How does technology develop? Everywhere we find it it's the product of intelligent minds. It's never the product of blind luck and mindless, physical forces.
The philosopher David Hume (d.1776) used to be frequently quoted by naturalists when, in arguing against belief in miracles, he said that the uniform experience of humanity amounts to a proof, that what we have found to be most usual is always most probable, and that we should always give preference to those explanations which are founded on the greatest number of past observations.
Hume and other naturalists throughout the 20th century thought this was a knockdown argument against miracles since, they believed, there was a uniform experience against any event that violated the laws of nature. The laws of physics were never violated therefore miracles were impossible.
Set aside the flaws in this reasoning for now and let's accept the premise that a uniform experience of humanity counts at least as powerful evidence. If so, and if it's our uniform experience that technological innovation is always the product of intelligent, rational minds with the capacity for intention, purpose, foresight and conceptualizing a goal, then we must conclude that the technology we find in living things is almost certainly the product of such a mind.
This, however, is a conclusion anathema to the naturalist who believes that material nature is all there is and that no mind was involved in the creation of life. Since, however, the most technologically advanced structures in the world are found in living things, specifically in every cell in our bodies, and because Hume's argument leads to the unpleasant conclusion that living things must therefore be the work of an engineering genius, his argument has fallen into desuetude among many of its former enthusiasts.
The following fascinating 12 minute video gives insight into just why the cell is in fact a technological marvel. If we have a uniform experience of technology being produced by intelligent agents and never otherwise then what do we make of this:
