The Dead Talk Back to Darwin – Discovery Institute

Photo: Archaeopteryx, by H. Raab (User: Vesta), CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

In hisreviewofReturn of the God Hypothesis, I was struck by Leonard Saxs quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, the year before Darwins death. Nietzsche reflected on the meaning of Darwinism for man:

Formerly one sought the feeling of the grandeur of man by pointing to his divine origin: this has now become a forbidden way, for at its portal stands the ape, together with other dreadful beasts, grinning knowingly as if to say: no further in this direction!

The image of dreadful beasts blocking the way is vivid and seemed correct at the time. The fossil record, in particular a record of beasts (and other life forms) that lived and died has often been presented by Darwinists as confirmation of their theory. Charles Darwin himself recognized that the voices of the dead were not entirely with him. Events like the Cambrian Explosion were not at all what was predicted by his theory of gradual, unguided change over time.

As geologist Casey Luskin explains in a bonus video accompanying the latestScience Uprisingvideo, the fossils speak with an increasing insistenceagainstDarwinian evolution. Darwin could predict that the fossil record was incomplete and that with time and additional digging, it would vindicate him.

Not so, however. Luskin notes that the so-called collectors curve tells us that the fossils are complete enough now to draw a conclusion. They reflect multiple genuine explosions of new forms, from the Cambrian to the abrupt rise of ourgenusHomo, while the expected transitional forms are either rare or totally lacking. On the other hand, population genetics and the waiting time problem are decisive in indicating that something beyond an unguided material process must be involved.

The dreadful beasts, grinning knowingly, have a message for evolutionists: no further in this direction! They are, in their way, part of theScience Uprising. If you missed the latest episode, watch it now:

Link:

The Dead Talk Back to Darwin - Discovery Institute