New excerpt from Animal Algorithms

Eric Cassell’s book is Animal Algorithms: Evolution and the Mysterious Origin of Ingenious Instincts (2021) Here’s the excerpt:

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Scientists typically specialize, and a biologist who does this may see problems for evolutionary theory in his or her own subdiscipline but then figure those problems are the exception and that evolutionary theory has things well in hand elsewhere in the life sciences. For this reason, it is vital to step back and take in the broader picture. Doing so reveals that while evolutionary theory nicely accounts for some things in the history of life, it runs into significant problems in many other areas. This should give us pause and encourages an objective consideration of how the theory of intelligent design holds up by comparison. Figure 7.1 summarizes such a comparison. A check mark indicates the theory or theories consistent with the observations related to the given category. The remainder of the chapter explains the basis for the comparisons.

Metric    Blind Evolution    Intelligent DesignMicroevolutionXXSimilarities across taxaXXDesign flawsXXAbrupt appearance XEngineering design XGenetic changes XOrigin of information XTeleology XConvergence XSimple explanation XPredictions and Retrodictions X

Figure 7.1. Comparison of discriminators for two proposed causes for the origin of complex programmed behaviors.

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More:

Eric Cassell, “Complex Programmed Behaviors — Intelligently Designed” at Evolution News and Science Today (December 16, 2021)

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