Airplanes were invented by natural selection. Now you can say that intelligent design designs our airplanes of today, but there was no intelligent design really designing those early airplanes. There were probably at least 30,000 different things tried, and when they crash and kill the pilot, don't try that again.

Burt Rutan’s quote, "Airplanes were invented by natural selection. Now you can say that intelligent design designs our airplanes of today, but there was no intelligent design really designing those early airplanes," reflects his view that the development of airplanes was not the result of deliberate, planned intelligence, but rather a process of trial, error, and adaptation, much like natural selection in the biological world. Rutan highlights how early airplane designs were the outcome of many attempts and failures, similar to how species evolve through a process of natural selection, where only the most viable solutions survive.

Rutan continues, "There were probably at least 30,000 different things tried, and when they crash and kill the pilot, don't try that again." This part of the quote underscores the trial-and-error nature of early aviation. Instead of a top-down, methodical design process, the creation of airplanes involved experimenting with various ideas and refining them based on failures, including crashes. The harsh lesson learned from these failures, where pilots paid the price, ensured that only the most successful designs were pursued further.

Originating from Rutan's experience as an aerospace engineer and designer, this quote emphasizes his belief in evolutionary processes rather than controlled or orchestrated intelligent design. Rutan is known for his innovative work in aircraft design, having created groundbreaking planes like the Voyager and SpaceShipOne. His perspective on early aviation reflects the broader engineering concept that innovation often occurs through iterative testing, learning from mistakes, and adapting accordingly.

This quote also serves as a critique of the concept of intelligent design, particularly when applied to technological development. Rutan draws a distinction between the evolution of airplanes and the idea of a singular, intentional force guiding their creation. Instead, he argues that airplanes were shaped through an evolving process of experimentation, much like the way natural selection shapes life.