Questions to Consider if You Believe Darwinism
1. Recognizing the failure of the fossil record to display the gradual nature of Darwinian evolution, Stephen J. Gould resurrected the idea of Darwinism in big jumps known as “punctuated equilibrium.” Major remodeling of body plans could occur if regulator genes caused multiple changes at once. This would explain gaps in the fossil record, but it is not supported by observational science. Even if these creatures were born, what would they mate with?
2. Where did all the new information come from since mutations are known to reduce information?
3. Does similarity always prove that one structure evolved into another?
4. A large fish allows a small fish or shrimp to clean parasites from its mouth and then swims off without eating the cleaner. How could this relationship, and other irreducibly complex systems, have evolved one step at a time?
5. How do you select for the ability to fix a mutation that you don’t have?
6. How did the first organism survive without the second, and vice versa?
7. If you can pedal a bicycle at an average of 10 mph, how long would it take to reach the moon riding your bicycle taking a three hour break every fifth hour?
8. Is Darwinism a valid scientific idea since it cannot be observed in experiments and repeated to show that the conclusions it claims are valid?
9. What mechanisms do scientists use to explain how mutations can produce new information to make organisms more complex, when virtually all mutations cause a loss of information or no change at all?
10. Since information cannot be created from matter by purely natural mechanisms and since it is not a part of the material universe, how did information originate?
11. By what mechanism is new information added to genomes in Darwinian evolutionary history? Can the information gain be demonstrated experimentally?
12. What direct fossil evidence is there that fish could have evolved into amphibians? Could the alleged transitional fossils be interpreted in multiple ways?
13. When two lines of evidence contradict each other (e.g., if DNA suggests one Darwinian evolutionary relationship and anatomy suggests a different relationship), how do scientists decide which line of evidence is more compelling?
14. Why is Darwinism the key to understanding biology? Why is it necessary to know where the eye evolved from to understand how it works and how to treat it when it has a disease?
15. Why do examples of natural selection get equated with Darwinism when Darwinian evolution is not observable and natural selection is?
16. Why do biology textbooks include the photo of the peppered moth when scientists have shown it to be a fraud?
17. Should we accept everything that the text tells us about Darwinian evolution when the textbooks are constantly being changed and updated?
18. If Darwinian evolution is not directed by a purpose, would it be safe to say that human existence is purposeless?
19. What is the basis for truth and morality if human life is a byproduct of Darwinian evolutionary processes (random interactions of lifeless chemicals)?
20. Are humans more special or important than any other organism if there is no such thing as higher and lower animals in an Darwinian evolutionary framework?
21. Is it possible to know the original function of an organ that is called vestigial, like the appendix, when most tissues are not preserved in fossils and the ancestor cannot be examined? It would seem that there are many assumptions involved in making such a claim.
22. Does Darwinian evolution predict stasis or progress? Why are so many “living fossils” found that have remained the same for hundreds of millions of years while other species have evolved relatively rapidly?
23. There seem to be many different definitions of evolution; do all scientists agree on what evolution is? Which view of evolution is correct (punctuated equilibrium, neo-Darwinism, Darwinism, etc.)?
24. Why do scientists consider homologous structures evidence of a common ancestor when they seem to fit the expected pattern, but scientists call them examples of convergent evolution when they don’t fit the pattern?
25. What types of evidence would Darwinists accept as evidence against Darwinism?
26. Is “Just give it enough time and it will happen.” a scientific statement?