This is Essay3a in a
series of debate topics between CSFNM and NMSR.
See CSFNM Homepage for details.
Recent advances in biochemistry and information theory
have been devastating for Darwinism or any other naturalistic philosophy.
Evolution claims that undirected, random process account
for observed order, complexity and information in living entities[1].
However, random, undirected processes cannot produce such characteristics.
Michael Behe shows that well-matched, irreducible complexity cannot be the
consequence of undirected random processes.
Recent attempts by evolutionists to claim that multi-point
metastable equilibrium chemistry [2] can produce order dramatically
miss the point of well-matched irreducible complexity; there is no
more information in the final state of the system than there was at
first. Evolutionists Shanks and Joplin claim the biochemical systems
can be redundantly complex, where biochemical pathways can overlap;
sometimes (they postulate) chaotic conditions can lead to order.
They miss the fundamental feature that Irreducibly
Complex (IC) systems can never be replicated by Simple Interactive
SI) ones such as demonstrated by the Blousov-Zhabitinsky (BZ)
reaction, even chained SI ones. This cannot occur because there is
no functional mechanism to gradually build up a system, in a random
undirected way, creating constituent parts over time, when the
system requires all parts to function simultaneously [3]. If the BZ
reaction were to lead to a crystal, the repeated structure would
still contain very little information. It is similar to a string of
x's --- lots of order, little information.
Alternatively, massive information generation and transfer is
clearly observed in extant self-replicating systems, i.e., living creatures.
Reactions proceed to transcript information as accurately as possible.
There is no known instance of a random generation of information;
quite the reverse, a great deal of intelligent, directed effort is
expended to eliminate sources of noise that corrupts information content.
Recently I demonstrated that the energy required to create information is
very significant, and has employed the above
analysis on simple biochemical species [4]. Thousands of Gigajoules
are required simply to generate the chemical codons forming the alphabet of
DNA. Thousands more to form them into information-bearing sequences. The net
consequence is that when
chemical equilibrium is achieved, the condition is not simply energy
liberating, (as in BZ), but energy intensive. Energy must be released in order
to produce information, so a lot is required. Nor is
the biological system chemically stable as in BZ; once the entropy
reducing mechanism (life) ceases, racemization rapidly results and
energy is released as the information degenerates.
There exists no undirected, random physical mechanism to
produce either information or complexity. Information is not a property of
matter; purely material processes are fundamentally precluded as sources of
information [5]. Matter can carry code; it is not
the code. Since evolution is a materialistic philosophy, it cannot
naturalistically explain the existence of information. Information is
comprised of 5 irreducible parts: statistics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and
apobetics [6]. Even the availability of DNA codons occurring randomly in nature
are no further than statistics. Structuring
codons into coded DNA sequences raises to the level of syntax, only
provided that the code is interpretable. The biological requirement
is for DNA to transcript into mRNA and reproduce. Modern evolutionary biology
cannot decide whether DNA or RNA came first [7].
However, RNA is only a temporary storage medium for genetic information; being
an unstable sugar. Why undirected processes should
select this mechanism has not been made clear, other than it is a
less complex path and the probabilities of random formation are only
slightly less absurd than starting with DNA.
There are many subtleties in a biological system, much of the
DNA contains sequences that appear not to code for proteins and
are poorly understood. Much of the DNA codes for processes rather
than product. This carries IC to an entirely new level. Now (many)
separate processes must be structured to produce the product. This
is what Behe means by well-matched irreducible complexity. Eliminate one of the
processes, and the product is either flawed or gone.
DNA itself performs very few of the essential functions of life. Further, no
one has ever succeeded in predicting the three-dimensional
structure of a protein from its one-dimensional sequence of amino
acids. Thus DNA code as presently understood does not reveal the
functional structure of the molecule for which it codes [8].
Darwinism is completely out of its element when true science
steps to the plate. Shanks and Joplin are at least trying to address
the complete lack of science in understanding how information can
be generated through random undirected acts evolution requires.
They aren't even close, of course, but at least they recognize a serious
problem exists. The problem is that they are trying to arrogate
to matter a fundamental property of containing inherent information.
This is the fundamental building block of the "molecules-to-man"
hypothesis. The molecules must contain the information, because no
known physical process will generate it ex nihilo. However, if the
molecules contain latent information, then the process cannot be
either random or undirected. The epistemological poverty of
evolutionary theory is manifested in its inability to provide
coherent, viable processes, based on known physical principles to
generate order, information and complexity. The inescapable conclusion is that
evolution doesn't work at the most fundamental level
of biochemistry and information theory.
References (not included in word count)
1. Miller, K. Levine, J. Biology, Fifth Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2000. p 658.
2. Shanks and Joplin, 1999.
3. Behe, M. Darwin's Black Box.
4. Lenard, R.X. "Entropy, Energy and Probabilities Associated with
Generation of Order In Complex Biological Information Systems"
draft, 2000.
5. Gitt, W. 2000. In the Beginning Was Information. Ed. 2.
Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung, Bielfeld, Germany.
6. ibid.
7. Ward, P.D. and Brownlee, D. 2000. Rare Earth. Copernicus,
Springer-Verlag, New York.
8. Robinson, A. "Access to Energy". Cave Junction, OR. May 2000