our new Kenmore washer works fine, although it doesn't pump the water out in 30 seconds. Hopefully it is designed to last longer than 4 years!
Today's New Reason to Believe
Integrating Science and Faith
- 07/24/2014 06:45 PM
Q&A: Does Tubal-Cain Predate the Bronze and Iron Ages?
From Craig —Vicenza, Italy I just noticed in Genesis 4:22 it states that Tubal-Cain forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain is the great-great-great-great grandson of Cain. The genealogy mentioned before his name does not read like other genealogies where “son of…” may mean grandson of or great grandson of, etc. … Continue reading
() - 07/21/2014 02:52 AM
Hints of Fine-Tuning Amidst Uncertainty about Breakthroughs
Headline-making discoveries sometimes resemble dramas where a plot can turn at any moment. Thus, some skepticism surfaces when breakthroughs such as two recent ones hit the news. One finding showed that the universe really did undergo inflation––the hypothesized extremely rapid, very early expansion that affirms big bang theory. Another announced the discovery of the long-sought … Continue reading
() - 07/17/2014 02:06 AM
A Key Transitional Form in Human Evolution May Not Have Existed
“What? You mean to tell me that Sherlock Holmes wasn’t real!?” Some fictional characters are so instantiated in our collective psyche that we often think of them as actual people who once lived, though they never did. Based on recent work by researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel, it appears as if the same … Continue reading
() - 07/14/2014 02:41 AM
Artificial DNA, Actual Design
If aliens from another world were to visit Earth, their arrival would generate headlines and major buzz. In fact, if such a momentous event ever occurred, it would be hard to imagine anyone talking about anything else. Perhaps it’s not all that surprising, then, that researchers from Scripps Institute in La Jolla, CA, garnered headlines … Continue reading
() - 07/10/2014 02:32 AM
Q&A: Is the Universe a Waste? and The Facts Behind Jonah’s Story
Q&A #1: Can We Remove a Star or Galaxy and Still Have a Fine-Tuned Universe? From Liam in Bunbury, Western Australia: Some skeptics say that it is a waste to create such a massive and complex universe only to place in it a little speck called Earth. But as knowledge has increased we’ve learned about fine-tuning … Continue reading
() - 07/07/2014 02:39 AM
Astrosphere Habitable Zones Display Fine-Tuned Characteristics
Could there be life on other planets? The ongoing search continues to yield data showing how rare, if not unique, our planet is. Scientists have identified multiple “habitable zones,” including the astrosphere habitable zone, that must be fine-tuned in order to support complex life. Two separate studies conducted by astrobiology research teams have determined the … Continue reading
() - 07/03/2014 02:16 AM
Q&A: Is Christianity a Science Showstopper?
A few years ago, I took part in an email exchange with a prominent origin-of-life researcher after he read my book Origins of Life (coauthored with Hugh Ross). He expressed the concern that “the creationist perspective stops the questioning process.” I would be interested in how you think the “creation model approach…will lead to scientific … Continue reading
() - 06/30/2014 02:36 AM
Do You Know the Difference between Observation and Interpretation? Part 2
The most common definition of science requires researchers to assume naturalism, meaning that supernatural interpretations of data are excluded by assumption. So, even when the true explanation of an observation—such as the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the origin of species—is supernatural, scientists will necessarily arrive at the wrong interpretation. Many … Continue reading
() - 06/26/2014 02:15 AM
A Hypernatural Miracle: Elijah and the Fire from Heaven
Imagine standing on Mount Carmel in Israel, watching the contest between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). For nearly 12 hours, Baal’s prophets have danced around his altar, whipping themselves into a frenzy and screaming for Baal to set their sacrifice on fire. Nothing happens. Then Elijah steps up and, … Continue reading
() - 06/23/2014 02:22 AM
Do You Know the Difference between Observation and Interpretation? Part 1
In science, it is important to distinguish between an observation and an interpretation. Observations are things we measure; while interpretations are the conclusions we derive from those observations. In well-designed experiments the resulting interpretations are the only possible explanations for the observations—but this is a rare occurrence. More often, alternate interpretations are possible. Unfortunately, it … Continue reading
()
http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/optimal.html
Last Modified December 27, 2006
Top of Page 
Back