Could pandas be an evolutionary mistake—or proof of an intelligent designer?

This is the time where I'm proud to consider myself a man of science and be humble enough to say "I dunno".

Despite the facts that they laze around all day, don't have sex, and are very picky eaters, they exist because if they went extinct, the earth would finally rot and flake away from lack of cuteness in the world.

It's a fact!

"their apparent lack of interest in—and aptitude for—sex"

In captivity yes, as they get very stressed by the scents of other pandas of the same sex in the area.

Panda's are the cutest animals in the world.

I love the picture, Panda's are beautiful. I watched a programme on National Geographic the other week on a Mother Panda raising her baby. It was amazing too see the Love and affection the mother had for her baby Panda

Even offering to engage in debate about this idea of intelligent design is playing into the hands of the absurd.

Someone, somewhere, once said something to the effect of: the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that the devil didn't exist.

In the case of "intelligent design theory" the greatest trick they ever played was convincing people it even merits discussion.

DAMN those no good, self-indulging, evolutionary defying, goofy lookin' PANDAS.....grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

couldn't you say the same thing about humans?

how did we survive this long treating ourselves and others and our planet the way we have and the way we do?

Isn't god infallible? If the panda were evidence of intelligent design, wouldn't its design be more intelligent?

They're alive arent they?
If they had evolved into that, its clearly working seeing as they're alive.

And Pandas spend all their sponsor money on cocaine, thats why they have white patches cause they roll around in it, and that is what the bamboo shoots are for :)

God must have a sense of humour to make the Panda like he did. But i'm pretty friggin sure God doesn't have a sense of humour.

I think the term evolutionary mistake is very poorly chosen here: evolution is blind, so it cannot make mistakes, or indeed make good decisions.
I n other words, for Pandas to have reached this stage without going extinct shows that they are adapted adequately to survive.

As for sex, how do you think the ancestors of the Panda, who used to be much more numerous than they are today, procreated?!!!

you're right, god chose the pandas. im sure its in the bible somewhere. just read between the lines. or make some up.

"If natural selection drives the formation of species, how did an animal that needs porn, Viagra, and sexercise to mate ever make it?"

They might as well be talking about humans.

It is rather fascinating that Pandas have "carnivore"
teeth yet are herbivores.
Plus I know plenty of gamers that speak of the Pandarian race as if it were divine hehe.

Aren't pandas an endangered species?

Nice job posting the only part of this article that supports your dumbass headline, though I suppose the article is dumb as well.

Evolutionary mistake? There's no such thing. If a creature is fit to survive, it will live on, as pandas do. If you haven't noticed, they have an abundant food supply along with a low population. This explains their numbers perfectly. Sure, they're not very effective animals, but there also aren't that many and they eat a readily available food. Common sense.

And let me get this argument straight.

Pandas are fuckups, therefore an "intelligent" being created or helped them along? How is that intelligent design? That's "fuckup" design.

This article is utterly stupid.