Jon Perry - Genetics & Evolution Stated Casually | Darwin vs Irreducible Complexity: Why evolution by natural selection remains unshaken @StatedCasually | Uploaded 5 months ago | Updated 1 day ago
What process could have generated the sophisticated complexity of the human eye, the elegance of the bacterial flagellum, or the fine-tuned structure of a honey bee’s stinger? After more than 160 years of intense debate, evolution by natural selection continues to be the most powerful explanation.
Since Darwin first published his theory in 1859, many of the world’s best and brightest have tried to prove him wrong. While some skeptics are driven by a sincere desire for scientific progress, many who protest are fueled by theological concerns, while others simply find it too hard to believe that Darwin’s simple process could generate such spectacular complexity.
The most famous attempt to dethrone Darwin in living memory is the argument from Irreducible Complexity by professor Michael Behe. In this presentation, Jon Perry explains what Irreducible Complexity is, attempts to steel-man Behe’s argument in its strongest possible form, and then shows why the argument ultimately fails by demonstrating that normal biological evolution (descent with modification acted upon by natural selection) is fully capable of generating irreducibly complex traits.
What process could have generated the sophisticated complexity of the human eye, the elegance of the bacterial flagellum, or the fine-tuned structure of a honey bee’s stinger? After more than 160 years of intense debate, evolution by natural selection continues to be the most powerful explanation.
Since Darwin first published his theory in 1859, many of the world’s best and brightest have tried to prove him wrong. While some skeptics are driven by a sincere desire for scientific progress, many who protest are fueled by theological concerns, while others simply find it too hard to believe that Darwin’s simple process could generate such spectacular complexity.
The most famous attempt to dethrone Darwin in living memory is the argument from Irreducible Complexity by professor Michael Behe. In this presentation, Jon Perry explains what Irreducible Complexity is, attempts to steel-man Behe’s argument in its strongest possible form, and then shows why the argument ultimately fails by demonstrating that normal biological evolution (descent with modification acted upon by natural selection) is fully capable of generating irreducibly complex traits.
