Crossing a Chasm
In Small Steps?
by
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Chapter 10-3: A Final Word on Evolution “I would like that to be known; these facts are in the summary which I think is a very good one.” ~ John Sherman Cooper (1901-1991), American politician, jurist, and diplomat ~ Of course, I think that my summary also is a very good one, but you are at liberty to disagree. In a future decade or so when I have learned so much more, I may well decide that it is not so good after all. This final chapter summarises the issues which prevent me from so far accepting undirected evolution as true. It has been a difficult conclusion to reach, as I have no starting point, no presuppositions, no loyalty to any perspective, and no preference for what the truth should be. I have concluded based on my understanding of the science, with dollops of logic thrown in. I readily admit to possible misunderstandings of the science, but I have analysed as comprehensively as I have been able. The following, in no particular order, are the primary stumbling blocks for evolution as I perceive them. 1. Inheritance: Epigenetic inheritance aside, two cell types are relevant: gamete (reproductive) and somatic (non-reproductive). Only gamete cells are inherited by offspring - sperm from the male and ova from the female. Thus, only mutations which occur to the germ line from conception onward can contribute to evolution; there is no biological mechanism for mutations in somatic cells, i.e., the rest of the body, to make their way into the germ line. 2. Unit of Inheritance: is the gene, which in humans, has an average composition of 3,500 base pairs (nucleotides). 3. Mutations: are permanent alterations to the DNA sequence of a gene, caused by insertions, deletions, or substitutions of nucleotides. The external causes of mutations, called mutagens, can affect anywhere from a single base pair, to multiple genes in a chromosome. 4. Distribution: mutations are mostly deleterious, with neutral being next in frequency and beneficial the least common. Given the unit of inheritance being the gene, the frequency of inherited mutations would favour deleterious over beneficial, suggesting devolution (genetic entropy) rather than evolution. 5. Complexity: of numerous features in humans is so finely detailed, precise and interrelated that the probability of ultimately favourable genetic mutations happening in precisely the right sequence is extremely low. There is no check-pointing of a sequence in anticipation of subsequent mutations to continue to process for a purpose or goal. One can only assume that, in the majority of cases, a partial mutation accumulation would offer no survival or reproductive benefit, resulting in that line of an organism’s development ceasing through deselection. 6. Systems: are what enable us to tick. Any propositions which attempt to describe how evolution might have occurred must consider the implications for systems, not just individual organisms. In the literary sources that I have researched, I find very little evidence of systems thinking. 7. Definitions: I contend that scientists pay insufficient attention to the fundamentals of their calling. Physical reality is composed of entities, having properties that determine their activities, and their state. Mental activities have none of the restrictions of physical activities, and thus must be of different properties and form. 8. Axioms: Despite their commitment to the disciplines of their respective scientific pursuits, it would appear that scientists lack a “code of conduct” for evaluating hypotheses and conclusions, such as I have proposed with my ten Primary Axioms. 9. Mind-Brain: Chemicals can only do what they must, as determined by their properties and those of other entities with which they interreact in a specified environment. Chemicals, and entities composed of chemicals, always behave objectively, whereas the mind always behaves subjectively. 10. The Mind: is conflated by scientists as related to the brain, in being a “mental organ” of the brain itself, an emergent property of the brain, or an activity of the brain. It cannot be all three, and given that its activities relate to the conceptual, it cannot be any of those three. 11. Visual Acuity: The eye “sees” because it interacts with light; the mind-brain complex “visualises” because it constructs a mental image of an external reality, allowing the cognitive to enhance visualisation by the application of prior learnings. 12. Imagination: is the source of human creativity, yielding music, poetry, literature, the arts, and yes, even scientific hypotheses, most especially those not suggested by experienced reality. The brain, through evolution, cannot suggest anything not so experienced, leaving only the immaterial mind as the cause of truly original thought. 13. Infinite: How could a mind which is material, and thus finite, have a concept of what it is not? This list could be expanded significantly, drawing on various topics discussed in this book. I will leave the reader to refute my list, to compose their own, or to simply follow whatever worldview with which they are most comfortable.
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The author started his working career as an Air Traffic Control Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, and after resigning his commission, spent thirty-five years in the Information Services industry. In the context of his writings, he describes himself as an analyst, by aspiration, inclination, proclivity, training, and occupation. His books reflect his primary intellectual pursuit: explanations given for human existence by both religions and evolution. Having published several analyses including “Religion: Of God or Man” and “Seeking After God”, he concluded that there was nothing more that he could learn on that subject – the issue remained an enduring mystery. Returning to the other explanation, evolution, he had long wanted to complete a more thorough analysis of evolution theory, than as presented in his earlier publications, “The Dawkins Deficiency” and “Information, Knowledge, Evolution and Self”. This required that he acquire and study dozens of academic books and other publications, seeking to understand the plausibility, and at times hollowness, of scientific explanations. Using his background knowledge of relevant technologies, he was able to identify parallels between modern automation and mechanisation, and human biological processes. One of particular interest was an analysis of the technical similarities between the human sensory system, and modern telemetry systems. With a lifelong passion for a travel, and a modest appetite for adventure, he has trekked in the Khumbu and Annapurna regions of Nepal, the Peruvian Andes, and Patagonia. His hobby, apart from writing, has been a love of all things motorcycling, from touring remote areas, and attending races, to complete restoration of vintage motorcycles. He has motorcycled throughout parts of his native Australia, North America, New Zealand, Iceland, Bolivia, Peru, Turkey, the Himalaya, Morocco, Greece, and eastern Europe. His business and holiday travels have taken him through sixty countries, and all continents, including Antarctica. Evolution is defined as the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations, resulting in changes in both the genotype and phenotype. The evidence for evolution is primarily circumstantial, being based on fossils of extinct species, physical similarities, and a largely common genome. Charles Darwin believed that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Today, we know so much more than Darwin did 150 years ago, leading many scientists to discard genetic mutation and natural selection as having the development power previously ascribed to them. What has been missing in the science so far is “systems thinking” - a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate, and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. Questioning whether the mind consists of organs of the brain, an emergent property of the brain, or activities of the brain, as scientists suggest, the author has concluded for none of these. The brain being physical, it can only deal with the physical, but the mind deals in the conceptual, which has no physical properties. With his background in related technologies, the author has compared the human nervous system with telemetry systems as used in modern aircraft, vehicles, and other applications. Though implemented differently, the functional requirements remain the same, which has prompted a different perspective on how it could have evolved. The telemetry system in the human body is astounding in its complexity, accuracy, and reliability, leading to the author’s doubts as to its claimed evolutionary origins. Crossing a Chasm is an analysis of the probability that such could be accomplished by innumerable, unguided small steps, over whatever time.