In The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins argues that the watch analogy conflates the complexity that arises from living organisms that are able to reproduce themselves (and may cause to become more complex over time) with the complexity of inanimate objects, unable to pass on any reproductive changes (such as the multitude of parts manufactured in a watch).
No seu libro The Blind Watchmaker (O reloxeiro cego), Richard Dawkins argumenta que a analoxía do reloxeiro combina a complexidade que se observa nos organismos vivos que poden reproducirse por si mesmos (e poden causar que a súa complexidade aumente co tempo) coa complexidade de obxectos inanimados, incapaces de transmitir ningún cambio reprodutivo (como as moitas partes dun reloxo fabricado).