Claim CB101.1:
Mutations are accidents, and things do not get built by accident.
Source:
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 1985. Life--How Did It Get Here?
Brooklyn, NY,
pg. 102.
Morris, Henry M. 1985. Scientific Creationism. Green Forest, AR:
Master Books, p. 55.
Response:
- There is more to evolution than mutation. A small percentage of
mutations are beneficial, and selection can cause the beneficial
mutations to persist and the harmful mutations to die off. The
combination of mutation and selection can create new useful
adaptations.
Sometimes things do get built by accident. Many discoveries started
out as accidents that people recognized uses for. Many other designs
(accidental or not) have been selected against, that is, discarded.
Design itself is an evolutionary process.
- Experiments and genetic analysis show that mutations (plus selection)
do account for new adaptations (Max 1999).
Links:
Max, Edward E. 1999. The evolution of improved fitness by random
mutation plus selection. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/fitness/
References:
- Max, E. E. 1999. (see above)
created 2003-4-21
