Ingeniería de sistemas en la naturaleza

By Cathryn Buse

Before I had children, I worked as a systems engineer at NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Throughout my career, I met many brilliant scientists and engineers who were committed Christians. But I also encountered a lot of intellectual skepticism toward Christianity, especially on the question of the existence of God.

The question of God’s existence is one of the most persistent challenges facing Christians. How can we adequately answer that question, especially when the person asking it has a scientific mindset? One way is through evidence of design, something known as the “teleological argument.” It simply means that where there is design, planning, and order, there must be a Designer, Planner, and Organizer behind it. Something designed cannot be explained by a natural process or material cause alone; design requires intelligence.

So if there is design in the universe, then there must be a designer. But is there design in the universe?

Atheists say there isn’t. Before we can adequately answer that, we need to determine what constitutes something being “designed.” It’s not just that a system looks complicated or has a lot of parts. For something to be designed, it requires a number of components that are well-matched, placed, and integrated to make it work, but that wouldn’t work if any of those parts were removed. Something like that would require a designer with intelligence and foresight to select the right components, at the appropriate size, and integrate them together so that they can function and ultimately survive and reproduce.

From my experience, I like to refer to this as systems engineering in nature. Part of my job at NASA was reviewing the design of the Ares I upper stage to make sure each system was properly integrated so the vehicle could launch. For example, I checked to see if the propulsion lines were too close to an electronics box because of the extremely cold temperatures of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Or I made sure battery boxes were located near a human access point so they could be changed on the launch pad. I also checked to see if a valve that needed power from the launch tower had a connector on the umbilical board. One of my favorite projects was making sure the vehicle could be shipped without damage. A vehicle needs covers, environmental controls, and other ground support equipment, especially since it travels horizontally but sits vertically on the launch pad.

As you can see, a NASA launch vehicle requires a lot of systems engineering and a lot of smart design. Each system must be designed in conjunction with the others so that they all work together. If one system changes something, it can have devastating effects on the other systems. It must be a collaborative design effort. A launch vehicle will not work if only one system is in place while the others are being built. The propulsion system must work with the airframe design, the air navigation, the software, the thrust vector control system, and the engine. If one of the components is removed, the vehicle will either not be able to take off or worse, it will have a catastrophic failure.

Therefore, the launch vehicle needs all these systems and their components to be functional and integrated at the same time in order to work. A successful launch vehicle requires planning, order and design; it requires intelligence – and lots of designers.

Of course, a launch vehicle is obviously man-made. But is there anything comparable in nature? If we can show a biological feature that requires systems engineering, then it, like that launch vehicle, could not have been formed by natural or material causes. It must be explained by some intelligent power behind it.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to find design in nature. We can find systems engineering in the interrelationships of the organ systems in the human body. For example, the circulatory system pumps oxygenated blood from the heart to the other parts of the body so they can work. The bloodstream then returns the deoxygenated blood to the heart. But the circulatory system can’t deliver oxygenated blood on its own. It needs the respiratory system to get the oxygen. Tiny air sacs in the lungs, called alveoli, transfer oxygen from the lungs to the blood vessels. When the deoxygenated blood is returned, the blood cells transfer carbon dioxide and water, the cell’s waste products, back to the alveoli so they can be exhaled. The circulatory system, therefore, is pretty much useless without the respiratory system.

However, both systems are dependent on the nervous system. The hypothalamus section of the brain controls the autonomic functions of the body – vital functions that our body performs continuously without us thinking about them, such as breathing and the pumping of the heart. Without this part of the brain and the network of nerves that runs from it through the spinal cord to the organs themselves, our circulatory and respiratory systems would not be able to function.

The circulatory system also depends on the muscular system. The heart is a specific type of muscle made up of a specific kind of cells that allows it to contract and pump blood throughout the body. And it even depends on the skeletal system. Bone marrow produces the red and white blood cells and platelets that the heart is responsible for pumping throughout our body. Without the skeletal system, there would be no blood to pump.

Even the urinary system is necessary for the circulatory system to function. All of the body’s blood circulates through the kidneys, where waste chemicals and excess water are filtered out. The kidneys return clean blood to the bloodstream. There is also an interrelationship between the circulatory system and the endocrine system. Hormones from the adrenal gland can speed up the heart rate when they sense danger so that you can flee quickly. Hormones from the pancreas serve to control blood sugar levels, which can be deadly if not properly maintained.

We know that everything in our body depends on blood flow, but it’s clear that our blood flow depends on everything else in the body as well. The human body is the epitome of systems engineering design. What does the body look like? It sounds like that launch vehicle where the propulsion system needs the structural system, the air navigation system, the programming, and the engine before it can take off.

Now, if the launch vehicle is missing a system, it cannot take off; resupplying astronauts or sending new missions into space is delayed until the design can be completed. But if the human body is missing a system, it cannot live. All of these body systems must appear at the same time, in the same place, fully functional and integrated for life to exist. And like the Ares I launch vehicle, its existence cannot be explained by a random natural process. The human body is uniquely and perfectly designed. And design requires a Designer.

Recommended resources in Spanish:

Stealing from God ( Paperback ), ( Teacher Study Guide ), and ( Student Study Guide ) by Dr. Frank Turek

Why I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist ( Complete DVD Series ), ( Teacher’s Workbook ), and ( Student’s Handbook ) by Dr. Frank Turek

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cathryn S. Buse is a former NASA engineer turned Christian apologist and writer. She is the author of Teaching Others to Defend Christianity and the founder of Defend the Faith Ministry. Cathryn is now a homeschooling mother of two young children. You can learn more about her and her ministry at www.defendthefaithministry.com.

Original source of the blog: https://bit.ly/3RegylT

Translated by Jennifer Chavez

Edited by Monica Pirateque