I don't think complexity in and of itself necessarily indicates design, but its presence in combination with other properties could. So then how can complexity be defined?
Here's a stab: High diversity of unique components with a high level of interdependence and interactivity of function and process - rarely inert.
Virtually all of multi-cellular biology meets this definition. So do nuclear power plants, jet aircraft, computers and restaurant kitchens. Again, complexity per se doesn't really offer a clue as to whether design was involved. Design is absent in biology; is practically the heart of a nuclear power plant.
As I mentioned earlier, regularity seems a better indicator. Regularity is rare in nature, common in design. The leaves of a maple tree are all similar in general form, but unique when compared with one another. The teeth of a cog are identical, and precisely shaped. And all the cogs made to a spec are identical.
Here's a stab: High diversity of unique components with a high level of interdependence and interactivity of function and process - rarely inert.
Virtually all of multi-cellular biology meets this definition. So do nuclear power plants, jet aircraft, computers and restaurant kitchens. Again, complexity per se doesn't really offer a clue as to whether design was involved. Design is absent in biology; is practically the heart of a nuclear power plant.
As I mentioned earlier, regularity seems a better indicator. Regularity is rare in nature, common in design. The leaves of a maple tree are all similar in general form, but unique when compared with one another. The teeth of a cog are identical, and precisely shaped. And all the cogs made to a spec are identical.
