UltimateReality
Active Member
- Jan 13, 2012
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The understanding of the conceptual basis of evolution has moved beyond simply stating that evolution is true because evolution occurs.Evolution claim: The types of organisms that survive and reproduce are the types of organisms that survive and reproduce because if they didn't survive and reproduce then they wouldn't be here. So we have definitive truth that evolution is true.
The concept of the "Selfish Gene" has proven to be of value.
The concept is that the organism that can successfully pass on the most copies of its genes is the organism that survives and reproduces. Its actually a battle for survival and reproduction among genes rather than among organisms. A gene that contributes something to the success of an organism surviving and reproducing fares better in this competition than the gene that contributes nothing. The concept of the selfish gene explains cooperative behavior among genes and also among organisms such as ants and bees.
Also, for a long time biologists thought that the human genome contained a lot of "junk" DNA, perhaps as much as 80% of the genome was "junk". That view has changed.
See Bits of Mystery DNA, Far From Junk, Play Crucial Role
I for one thought that it was strange that these "selfish genes" were as it were competing to produce as many copies of themselves as possible (that survived to produce more copies), and that up to 80% of this genome was nonfunctional "junk". Recent work described in that article changes the picture substantially.
Evolution predicts junk DNA. ID predicts the "junk" DNA would have a purpose. The selfish gene is a nice story, but it operates under the false assumption that evolution is working towards some predetermined outcome, which we know it isn't. It is the blind watchmaker.
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