- When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, he knew that the fossil record opposed his theory. During the Cambrian explosion, most of the primary life forms abruptly appeared in the fossil record with no evidence of intermediate forms preceding them in the Precambrian strata. Punctuated equilibrium states that evolution occurs in spurts instead of following the slow, steady path suggested by Darwin. Instead, there are extended periods of stasis with no extinctions or new species. Stasis is interrupted by intermittent bursts of activity. The punctuated equilibrium theory aims to explain the missing fossil transitions admitted by Darwin. The problem with the idea is that it doesn’t explain the existence or origin of higher taxonomic groups. To describe how one trilobite species evolved into another is not the same as explaining how trilobites arose in the first place. This theory has been scrapped. Another one bites the dust.
- Metamorphosis means a transformation—randomness in action or not.
Metamorphosis means a transformation or change in shape. Metamorphosis quickly evolves in species that change resources during ontogeny. Butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and bees have complete metamorphosis. The butterfly looks different in each stage: egg, larva, pupae, and adult. The butterfly egg is spherical or ovate-shaped, varying in color and size.
- In his book Origin of Species, Darwin claimed that natural selection accounts fully for the diversity of all living organisms; details to follow. He promised a second book that would fill in the missing information from the first book. His follow-up book would be his whole treatment of all species questions. It didn’t happen. Instead, he published a small book in 1862 on the fertilization of orchids. Why? Because Darwin’s unpublished manuscript Natural Selection was no more convincing than his Origin of the Species book. It did have a long catalog of facts regarding topics covered in his Origin of the Species book. No new conclusions, just relevant facts. The chapter on natural selection contains only speculations and what-if scenarios. Imaginary illustrations wouldn’t get it, It was high time he quit it, and he did. He turned to botany instead. He engaged in disingenuous rhetorical tropes a lot. He also was constantly calling the anatomy of orchid flowers contrivances.
- Not to worry, within a decade, science had bought into his interpretation of how all species had evolved. Science has been attempting to brick up the Darwin wall for over one hundred years. Stonewall, divert, obfuscate, deny, bluster, and denigrate are the weapons of choice. Differing opinions aren’t tolerated. If you declare that humans are the beneficiaries of a planned cosmic order that has produced known thought reposers, the ridicule you’ll get will overwhelm you. Humans are insignificant when compared to the vastness of the Universe.
- If you still believe that humans are the product of chance events springing from primordial slime, re-think your position. Slime didn’t bring you to the dance, and you can’t go home with it.
- Science is an authoritative source, only when it gets it right. Self-interest sometimes flaws scientific results. The media sometimes creates a stream of pleasant illusions. Media coverage helps researchers attract government grants. Fraud and errors in scientific papers are hard to detect. Science writers jump on any new research results and ignore everything else. At times, they act like PR agents for the scientific community. The times they are achangin. The temple of science will be shaken to its core when Intelligent Design wins out over Darwinism.
