Tag: Natural Selection

^{Type
post

Date
January 13, 2021

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
altruism, ants, Darwinism, Determinism, Evolution, evolution of altruism, gene for love, genetic determinism, genetic propensities, genetic reductionism, green beards, group selection, Hamilton’s rule, heroism, honey bees, human dignity, human exceptionalism, human uniqueness, Inheritance, kin selection, love, Morality, Natural Selection, Neo-Darwinism, non-kin altruism, rationality, red queens, reductionism, reductionist philosophy, reductionists, scientific materialists, self-defeating arguments, self-sacrifice, self-sacrificial love, Titanic, W.D. Hamilton, watchman crows}

How to Destroy Love with Darwinism

_{January 13, 2021

Evolution}

On today’s ID the Future, host Andrew McDiarmid presents an Evolution News essay, “How to Destroy Love with Darwinism.” Altruism as defined by evolutionists means “behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind.” It’s not an easy fit with Darwinism, since Darwinian evolution is all about passing your favored genes onto your offspring. How can a creature do that if she gives her life for another, particularly when it’s not even her own children, and before she has produced any offspring? Such individuals fail to pass on their own genes — a seeming conundrum for Darwinism. Evolutionists have made some progress (they think) explaining such things with theories of group selection Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Behe

Date
December 23, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
amino acids, antibiotic resistance, blood clotting, blood clotting cascade, cells, chloroquine resistance, Darwin’s Black Box, Darwinism, DNA, Eugene Koonin, Evolution, evolutionary pathway, genetic mutations, Intelligent Design, irreducible complexity, Jerry Coyne, look-ahead mutation, malaria, molecular biology, Mt. Improbable, Natural Selection, Neo-Darwinism, protein-protein binding, Proteins, random mutation, Richard Dawkins, scientific paradigms, Sean B. Carroll, The Edge of Evolution}

Michael Behe’s Mousetrap on the Edge

_{Michael Behe

December 23, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future Lehigh University biologist Michael Behe dives deeper into A Mousetrap for Darwin. Behe and host Eric Anderson pivot to the new book’s section defending Behe’s earlier work, The Edge of Evolution. In that earlier book, Behe reviewed hard data from evolution studies of malaria parasites, HIV, and E. coli, showed that blind evolutionary processes face severe limits as to what they can build, and argued that intelligent design was required for the origin of life’s great diversity. In this new conversation Behe touches on some of the attempts to refute that argument and suggests why those refutations fail. For a more in-depth look at his defense of The Edge of Evolution, get your copy of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Behe

Date
December 21, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
A Mousetrap for Darwin, blood clotting, blood clotting cascade, Darwinism, fibrinogen, gene duplication, genetic mutations, irreducibly complex systems, Keith Robison, Kenneth Miller, Natural Selection, neutral evolution, plasminogen, Russell Doolittle, TAGS: irreducible complexity, waiting time problem}

Behe: Blood Clotting Remains a Mousetrap for Darwin

_{Michael Behe

December 21, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future, Michael Behe continues discussing his new book, A Mousetrap for Darwin, with host Eric Anderson. Here the focus is the blood clotting cascade. Behe has argued it’s irreducibly complex, like a mousetrap, and that blind evolution couldn’t build it one small functional step at a time. Behe says a better explanation is that it was intelligently designed. His critics have responded to his argument over the years. Here Behe returns the favor. His most prominent interlocutor on the matter is the recently deceased Russell Doolittle. Behe shows that Doolittle misread the paper he relied on to refute Behe. Professor Behe also responds to Kenneth Miller and Keith Robison. According to Behe, his critics have managed Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
December 14, 2020

Categorized
Faith and Science

Tagged
amino acid chains, amino acids, ATP, ATP synthesis, Biological Information, cells, cellular information, chemical evolution, chemical reactions, disorder, DNA, Elbert Branscomb, energy, engines, entropy, enzymes, equilibrium, feedback loops, fidelity, free energy, high energy, improbable states, information, Jeremy England, low entropy, Michael Russell, molecular engines, Molecular Machines, Natural Selection, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, order, origin of life, physical impossibilities, polymers, pre-biology, Proteins, Stanley Miller, Yasir Demirel}

James Tour and Brian Miller Talk Engines We Can’t Live Without

_{Brian Miller

December 14, 2020

Faith and Science}

Today’s ID the Future features Part 1 of an extended interview that first appeared on a podcast show hosted by distinguished Rice University synthetic organic chemist James M. Tour. As he typically does, since it’s the Science & Faith podcast, Dr. Tour begins his show by asking his guest for a statement of faith. Miller, a Christian, gives his, and then they dive into origin-of-life science. In a surprisingly accessible discussion given the depth of the material, the pair cover a range of issues—thermodynamics and the origin of the first cell, entropy, free energy, order and disorder, molecular engines, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and the need for engines and information to overcome the vicissitudes of entropy. Also in the mix—feedback loops, Jeremy Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Howard Glicksman

Date
November 23, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
arteries, artery, carpal tunnel syndrome, circulatory system, Darwin Devolves, embryology, embryonic development, Evolution, evolution and medicine, gene regulation, human evolution, media hype, median artery, Michael Behe, Microevolution, Natural Selection, radial median artery, science journalism, selection pressure}

Deflating Median Artery Evolution Hype, Pt. 2

_{Howard Glicksman

November 23, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future Eric Anderson and physician Howard Glicksman further discuss a recent Journal of Anatomy article suggesting possible evolutionary changes in humans: a persistent, prominent median artery in some people’s arms. Journalists have hyped this as evolution in action, but Anderson and Glicksman say there’s little reason to treat this as an evolutionary change, even if it’s real. And they say it’s far from clear how natural selection could select for this as an “adaptation” when its most obvious effect is to contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome and other health problems.

