Famed Brazilian chemist Marcos Eberlin has added what he calls a “fourth pillar” to the case for intelligent design in nature. Three arguments that came before were those pointing to irreducible complexity in biological systems, abstract information in DNA, and fine-tuning in the cosmos, including at the Big Bang. Dr. Eberlin’s unique contribution is the concept of foresight — the need in the evolutionary process for looking ahead to future needs, a capability found only with intelligent agents. The addition of foresight completes what he cutely calls ID’s “Fantastic Four.” 

That ability to look ahead and foresee is no small matter, and even human beings can have trouble with it — as witness the supply chain problem that many people are starting to worry about. Who saw that coming? Apparently, not enough of us. If the most intelligent creatures on the planet failed to look ahead to such a dire possibility, could the unintelligent process of Darwinian evolution do better than we do? Not likely.

Eberlin spoke about foresight — and his book of the same name, endorsed by three Nobel laureates — at the 2021 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith. Enjoy!