Natural Selection

On this episode of ID the Future, Jay Richards interviews biologist and Center for Science and Culture senior fellow Michael Behe on his forthcoming book Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution, available now for pre-order. Very recent advances in gene sequencing show that genetic mutations and natural selection sometimes work to create niche advantages, but by breaking genes, not by building new ones. It’s like increasing fuel efficiency by jettisoning things from your car: great if fuel efficiency is a matter of life or death, not so great if you actually wanted that back seat in there. And in any case, it isn’t how a car gets built in the first place. In the same way, Darwinian evolution can Read More ›

On this episode of ID the Future, CSC Associate Director John West exposes the darker side of P.T. Barnum. Maybe you’ve watched The Greatest Showman – but have you heard of Barnum’s “What Is It?” exhibit? Listen in for more about racist displays of human “freaks” and how the science of the day endorsed Social Darwinism. For more, watch the newly released documentary, Human Zoos, and visit HumanZoos.org. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

On this episode of ID the Future, Michael Flannery, historian of science and emeritus professor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses how Alfred Russel Wallace, co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection, broke with Darwin by arguing that the rise of humans required something more than blind evolutionary mechanisms. As Flannery also notes, the great geologist Charles Lyell sided with Wallace in the debate, to Darwin’s dismay. Listen in to learn more about Lyell’s idea of uniformity, the pro-Darwinian origins of the journal Nature, and how professional dissent from Darwinism has existed and persisted ever since Darwin’s Origin of the Species. And to dive deeper still, check out Flannery’s new book on Wallace, Nature’s Prophet.

On this episode of ID the Future host Mike Keas talks a third time with Michael Flannery about Flannery’s new book Nature’s Prophet: Alfred Russel Wallace and His Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology. The surprising word come out of this conversation is how open Darwin was to Wallace’s opposing viewpoint — unlike many Darwinists today. Some of Flannery’s recent experience with historians of science, though, shows there is at least hope in some quarters for increasing academic openness today.

On this episode of ID the Future historian Michael Flannery continues discussion of his new book Nature’s Prophet: Alfred Russel Wallace and His Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology. Flannery tells how Wallace became convinced of some “overruling intelligence” in nature — not because of “gaps” in what he knew, but because so many human attributes demand a better explanation than Darwin’s own “utility principle.” They called for a cause adequate to the effects. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

On this episode of ID the Future, historian Michael Flannery discusses his just-released book Nature’s Prophet: Alfred Russel Wallace and His Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology. It’s the intellectual history of Wallace, who is credited with independently propounding the the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin insisted on a purely materialistic version of the theory, but as Wallace studied the evidence, he grew convinced that intelligent design also played a role in the history of life, particularly in the origin of humans. Though not a religious person, he broke with the rising scientism of his day to argue that there must be some “overruling intelligence” behind nature.

On this episode of ID the Future, Ira Berkowitz interviews M.I.T. Ph.D. Lee Spetner in Jerusalem. Spetner challenges the idea of convergent evolution and explains his non-random evolutionary hypothesis.

On this episode of ID the Future, Ira Berkowitz interviews M.I.T. Ph.D. Lee Spetner in Jerusalem. Togethe they explore key arguments from Spetner’s books Not by Chance and The Evolution Revolution. Spetner takes on natural selection, discussing what it can and cannot do. He also explores aspects of population genetics and the constraints the Earth’s history imposes on evolving new species.

This episode of ID the Future features a follow-up interview with Winston Ewert, co-author of An Introduction to Evolutionary Informatics.

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 …