In my quest to learn the ins and outs of the orthodoxy of the theory of evolution (and thus expose its flaws), I turned to Casey Raskin, a geologist, lawyer, and associate director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute. I found Dr.
An advocate, researcher, and advocate for intelligent design, Dr. Raskin has spent nearly 20 years defending the academic freedom of scientists who face discrimination because of their support for ID.
Life has very low entropy, meaning it is very ordered, but it is also very high energy. How does life maintain this seemingly contradictory state?
I've written about this before here, but I shared with Dr. Raskin my personal skepticism about the religion of evolution. As a layman (compared to him), it seemed to me that Evolution™ had an “invisible hand of God” problem that had never been seriously addressed.
Let's meet in the middle
The Evolution™ myth appears to have a beginning (the Big Bang) and an end (modern Homo sapiens), but no middle ground. And, as I learned from my conversation with Dr. Ruskin, much of the evidence for evolution is just flimsy, tenuously connected assumptions that are likely to be disproven in a variety of fields.
We started by discussing one of the most common arguments against intelligent design: the concept of “junk DNA.”
The argument goes like this: If everything is intelligently designed, why does so much of our DNA seem to serve no purpose?
As Dr. Raskin explained, the idea dates back to the early 1960s, when scientists mapped out the process of creating molecular proteins. DNA codes for RNA, which carries that information to ribosomes, which use it to assemble chains of amino acids to make proteins.
This is because most of the DNA that has been studied up to that point is
Doing so resulted in being thrown into the proverbial trash can, hence the name.
selfish gene
The idea began in earnest with the publication of Japanese geneticist Susumu Ohno's “A Lot of Junk DNA in Our Genome'' in 1972 and Richard Dawkins' “The Selfish Gene'' in 1976.
Ohno famously claimed that 90% of human DNA is complete nonsense. Dawkins took advantage of this, giving junk DNA a “purpose” and stating that the only true function of genes is to reproduce.
itself. Can genes help? you It is intangible.
Ruskin was one of the first to oppose this idea. As an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego, he experienced firsthand how the “junk DNA” theory was used to deny the burgeoning ID movement.
Raskin argued to his professors and colleagues that it was too early to conclude that much of human DNA could be classified as “junk,” citing the then-unfinished Human Genome Project as evidence of a lack of evidence.
Ruskin seemed to have noticed something. Over the past few years, the “junk DNA” theory has been slowly debunked.
God Don't Make “Junk”
This is thanks in large part to a groundbreaking series of papers entitled the ENCODE project, published by biologists studying “non-coding” DNA, aimed at unraveling the mysteries of the human genome.
Since the ENCODE project began in 2010, it has been found that at least 80% of genomes show evidence of biochemical function. In other words, contrary to the junk DNA theory, this DNA
teeth Transcribes information into RNA.
What about the remaining 20%?
The principal investigators of the ENCODE project say that many of these non-coding elements of DNA occur in very specific cell types and environments, making it extremely difficult to capture their natural behavior. It states that there is. But the researchers predict that that 80% number will almost certainly jump to 100% as they study more cell types.
All of this means that applying the Darwinian paradigm to discoveries about gene function leads to erroneous conclusions about “junk DNA,” which in turn is used to justify the same Darwinian theory that gave rise to it. It means that.
Information, please
Meanwhile, Intelligent Design's prediction that a function would be found in that junk DNA came true.
As Ruskin pointed out, the origin of life is the origin of information. Life is a very strange arrangement of matter at first glance.
It's very easy to find things that are high entropy and high energy (think tornadoes and explosions) and things that are low entropy and low energy (snowflakes and crystals). But life is different. Life has very low entropy, meaning it is very ordered, but it is also very high energy.
How does life maintain this seemingly contradictory state?
machine.
Jedi mind trick?
Our cells are packed with molecular machinery that processes and encodes information that is used as applicable instructions. That's what our DNA, RNA, and ribosomes all exist for. They are machines that process information.
Imagine you want to watch Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith on DVD. Can I watch it without a DVD player? no.
Imagine if the instructions for building the world's first DVD player were on a DVD. Can I build a DVD player using only DVDs?No.
Information and information processing machines are inseparable.
The question then becomes, how did these machines come into being?
Did they build it themselves? No, we just showed that that can't happen.
The only possible answer is intelligence. An intelligent designer was needed to create both the machine and the instructions.
Despite initial derision of intelligent design, the theory is gaining ground as a reliable model and explanation for the origins of life and genes. That's simply because the evidence is becoming a little more undeniable.
Be sure to follow Dr. Casey Raskin's research
here.
