Evolution-Is It Proven

8/14/2019 Evolution-Is It Proven

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:volution is itvolution is itproven?roven?Can we rely on the Theory of Evolution by

Natural Selection with a high degree ofconfidence?


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engineers

perspective

D ig ita l R a d ioR e la y

System s

Po w e r S u p p lie s fo rM ilita ry S y ste m s

Pro d u ctio ne q u ip m e n t fo ra u to m o tiv e

e le ctro n ics

S im on Packer B S c P G C EPre v io u s a re a s o f a ctiv ity


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Molecular MachinesA n a ccu ra te re co n stru ctio n o f a ce ll e q u ip p e d w ith a fla g e llu m o r. .cilia T h is m a ch in e is co n stru cte d fro m p ro te in s C e lls like th e se a re

.fo u n d in m u cu s lin in g s a n d a lso m a n y b a cte ria


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Lets look at:The Theory of Evolution; what it is, how itdeveloped and why

The scientific method

Conditions necessary for evolution by naturalselection to occur

Obstacles to belief in evolution

Quotes made by some eminent scientistsabout evolution


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CharlesDarwin

Darwin published Onthe Origin ofSpecies by meansof NaturalSelection in 1859.It sold out on itsfirst day of

publication.

G re g o rM e n d e l

In the 1850 s and 60 sthis Austrian monkdetermined many of

the rules underlying.inheritance He laid

the foundation for,modern genetics a

term actually coined

by British biologist William Bateson in.1906 A gene is theterm used for a then

mysterious tokendefining an aspect of

.inheritance

James Watson and Francis Crick,discovered the structure of DNA the

molecule used by cells to convey. ,genes Genes determining certain

,aspects of inheritance have beenshown to be merely strings of

( -nucleotides sub units of nucleic).acid They had uncovered the

biochemical means by which natural.selection could conceivably work

Watson and Crick


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A heady flow of thought We can see a logical flow of thought anddiscoveries.

Darwin sets out a mechanism for slowchange in organisms if characteristics areconferred to the next generation.

Mendel infers the existence of units ofinheritance later called genes.

Watson-Crick discover a molecule whichcarries genes.


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Reasons to believe

EvolutionThe theory is elegant and potentially powerful.Darwin is admired by many intelligent people.

Leaving aside a creator/designer, science hascome up with nothing else plausible toexplain how we got here.


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What is Science?The scientific method: observe, record,hypothesise, test, repeat and refine

We need to look at how well has this beendone in particular disciplines of science

A suggested mechanism to explain evidence isnot a proof unless detailed examination withrepresentative maths and statistics verify it.

Really solid, repeatable science tends tobecome what we call engineering. We cancontrol it to achieve some of our aims


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Goo to You- in easy

stagesTo get from molecule soup to homo sapiensrequires several basic stages: abiogenesis,cell specialisation, diversification of multi-

cellular organismsBefore evolution of organisms can occur we

need a minimal living organism

How do we get it? This is called the

abiogenesis problemIt is a recognised problem, some textbookscontain sweeping statements like(abiogenesis) was likely guided by evolutionas it applies on the molecular level (e.g. see

D &J Voet; Biochemistrypub Wiley)

b bilit l l ti hi h i


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probability calculation which isintentionally weighted to favour

accidental emergence life

It is recognised that we need a cell as a minimumunit to express life as we know it

Every cell requires machinery to fulfil itsfunctions

The molecular machinery in every cell is formedfrom proteins

A protein is essentially a bonded chain of typically100+ amino acids

A cell typically a hundred or more different proteinsto perform all its life functionsCould this minimal life substantiating building block

come about by chance on the early earth or evenelsewhere in the early universe?


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Protein StatisticsA simple protein has perhaps 100 activeamino-acid base sites which must all becorrect

There are 20 amino-acids which are present inproteins in living organisms

Lets assume the amino acids have alreadymade themselves by chance and are presentin a particular locality

The chance of accidental self-assembly of a cellprotein is then 1 in or 1 in 1.268 x

100

20130

10


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Molecular FormationsThe Earth has a mass of approx 6 xgrams

If all the mass of the earth were amino acidsthere would be about 3.27 x amino acidmolecules which could form 3.27 x100-residue proteins

The chance of hitting on a useful protein to lifeis 1.268

x -see previous slide

The chance of just one protein in an earth

mass worth of proteins being one useful tolife is 1 in

27

10

49

10

130

10

82

10

47

10


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Outcome of Protein

Formation StatisticsAn actual cell is enormously more complex than asingle protein

If we try to get a minimum of 75 proteins for a

plausible self-replicating cell, the chances ofgetting these on a planet full of amino-acids is 1in 3.7779 x

This is highly problematic! It requires multipleuniverses to make it likely (a very large number of

them), something some scientists have seriouslysuggested.

