Many features in nature require many parts to be working correctly together at the same time, or the entire feature will not work at all. This is a problem known as irreducible complexity. This means they could not possibly have evolved slowly over time; they must have appeared fully formed, making gradual evolution impossible.
Examples:
- Bird Lung
- Blood clotting
- Bolyerine snake jawbone
- Brain
- Butterfly metamorphosis
- Cilium
- Dolphin ‘melon’
- Eye
- Photosynthesis
- Powered Flight
Debate
Evolutionist: Some features could have had completely different uses and just changed slightly. For instance, porcupine quills are evolved hairs, which were useful for keeping warm (“co-option” or “pre-adaption”). 1
Evolutionist: This is an argument from ignorance. Just because we don’t know how something could have evolved slowly over time doesn’t mean that it didn’t.
Response: This just avoids the issue. Evolutionists have faith that given enough time, they will solve the problems of the idea of evolution, including this one, but the evidence says otherwise.
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Sources
Dawkins, R. (1996). Climbing Mount Improbable. New York: Norton.
Notes
- Dawkins, 1996: “The word ‘pre-adaption’ is used for cases where an organ is originally used form some purpose and then later in evolution is take over for another purpose. It is an illuminating idea, for it frequently rescues us from puzzlement over evolutionary origins. Porcupine quills are now formidable weapons. They didn’t spring from nothing, but are modified hairs, ‘pre-adapted’ for the completely different purpose of keeping warm.” ↩