A Simple Catapillar

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I just stumbled accross this site.  I have no idea what else it may be teaching, but I did find this bit that is right on target.

Within this tiny egg, only about an eighth of an inch long, is an entire world of genetic information. It contains the instructions for the construction of the caterpillar with the intelligence it needs to operate all of its organs (eyes, antennae, legs, etc.), to maneuver within its environment, to digest leaves, to avoid predators, to know when and how to molt, to pupate, etc. It contains the instructions for the incredibly complex process of the final molting and formation of the pupa, including the amazing cremaster mechanism. It contains the instructions for the death and dissolution of the caterpillar into a biological soup and the reformation of that soup into a beautiful butterfly. It contains the instructions not only to construct the butterfly in all of its mind-boggling complexity (e.g., its proboscis, its compound eyes, its intricately shingled wings, its sensory organs, its reproductive organs) but also the instructions to create the butterfly’s brain and the intelligence needed to thrive within its environment, to fly, to land, to avoid predators, to find the right plants and flowers, to drink and digest nectar, to keep its cold-blooded metabolism in balance, to reproduce. It contains the instructions for a bewildering multi-thousand mile migration to a place it has never been and in the absence of any earthly guide. It would seem, in fact, that the genetic code within that tiny monarch butterfly egg contains a map of a large part of the earth. And it contains the information for constructing hundreds of copies of itself. If the butterfly evolved, then evolution is miraculous and has the attributes of Almighty God!

If you have fat lips you have evolved?

According to http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18912-fat-lips-evolve-at-record-speed.html some lake cichlids are evolving new physical features.  The features they list though are just variations within the kind, primarily fat lips.  The article does recognize that rapid change within a kind can occur.  In this case they say features can arise in just ten generations.  We would expect to see this sort of variation that doesn’t require additional intelligence.  This is certainly not an example of evolution as the fish is still a fish and the lips are still lips.  This change is likely a loss of information controlling lip development and other features.

Truth and Popular Opinion

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Truth and popular opinion often don’t walk hand in hand.  While most will agree with this general statement, its surprising how many people and even how many Christians allow popular opinion and the opinion of experts concerning origins to supersede the clear creation account found in the Bible.  There are many examples that could be given of this practice, but this one I found particularly interesting.

There is a type of problem called the Monty Hall Problem.  Three doors are presented to a contestant with a prize behind one.  The host knows the location of the prize, but the contestant does not.  After the contestant selects a door the host opens another door that does not contain the prize.  At this point the contestant is given a choice.  He can either stay with his original choice or switch to the other unopened door.

The majority of people when presented with this problem don’t understand reasoning behind the proper choice.  Even some experts in the field of mathematics get this wrong, and only relent when shown the results of thousands of computer simulations.  Incidentally, pigeons figure out the best choice after about 30 tries, but most people dont’ figure it out after 200 tries.  It’s not that people (including me in this instance) mis-understand the facts, it is simply that they don’t use proper reasoning to determine the correct answer.

One in a zillion kind of mutation

National Geographic has found a penguin that has atypical pigmentation.  What is interesting to me is how likely they think this could occur.  “It’s a one in a zillion kind of mutation”.  If different coloration is a one in a zillion mutation then how can mutations possibly explain the existence of the penguin at all let alone other life on earth?  Variation within a kind is expected in the Biblical Creationist world view.

Fox/Dog Kind

A scientist has essentially turned foxes into dogs within 10 generations — a finding consistent with creation.  The change is within the created kind and does not introduce any new information.  Evolution expects at about 100 generations for such a change to take place.

Looking Young

Ink has been found in a fossilized squid.  The article quotes Dr. Phil Wilby as saying,

It is difficult to imagine how you can have something as soft and sloppy as an ink sac inside a rock that is 150 million years old.

I don’t dispute the evidence, but I do dispute the conclusion.  The obvious solution is that the ink sac isn’t 150 million years old.