6 Arguments Against Evolution

I found an article in National Geographic that sums up 6 different arguments that proponents of intelligent design have against evidence for evolution, and I thought I’d summarize that article here.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/photogalleries/091123-origin-species-darwin-150-intelligent-design/index.html

1. The Eyes of Vertebrates

Arguments for Intelligent Design (ID):

An argument for ID regarding vertebrate eyes is that they say that these eyes could not have evolved gradually, in a stepwise fashion, because every component of the eye is needed for it to work. They say that you would need the retina, lens, cornea, and other important parts of the eye all at once, which is indicative of some “intelligent designer”.

Arguments for Evolution:

There have already been several evolutionary schemes that show that the eye could indeed have evolved in a stepwise fashion, from a simple photoreceptor spot to the modern human eye.

(on a side note, those of us who took EBIO 202, which I think is everyone in this class, would have already seen this example of a stepwise evolutionary scheme for the eye)

2. The Cambrian Explosion

Arguments for ID:

The abrupt explosion in biodiversity during the Cambrian Explosion would require huge amount of information to be “injected” into the biosphere rapidly, which only an intelligent designer could do. Because evolution is reliant on the occurrence of chance mutations to drive evolution forward, it is unlikely that the gradual introduction of information into the biosphere from mutations would be sufficient to cause the Cambrian explosion.

Arguments for Evolution:

The Cambrian Explosion was not actually very abrupt, as it took place over the course of several million years and fossil discoveries indicate that there were complex organisms prior to the Cambrian explosion.

3. DNA

Arguments for ID:

Because DNA codes all the information needed for life, it can be said to have a high degree of what is known as CSI (or complex specified information). The only other systems on Earth with high CSI are man-made, such as machines or language, which were created by humans. So you need intelligence to creates a system with high CSI.

Arguments for Evolution:

Once DNA was formed through chance events in primordial earth, natural selection could take over to drive DNA to code for increasingly complex molecules over an incredibly large span of time.

4. Bacterial “Legs”

Arguments for ID:

This is basically the same argument as for the vertebrate eyes. Flagella are very complex, and the absence of any one of its parts would cause it to stop working, making it unlikely for them to have evolved gradually.

Arguments for Evolution:

Several intermediate steps have been discovered leading up to the bacterial flagellum.

5. Whales

Arguments for ID:

Whales have a long generation time, and they have small populations, so they’re essentially a worst-case scenario for evolving rapidly, which makes it mathematically unlikely for them to have transitioned from terrestrial mammals to aquatic mammals over the last ten million years.

Arguments for Evolution:

There is evidence in the fossil record of archaic whales that were initially terrestrial but become more aquatic over time. Again, 50 million years is an incredible span of time.

6. “Universal Perfection”

Arguments for ID:

We inhabit a universe that is remarkably well suited for life to occur, from the precise distance of Earth to the Sun, to the value of the gravitational constant. The value of the gravitational constant is extremely important because it is just right for creating planets orbiting stars with lifetimes long enough for life to evolve. This supports the existence of a supernatural entity that designed the universe with life in mind.

Arguments for Evolution:

Something about there being multiple universes. In my completely biased opinion, I’ve always thought that was abstract nonsense, but it’s their argument for why our universe is as hospitable to the development of life as it is.