A student recently wrote this blog, asking whether Darwinian evolution really depends on chance. That is the general view, but in any event a friend advises me that he recently bought Ohio State University prof Jeffrey K. McKee’s book
A Riddled Chain: Chance, Coincidence, and Chaos in Human Evolution, and finds there the following:
“We now know that the origins of variation, in the form of genetic mutations, are due to chance. We also know that those few mutations which add survival value must coincide with a suitable environment. Part of the success of evolution is thus mere coincidence. The evolutionary process that then ensues is unpredictable, and in modern parlance could be considered to be chaotic. Nature thus “selects” more than just a survivor. It blindly determines contingencies for the future path of evolution-it sets the initial conditions. Even under the relentless guidance of natural selection, the more whimsical and undirected forces of evolution can then dictate the course of things to come. The unlikely becomes what is likely to happen, and the seemingly probable becomes less so. The infallible drive toward greater fitness takes a strange turn, and natural selection seems to falter. A butterfly flaps its wings, a startled impala escapes a stalking leopard, and the course of evolution changes forever. Surprising things happen due to the niggling, mischievous, capricious nature of three very important components of evolution: chance, coincidence, and chaos. You and I are among their products.”
(Jeffrey K. McKee [Professor of Anthropology, Ohio State University], “The Riddled Chain: Chance, Coincidence, and Chaos in Human Evolution,” (Rutgers University Press, 2000), p. 32)
From what I can tell, McKee is part of a group that has spent considerable effort to prevent a
non-Darwinian from graduating, so we must assume that he is a good Darwinist. Go
here and here for that and
here and ,
here for more on Dr. McKee's views.
Of course, in a Darwinian world, we would not
need academic freedom, right? Everything we believe is the outcome of the competition between selfish genes, so the views of the stronger parties are much better than right.
If you want to understand why the intelligent design controversy cannot go away, read By Design or by Chance?.
My other blog is the Mindful Hack, which keeps tabs on neuroscience and the mind.
If you like this blog, check out my book on the intelligent design controversy, By Design or by Chance?. You can read excerpts as well.
Are you looking for one of the following stories?My recent
series on the spate of anti-God books, teen blasphemy challenge, et cetera, and the mounting anxiety of materialist atheists that lies behind it.
My
review of Francis Collins’ book
The Language of God , my
backgrounder about peer review issues, or the evolutionary biologist’s opinion that all students friendly to intelligent design should be
flunked. Lists of theoretical and applied scientists who
doubt Darwin and of
academic ID publications.
My U of Toronto
talk on why there is an intelligent design controversy, or my talk on
media coverage of the controversy at the University of Minnesota.
A summary of tech guru George Gilder's arguments
for ID and against Darwinism
A critical look at why
March of the Penguins was thought to be an ID film.
A summary of recent
opinion columns on the ID controversy
A summary of recent
polls of US public opinion on the ID controversy
A summary of the Catholic Church's
entry into the controversy, essentially on the side of ID.
O'Leary's intro to non-Darwinian agnostic philosopher David Stove’s
critique of Darwinism.
An ID Timeline: The ID folk seem always to
win when they lose.
Why origin of life is such a difficult problem.
Blog policy note:Comments are permitted on this blog, but they are moderated. Fully anonymous posts and URLs posted without comment are rarely accepted. To Mr. Anonymous: I'm not psychic, so if you won't tell me who you are, I can't guess and don't care. To Mr. Nude World (URL): If you can't be bothered telling site visitors why they should go on to your fave site next, why should I post your comment? They're all busy people, like you. To Mr. Rudesby International and Mr. Pottymouth: I also have a tendency to delete comments that are merely offensive. Go be offensive to someone who can smack you a good one upside the head. That may provide you with a needed incentive to stop and think about what you are trying to accomplish. To Mr. Righteous but Wrong: I don't publish comments that contain known or probable factual errors. There's already enough widely repeated misinformation out there, and if you don't have the time to do your homework, I don't either. To those who write to announce that at death I will either 1) disintegrate into nothingness or 2) go to Hell by a fast post, please pester someone else. I am a Catholic in communion with the Church and haven't the time for either village atheism or aimless Jesus-hollering.
Labels: chance, chance and evolution, Darwin's theory of evolution, Darwinism
