Darwin Revelation - We will never know

Right now, it is impossible to completely dismiss each side of the intelligent design verses evolution argument. Growing up, I have been exposed to each side of the argument so it is difficult for me to pick one side over the other. In my earlier years of school, I remember learning about evolution and thinking how this could potentially be a way to which we have came to be how we are today. On the other side, my family always wanted to me to attend church where I learned the very basic version of many bible stories. It hasn’t been until recently where both of these situations have come together in my mind where I could make a decision based on what I already know.

Since I have become older, I have stopped attending church. I began to grow skeptical of organized religion in general, and decided that I didn’t need it to be part of my life. Even though I have made this decision, I don’t want to completely dismiss intelligent design because it is a large part of what I grew up with. While reading through Darwin’s Black Box, one argument really made an impression in my mind. “Well, for starters, a system that is irreducibly complex. By irreducible complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. An irreducibly complex system cannot be produced directly by slight, successive modification of a precursor system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional” (Appleman 593). I think this argument is very solid. Our bodies function through a system of parts that work together, and we cannot live without these coordinating parts in our body. If each part relies on the other one to exist, how did they end up together if they weren’t created?

Modern science has been able to prove so much about our existence such as how things work while innovative thinkers have been able to develop the technology we use during our daily lives. Doctors can help people with diseases, while technology has advanced the equipment they use in modern medicine. In my mind, science has always been able to prove facts based on evidence, which is usually indisputable. Therefore, my beliefs are automatically drawn towards the science aspect of the argument. I also thought it was interesting that other scientists during Darwin’s time had come to similar conclusions about evolution, some were even had no connection to Darwin at all. One in particular was Charles Lyell. “For eighteen years these researchers had all been pointing to the same conclusion, namely, that the species now living had been derived by variation and generation from those which had pre-existed, and these again from others of sill older date” (Appleman 285). Because many scientists began to form similar conclusions about evolution, this gives the theory significant creditability due to the fact that it has been proved by many others and not just Darwin.

There is no doubt that Darwin has influenced the minds of everyone. Even more so, Christianity and other religions have been around for significantly longer. But even though scholars have been working in depth to prove one theory over the other, it has been my recent personal discovery that no one will truly know how we originated.

This video is fairly controversial, mainly because the narrator has strong opinions about how evolution has never been proven. I also liked it because i disagree with much of what he had to say, and because of this, was much more interested in hearing a completely different perspective. One thing I do like about this video is that he says that both intelligent design and evolution should be taught as such theories, and that no one will even know the truth for sure.



Sources

Behe, Michael. “Darwin’s Black Box.” in Darwin. 3rd ed. Philip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001.

Darwin, Charles. “Selections from Darwin’s Work.” P. 67-254 in Darwin. 3rd ed. Philip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001.

Lyell, Charles. “Priciples of Geology.” in Darwin. 3rd ed. Philip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001.