ID the Future Intelligent Design, Evolution, and Science Podcast
Topic

mutations

IDTF 1968 McDiarmid Reading of Samuel Wilberforce Review of Origin of Species Post Graphic

Samuel Wilberforce Critiques the ‘Unbounded Assumptions’ of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

In June 1860, just seven months after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, three men hotly debated the merits of Darwin's argument at a meeting of the British Association. Biologist Thomas Henry Huxley and botanist Joseph Hooker defended Darwin's theory. English bishop, speaker, and writer Samuel Wilberforce critiqued it. And though he was a man of the cloth, Wilberforce did not build a theological case against Darwin. Rather, he evaluated the argument for natural selection on scientific grounds, exposing its "loose statements and unfounded speculations" by weighing it "in the simple scales of logical examination." On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid treats you to excerpts from Wilberforce's powerful critique, published as a review a month after the debate in Quarterly Review. Read More ›
Walking Green Iguana Isolated on Black Background
Image licensed from Adobe Stock

Can Darwinian Evolution Be Rescued From Dogma?

If there's anything left to salvage from the Neo-Darwinian theory of life's origins, it must first be rescued from dogma. On this episode of ID The Future, host Casey Luskin begins a conversation with two distinguished PhD scientists who are asking tough questions of Neo-Darwinism: Olen Brown, Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Missouri, and David Hullender, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas, Arlington. Luskin unpacks three recent scientific papers written by Brown and Hullender warning that Neo-Darwinism must be updated if it has any hope of surviving as a theory. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
London, England - December 4, 2019: Statue of Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist and biologist in Natural History Museum. London, United Kingdom.
Image licensed from Adobe Stock. Image by user: wittayayut.

Giving Up Darwin’s Brilliant and Beautiful Theory

Five years ago, Yale University professor of computer science David Gelernter wrote that he was bidding farewell to neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. Why would he take such a bold step? What convinced him that the neo-Darwinian paradigm no longer satisfied the scientific evidence? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid marks the fifth anniversary of Gelernter's important essay by reading it aloud in full. If you’ve read the essay, this will likely be a good refresher on Gelernter’s arguments. If you haven’t read it yet, by all means enjoy! Read More ›
galapagos-darwin-finch-stockpack-adobe-stock
Galapagos Darwin Finch

Is Adaptation Actually a Fight to Stay the Same?

On this ID The Future, host Casey Luskin talks with Eric Anderson on location at this year's Conference on Engineering and Living Systems (CELS). The two discuss an intriguing new engineering-based model of bounded adaptation that could dramatically change how we view small-scale evolutionary changes within populations of organisms. In presenting his argument for natural selection, Charles Darwin pointed to small changes like finch beak size and peppered moth color as visible evidence of an unguided evolutionary process at work. Many have adopted this perspective, quick to grant the Darwinian mechanism credit for micro, if not macro, evolution. But Anderson and other attendees of the CELS conference are starting to promote a different view. "We need to stop saying organisms are partly designed," says Anderson. "We need to view them as deeply designed and purposeful, active and engaged in their environments, and capable of adapting within their operating parameters." Tune in to get a fascinating glimpse of this novel approach to biology. Read More ›
colorful-chain-of-amino-acids-or-bio-molecules-called-proteins-3d-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
Colorful chain of amino acids or bio molecules called proteins - 3d illustration

Protein Evolution, The Waiting Times Problem, and the Intriguing Possibility of Two First Parents

On this ID The Future, host Eric Anderson gets an update on the recent work of Dr. Ann Gauger, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. Dr. Gauger explains her continuing research into the limits of protein evolution, efforts that are challenging the prevailing assumptions of the role of proteins and mutations in a Darwinian account of life. She also discusses her work on the related waiting times problem, demonstrating the difficulty of Darwinian processes to account for the diversity we see in biology. In addition, Ann shares her journey into researching human origins. After being asked to evaluate the scientific case against Adam and Eve, Ann dove into population genetics to see if monogenesis - the hypothesis that all humans are descended from two first parents - was even a possibility. What she discovered may surprise you. Don't miss this review of Dr. Gauger's fascinating and important research. Read More ›

A Mousetrap for Darwin, and Another for Richard Lenski

Today’s ID the Future extends the discussion of A Mousetrap for Darwin: Michael Behe Answers His Critics, the newest book from Discovery Institute Press. Here the focus is on Parts 4 and 7 of the new book, and in particular Richard Lenski’s Long Term Evolution Experiment at Michigan State. What has this long-running project demonstrated? As Behe explains in the book (and elaborates on in today’s podcast), “The study has addressed some narrow points of peculiar interest to evolutionary population geneticists, but for proponents of intelligent design the bottom line is that the great majority of even beneficial mutations have turned out to be due to the breaking, degrading, or minor tweaking of pre-existing genes or regulatory regions. There have Read More ›

virus-protection-vaccine-search-antibodies-and-viral-infection-immune-defense-of-the-body-attack-on-antigens-3d-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Virus protection. Vaccine search. Antibodies and viral infection. Immune defense of the body. Attack on antigens 3D illustration
Licensed from Adobe Stock

Covid-19, Random Mutations, and Aristotle’s Matrix of Design

On this episode of ID the Future, Andrew McDiarmid speaks with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor about Egnor’s recent Evolution News article, The Coronavirus Demonstrates How Evolution Presupposes Intelligent Design. Egnor notes that the coronavirus and other viruses are not, strictly speaking, considered living things, even if they depend on living hosts for their continued existence. Egnor also discusses the role of random mutations in viruses and draws upon Aristotle to argue that these and other random events only occur, and have their meaning, against a backdrop of purpose and design — in this case, the designed systems — the bodies — that viruses invade.

IDTF-thumbnail
IDTF-thumbnail

Meyer, Berlinski and Yale’s David Gelernter Challenge Darwinism, Pt. 2

This episode of ID the Future features Part 2 of Peter Robinson’s conversation with Yale computer scientist David Gelernter and Discovery Institute senior fellows Stephen Meyer and David Berlinski.

Read More ›
IDTF-thumbnail
IDTF-thumbnail

A Billion Genes and Not One Beneficial Mutation

Evolutionists often speak in generalities about beneficial mutations. Such mutations may be rare, we’re assured, but they happen, and when they do, natural selection is there to capture, preserve and pass them along. All right, we now have some data to consider. We can put a number to the frequency of beneficial mutations in a very large sample. The number is …

Read More ›