Evolutionary cannot explain how a single protein first arose, much less molecular machines, cells, multicellular organisms, nervous systems, cellular transduction, and a thousand other designs. In fact biology is full of fantastic, unique solutions no one would have ever guessed. Consider all the different kinds of plants biology has to offer.
Cactus plant leaves, for instance, are like spines whereas poinsettia leaves are like flower petals. On the other hand the venus flytrap leaves are like jaws that close to catch insects, and the pitcher plant leaves form a pitcher to catch insects. Of course beyond unfounded speculation about blind mutations just happening to construct such marvels, evolutionists have no scientific explanation for how these arose. Yet amazingly, in biology’s unlikely designs such as these evolutionists are certain their idea is proven. They write:
In the following photos of plants, the leaves are quite different from the “normal” leaves we envision. Each leaf has a very different shape and function, yet all are homologous structures, derived from a common ancestral form. The pitcher plant and Venus’ flytrap use leaves to trap and digest insects. The bright red leaves of the poinsettia look like flower petals. The cactus leaves are modified into small spines which reduce water loss and can protect the cactus from herbivory.
Derived from a common ancestral form? And how do evolutionists know these radically different designs evolved from a common ancestor? Well, because they are homologous, that’s how. And after all, homologous structures share a common ancestor. Amazing.
The next example, the tetrapod forelimb, is equally silly. Take a look at the eusthenopteron forelimb and the rabbit forelimb, for instance, in the figure. Like the plant leaves, these designs are radically different.
Yet we are told this “demonstrates their common ancestry.” Demonstrates their common ancestry? How are these demonstrations of common ancestry? In fact there is no demonstration of common ancestry here. Evolutionists show some nice illustrations of radically different plants and animals, and simply assert that this is a demonstration of common ancestry. This is the height of absurdity.
The evolutionary argument is that evolution is restricted to certain designs. And while such designs evolve a bit, the underlying design framework is unchangeable. Evolution is stuck with it. Hence these similarities, even such remote similarities, are compelling demonstrations of evolution.
There are two problems here. First, the claim affirms the consequent. If a hypothesis successfully makes a prediction, that does not mean the hypothesis is correct. Second, the claim is false. Evolutionists routinely ascribe complete redesigns to evolution. Evolution is supposedly capable of complete makeovers. But then when a pattern is observed, we are told evolution is stuck with it. Evolutionists just make up whatever suits the moment. In fact if evolution is so stuck with designs, then it would clearly be falsified, as it wouldn’t be able to come up with all those new designs it is always devising.
But if all this seems unlikely, is it not better than separate ancestry? Using this reasoning, evolution, it turns out, is impervious to low likelihoods. It doesn’t matter if the evidence is astronomically unlikely. In fact, the more unlikely the better because the alternative is even worse. Evolutionary philosopher Elliott Sober has analyzed how common descent advances via this contrastive thinking. The powerful arguments and evidence do not actually bolster the theory but rather they rebuke the alternative. He explains it this way:
This last result provides a reminder of how important the contrastive framework is for evaluating evidence. It seems to offend against common sense to say that E is stronger evidence for the common-ancestry hypothesis the lower the value is of [the probability of E given the common-ancestry hypothesis]. This seems tantamount to saying that the evidence better supports a hypothesis the more miraculous the evidence would be if the hypothesis were true. Have we entered a Lewis Carroll world in which down is up? No, the point is that, in the models we have examined, the ratio [the probability of E given the common-ancestry hypothesis divided by the probability of E given the separate-ancestry hypothesis] goes up as [the probability of E given the common-ancestry hypothesis] goes down. … When the likelihoods of the two hypotheses are linked in this way, it is a point in favor of the common-ancestry hypothesis that it says that the evidence is very improbable. [Evidence and Evolution, p. 314]
In other words, it doesn’t matter that common descent is not a good theory. It must be true because the alternative is even worse. Sober refers to this mode of reasoning as Darwin’s Principle. It seems evolutionists can talk themselves into anything, including the claim that leaves prove their unlikely idea. Religion drives science and it matters.
An evolutionist commented that my Sober quote above is misleading, and my summary that it doesn’t matter that common descent is not a good theory is erroneous. He reasoning was that I took the Sober quote out of context and used an ellipses to manipulate the meaning of the quote.
This is yet another example of how evolutionists are unable to face the reality of their theory and its implications. No matter how much evidence they are presented with, evolutionists will never agree with the obvious. First the idea that the ellipses hides some crucial message from Sober that is the key to the passage, and without it I have manipulated the meaning, is pathetic. In fact, what I omitted were three sentences that further reinforce the point. I omitted them simply because they are redundant and full of jargon. Here they are:
An easy way to see this point is to imagine that Pr(1 --> 1) = 1, Pr(0 --> 1) = 0, and let Pr(Z = 1) = p, where Z, recall, is an ancestor of the observed species X and Y. Then the likelihood of CA is p and the likelihood of SA is p^2, so the likelihood ratio of CA to SA is 1/p. Now it is obvious how the evidence for CA gets stronger as p gets smaller.
So in this example, Sober argues that the common ancestry hypothesis (CA) improves as its likelihood decreases. It is no different than the surrounding passage. His reasoning is that as the likelihood of CA decreases, the likelihood of the separate ancestry hypothesis (SA) decreases even more. So when compared to SA, CA looks better when the evidence says it is even more unlikely. It is an example of how evolutionists use pretzel logic to try to make their idea attain that status of a fact.
But the evolutionist complained that "It's a pretty big stretch (to put it mildly) to take this specific argument about probabilities of character states and represent it as referring to the entire theory of common descent."
But of course I did not represent it as referring to the entire theory of common descent. As I explained above, the Sober analysis applies to the evolutionist's silly arguments that plants having leaves demonstrates common descent. In fact, I was quite clear about this: I wrote:
But if all this seems unlikely, is it not better than separate ancestry?
In other words, I first explained that the evolutionist argument appears silly, and I then provided a particular evolutionary interpretation of the evidence to which the Sober analysis directly applies.
This is a good example of how debates and discussions go with evolutionists. They begin with a religiously motivated, unscientific idea, and from there is it absurdities, fallacies and canards, one after the other.