3d rendering of pink jellyfish floating in the dark blue ocean background with sunlight.

^{Type
post

Date
November 9, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience and Mind

Tagged
agnosticism, Aristotle, Atheism, consciousness, emergent property, epiphenomena, Evolution, final causes, genetic mutations, God, idealism, instinct, Intelligent Design, Jerry Fodor, Materialism, meta-cognitive, Natural Selection, organizing principles, panpsychism, philosophical materialism, pre-meditation, random mutations, randomness, self-reflection, teleology, What Darwin Got Wrong}

The Evolution (or not) of Consciousness

_{November 9, 2020

Neuroscience and Mind}

On this ID the Future neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviews Bernardo Kastrup, a philosopher with a background in computer engineering, about consciousness, evolution, and intelligent design. Did consciousness evolve? What does the evidence suggest? And how do materialists deal with the seemingly immaterial reality that is consciousness? This is a guest episode borrowed with permission from Mind Matters, a podcast of Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence.

An old man shakes hands with an opponent in a game of chess, he lost and acknowledges it.

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Flannery

Date
October 21, 2020

Categorized
Evolution

Tagged
Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin, Darwinism, Evolution, fine-tuning, human exceptionalism, methodological materialism, methodological naturalism, Natural Selection, Natural Theology, Privileged Planet, science and religion, teleology, Theism, Theory of Evolution, Tom Wolfe, World of Life}

Alfred Russel Wallace and His Friendly Battle with Darwin

_{Michael Flannery

October 21, 2020

Evolution}

On this ID the Future, science historian Michael Flannery continues discussing his newly updated Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russel Wallace’s World of Life Challenged Darwin. Wallace was co-founder with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution by random variation and natural selection, but unlike Darwin he saw teleology or purpose as essential to life’s history, and a teleological view as essential to the life sciences. According to Flannery, Wallace’s views on the nature of the cell, the special attributes of humans, the irreducible nature of life, and the fine tuning of the universe hold up well today. He and Darwin disagreed on much of this, yet they maintained mutual respect. In this, Flannery says, the two are a great model Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Andrew McDiarmid

Date
June 29, 2020

Categorized
Evolution, Intelligent Design, Science

Tagged
__edited, Change Over Time, common descent, ENCODE project, gradualism, historical science, irreducible complexity, Junk DNA, macroevolution, Microevolution, Natural Selection, non-coding DNA, Nutshell}

Robert Waltzer on Evolutionary Theory’s Room for Humility

_{Andrew McDiarmid

June 29, 2020

Evolution, Intelligent Design, Science}

On this episode of ID the Future, biologist and professor Robert Waltzer talks with host Andrew McDiarmid about Waltzer’s chapter in the new Discovery Institute Press volume Evolution and Intelligent Design in a Nutshell. Waltzer’s chapter covers some key terms in the evolution/ID conversation that are often misunderstood or misused. These include the word “evolution” itself, “change over time,” “common descent,” and “natural selection.” He offers quick definitions and explains some of the confusion surrounding them. Waltzer also describes an encouraging success story of his about fostering open dialogue and exploration of the evidence for design in nature.

^{Type
post

Author
Daniel Reeves

Date
June 1, 2020

Categorized
Science

Tagged
__edited, Alfred Russell Wallace, cells, Charles Darwin, common descent, Darwinism, DNA, explanatory deficits, Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, Gerd Müller, Günter Bechly, Homology, Intelligent Design, irreducible complexity, Isaac Newton, macroevolution, Microevolution, modern synthesis, molecular machinery, nanomachines, Natural Selection, Neo-Darwinism, protoplasm, Robert Boyle, Royal Society of London, speciation, survival of the fittest, teleology}

Of Natural Selection, Explanatory Deficits, and Bunnies Dark and Light

_{Daniel Reeves

June 1, 2020

Science}

On this episode of ID the Future we hear the first part of Discovery Institute Education Outreach Associate Daniel Reeves’ talk at the 2020 Dallas Science and Faith Conference. Reeves outlines the meaning of natural selection, and traces its history, starting from Darwin’s early understanding, in the days when cells were viewed as just blobs of protoplasm. Reeves carries the story from there through the neo-Darwinian modern synthesis and into the extended evolutionary synthesis, culminating in a 2016 meeting of the Royal Society on the theory’s continuing — and still unresolved — explanatory deficits.

Virus protection. Vaccine search. Antibodies and viral infection. Immune defense of the body. Attack on antigens 3D illustration

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
May 13, 2020

Categorized
Science

Tagged
__edited, Aristotle, chance, Charles Darwin, coronavirus, COVID-19, Darwinism, design inference, Evolution, intelligent agency, Intelligent Design, mutations, Natural Selection, P.Z. Myers, pandemic, Proteins, random mutations, randomness, RNA, specified complexity, virus}

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

_{Michael Egnor

May 13, 2020

Science}

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.