My thanks to TJL and Edward Oleander for their comments to my last post on the difference between Darwinism and Intelligent Design. I wanted to spin-off one of the issues raised from their comments on the fossil record, and more specifically the fossil record of the "Cambrian Explosion". Edward Oleander writes:
- Very few creatures get fossilized. … By looking at how modern species are spread out, it is possible to estimate that the vast majority (perhaps as much as 95%) of species never left any remains behind at all.
- The Fossil record records very little data about soft tissues.
It appears Edward O. is drinking the Kool Aid of Richard Dawkins. As the Arch-Bishop of Darwinism Richard Dawkins notes: "It's as though they (the Cambrian fossils) were just planted there, without any evolutionary history" (Dawkins 1996: 229). Dawkins doesn't claim to know why there is so little pre-Cambrian fossil evidence but he suspects "it might be that many of these animals had only soft parts to their bodies: no shells or bones to fossilize" (Dawkins 1996: 230).
The Fossil Record. So let me start by making clear what the Cambrian Explosion fossil record is, then both sides can suggest why the record is the way that it is. The Pre-Cambrian fossil record is from the Ediacaran, and an example of the sort of fossils is the Treptichnus pedum, which is a segmented, soft-bodied worm (a brief description and picture is found in Wikipedia here.) And from this worm, in a period as short as 5-10 million years, we have as Time Magazine describes "worms and flies, mice and fish". And most interesting, is the fact that in the Cambrian Explosion we see the appearance of all of life's basic body plans found in nature today are here: bodies with heads, tails, and appendages (this is from pbs.org). We get crab shells, the skeletal structure of fish, with eyes, fins, gills and mouths. We have the air breathing ability of mice, and their tails, paws, and teeth. We have the birds, with their ability to fly, with wings, feathers, and tails. We have insects. And the Darwinist claim is that this all arose from this soft-bodied worm.
So. to aid our discussion, let me ask a few questions:
- Why have no new body plans for life arisen after the Cambrian Explosion?
- The Darwinist claim is that there are few fossils, and the fossils provide little detail about "soft tissues". So I want to know what exactly you are claiming is missing: is it all of the transitions from (for example) the Trept Ped worm to the crab and its' shell? Or is it all of the transitions from the Trept Ped worm to the first fish, PLUS all of transitions from the fish to the Crab and its' shell?
- Why is that all of the same transitions are missing from the fossil record all over the world? The Cambrian Explosion shows the same record throughout the world.
- Think of all of the new parts of life created in the Cambrian Explosion. Here's just a few:
- All of the life's Body Plans;
- The brain;
- Wings and limbs, feet and fins;
- Shells;
- The spinal column;
- From an asexual reproductive system to a sexual reproductive system, along with the creation of the womb, placenta, etc. to sustain the newborn life;
- Teeth and the digestive system;
I could go on. So I will, the blood system, antibodies, muscles, the ability to walk on four feet, and two feet, the five senses all working together with the brain, and all of this comes from the Trept Ped worm? There's much more, but let me stop here.
And so, my question to the Darwinists out there, what is there in life that leads you to think that this kind of rapid change in the DNA of these creatures. Specific examples are demanded in your answer.
Thanks in advance to anyone who adds to the discussion. My final thought is this – we all have to live with the "truth" of our worldview. We cannot one day decide the truth of the Tooth Fairy, and then live in full acceptance of the Tooth Fairy's power and existence. But alongside the need for "truth" in our lives, is the question how is your worldview helping you? With the big questions that we all have, like Why are we here? What's the meaning of life? What am I supposed to do with my life Today? I think Christianity is the best way to have both "truth" and those large questions of life answered. Ask me if you would like more details on this. May God bless your health, your relationships, and provide you with sufficient provision, In Jesus the Messiah's name, Amen. /s/Tom
5 comments:
Hello Tom,
My foot continues to heal... probably 4 - 6 weeks before I'm walking again.
you say I am drinking some weird form of Kool-Aid? When the solution you expound has NO physical evidence at all, and is predicated solely on the hopes that Evolution is not only wrong, but that there are no other possible explanations? Have you been smoking catnip again?