Even if we had got past that hurdle, our nextproblem is to build elaborate organisms requiringcells which, while part of the same organism,

have differentiated to fulfil different functions in

9700

10


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Cell specialisationWe need a suggested mechanism by which cellslearnt to collaborate and build themselves intomulti cellular organisms, themselves capable of a

competitive instinct for survival, as well a cycle ofbirth/reproduction/death

Beware of vague statements like over the eons,the cells evolved the ability to........ Such

statements are based on implicit faith inevolution. They are conjecture, not provenscience

Assuming this (multi-cellular organisation intoorganisms) did somehow happen, we are at last

in a position for natural selection to actually work


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GiraffeAdaptionA giraffe is more

than a change ofproportion fromsimilar animals.There are uniquemechanisms in its

neck to enable it tohandle the largechanges in theheight of its brainand the associatedblood pressure

shifts which occur


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Irreducible ComplexityAn extra faculty, such as a dolphin blowhole, ora giraffe neck blood vessel non-return valve,or a bombardier beetle defence system,

requires a number of collaborative parts allperfected and in place to have any survivaladvantage. Indeed, with the system onlypartly functional, they could kill the creature

There is no gradual, slow-change path to theseextra faculties: the fossil record would be fullof dead animals with failed experimentalappendages. It is not.


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DiversificationEvolution by natural selection requires a basicmeans for offspring to diversify outside of thenormal bounds for that organism

This is believed by evolutionists to be geneticmutation, meaning random mistakes in thegenetic copying when reproduction occurs

All observed mutations in anything more complexthan a virus, without conclusive known exception,

have been seen to be destructive to the overallsurvival capability of the organism

The basic mechanism of evolution in higher speciesis fatally flawed at this point


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ecess y or ncreas ng ycomplex reproductive

systemsAs just stated, we need an organism capable ofreproduction and vulnerable to dying.

We are asked to believe that often incrediblycomplex and co-ordinated machinery forreproduction and birth managed to evolve inexact step with the complexity of theorganism. There is no reason to believe this

just happens.


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A babyAn astonishing

harmony ofbiochemicalsystems is atwork duringconception,gestation and

birth


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ConsciousnessHigher organisms clearly displayconsciousness. They consider their actionsand have emotions

It is reasonable to question statementsinvolving simple molecular matter displayingcharacteristics of higher consciousness. Whyshould they have them? To me this implies

that they were designed by a higher entity toachieve his conscious purpose.Straightforward Physics and Chemistry doesnot need anthropomorphisms.


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Other issues we could

look atLack of transitional species in the fossil record; it could beargued there are a few, but are there really enough toreflect origin of species by selection?

We really have an extremely limited understanding of the

DNA/RNA genetic code. We call the genetic code for aparticular animal the genotype. We call the animal itselfthe phenotype. It may surprise you, but our ability to readthe genotype in order to predict the phenotype isessentially zero. We cannot do it.

The Cambrian Explosion: why does the fossil record show anapparent explosion of new life-forms in a relatively short

period of time well into the supposed life of the earth.Some evolutionists say that evolution happens according topunctuated equilibrium; this is a interesting phrase butnot an explanation.

Everyone agrees that the evolutionary cycle does happen incertain contexts and produces some population change. It

is not a viable explanation for increasingly sophisticatedorganisms.


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QuotesIEvolution by natural selection...has lately cometo function more as an antitheory, calledupon to cover up embarrassing experimental

shortcomings and legitimize findings that areat best questionable....

Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (NewYork: Basic Books, 20 -Nobel Prize-winningPhysicist


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Quotes IIIt seems that the evolutionists are convincedthat they have found the last word on life,some of us however, doubt that they have

the full answer, and so are still searching.

Dr Milton Wainwright, Dept. of MolecularBiology and Biotechnology, University of

Sheffield


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Quotes IIIwe are forced by our a priori adherence tomaterial causes to create an apparatus ofinvestigation and a set of concepts that

produce material explanations, ........Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for wecannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. (a

priori -by deductive reasoning alone)

Richard C. Lewontin Geneticist 1997


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Quote IVFor scientists to refuse to considerexplanations which are totally outside theircurrent understanding is to arbitrarily rule

them out. It means they have decided toaccept truth only on their own terms.

Simon Packer BSc/PGCE Physicist


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My ConclusionThe Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection isnot a realistic explanation for thedevelopment of life as we see it from simple

organismsThe self-assembly of a basic living organism by

pure chance, in order for evolution to actsubsequently, is so improbable as to be notworthy of consideration

Rational Inference: There must be an outsideagency or agencies of immense intelligenceand power at work

By faith we understand that the universe was

formed at God's command so that what is

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Evolution-Is It Proven