Probably I would have to compare it against something that is not designed. But where do I find something that is not designed, if the Universe were, indeed, designed? I would need a piece of evidence, something undesigned, that defeats the seeked conclusion of everything being designed. In other words, either no evidence or evidence that defeats the conclusion.
Prima facie, this begs the question: how do you know then that the Universe is not designed if you cannot possibly compare it with something that is designed, either?
And my answer to that would be: my car is designed, that heap of mud is not. After all, this is what creationists have in mind when they differentiate between designed and not designed things: car obviously designed, heap of mud not necessarily so, see the difference, you heathen?
For instance, Palay's clock on the sand analogy implicitly assumes that sand is not designed, or not worth attention, defeating, thereby, the whole argument.
So, at the end of the day, all this reduces to perceived teleology, after all. And the apparent teleology of a clock does not entail an equally obvious teleology for the surrounding sand.
Ciao
- viole