"So let me start by making clear what the Cambrian Explosion fossil record is, then both sides can suggest why the record is the way that it is."
tom, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about here. Your information is so outdated, simplified, and flat out wrong that it makes the rest of your arguements moot. You are criminally mis & under-informed on what was going on biologically at the time. This is what you get for skimming your "science" from Time magazine.
Do some Googling for better information on the Pre-Cambrian Explosion, which may not even deserve the name, and you will be able to answer your own questions. I'll give brief answers in part two, as I must be getting near the Blogger Limit...
~E~
Part two,
"Why have no new body plans for life arisen after the Cambrian Explosion?
Couple of reasons... one is that once an ecological niche is filled, it becomes much harder to refill it with something new. Like an incumbent being difficult to defeat at election time.
Another possibility is that there are practical limits on potential physiomorphs. If you look at enough text books, you'll find that all sorts of morphs have come and gone. The ones that survive today filled their respective niches better than the alternatives.
"And most interesting, is the fact that in the Cambrian Explosion we see the appearance of all of life's basic body plans found in nature today..."
Wrong... just plain old seriously wrong. How did you ever come by this bit of nonsense? Most of everything you listed was there in some form before the PCE, and a couple (like feathered wings) didn't come along until much later. Some systems, like certain eye forms and some wing arrangements, have arisen MORE THAN ONCE under totally differing circumstances.
I can totally understand why you don't believe in evolution. The "science" you're working from is a simplified caricature of actual fact, so of course it doesn't make sense. Try real science, and learn that you don't need Harry Potter with flowing robes and a beard, waving a magic wand saying, "Let there be this, that, and something else!"
Pax,
~Ed~
Part three (Grammar and Philosophy)
"And so, my question to the Darwinists out there, what is there in life that leads you to think that this kind of rapid change in the DNA of these creatures. Specific examples are demanded in your answer."
Your question is grammatically incomplete, and isn't really a question, therefore cannot be specifically answered. Although my answer to what I think you're asking is "Study the REAL fossil record, beginning with a class in what it does and does not preserve, and why and why not."
Try looking at the fossil record for what it IS, and not what you WANT it to be. Don't apply the gaps in it to science... instead, apply science to the gaps... See it in the context of science, and don't try to force it into the context of mythology.
"But alongside the need for "truth" in our lives, is the question how is your worldview helping you? ... I think Christianity is the best way to have both "truth" and those large questions of life answered.
It seems to me that looked at in that way, ALL religions function mainly to serve Man's vanity. Why are we so insistent on there BEING a higher purpose, a reason for existence? And why are you so disdainful of the idea that we can create our own purpose? Our own "meaning" for our lives? Why do the religious need a god to believe in them? There I leave you for today...
Pax,
~E~
Tom's Reply - (on Comment 1 and 2)
Ed the sources I used for this post were from the Darwinist Camp: PBS.org and Wikipedia.
Again, instead of making a statement that I am "wrong, just plain old seriously wrong", give me specifics. When I claimed that all of life's body plans arose during the Cambrian Explosion, I took this as a DIRECT QUOTE from the PBS.org website. As you know, PBS put together the series on Evolution and Darwinism. So, if you think your own Darwinist camp (here PBS) is wrong, you should give an example. Ideally, you could show an animal whose body plan "evolved" after the Cambrian Explosion.
My statement on
Tom's Reply (Ed Ole's Comment 3)
Well, there you go again (imagine Ronald Reagan saying that, for proper effect.) You say the the REAL fossil record supports Darwinism. This despite the fact that Harvard Professor Stephen Jay Gould started an entire branch of Darwinism to explain why the REAL fossil record is sudden appearance, sudden disappearance with little change. As you know, this is evolution's "Punctuated Equilibrium" theory. If you have a disagreement it is with what Darwinist's understand the fossil record to be.
Again, if you put a little more meat on your responses, it would be much easier to discuss this with you. If you want to show the original squirrel. And the 15 intermeidate fossils that led to a cat, then we could discuss whether this is truely Darwinism in action. But your blanket statements that I am wrong, and you are right, only sounds like name calling to me. And it's not very effective.
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