Journal JJ's Journal: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design 1
There's been a great number of electron's spent (and a great deal of ink spilt) arguing the debate of evolution vs. intelligent design, so permit me to chime in with a few thoughts.
First off, I think it needs to be kept absolutely clear that this should not be a debate of religion versus secularism. I, personally, practice a religion, Catholic, and believe in evolution as a proven scientific axiom. Having said that, I can understand certain limitations of the proof of it, primarily that of only a few hundred years of modern scientific observation of the current flora and fauna has limited the observable portion of any evolution. Industrial melanism is well-established but it's only the tip of the iceberg of true evolution.
Second, the "proof" of failures of evolution are quite weak. Is the human eye to complex to arise via evolution? Although I have not seen this mentioned, I can speak at greater length about the evolution of language. It is incredibly complex and bears the same marks of intelligent design. It's hard to see what vocal apparatus is used for without speech and why certain developments which actually hinder it's primary functions, getting air to the lungs and food to the digestive track, would occur without language. In short, if language isn't the goal then why evolve a vocal apparatus at all? (See Noam Chomsky for more on this.)
However, this ignores three factors: the random nature of genetic variation, staged development and the "crane" aspect of evolution. Genetic variation is basicly a random operation. In my family, my grandfather's hair went gray when he was 35, my father's when he was 30 my brother is 25 and starting to gray and I have just started significant graying at age 40. No doubt we all have a genetic "early graying" property, but it doesn't seem to be one gene which switches on at 40 (in my case) but instead it would seem to be interacting with other factors, my hair is more like my mother's and her father didn't gray until his 60s. The main genetic effect is there, but the specifics have a degree of random influences.
Certainly, language is a huge advantage for the survival of humans. Other animals are vastly stronger, swifter, have sharper teeth or are otherwise better hunters. In a straight up fight, a human being stands little chance against any number of animals. And yet, for generations, human hunters have not just held back but severely diminished the populations of most major predators; this is a product of our culture which provides us with powerful weapons and transportation. Culture is a product of our language. But language in less culturally developed situations provides no less strong a tool in coordination and education. Because an old wizened hunter can instruct younger hunters, they do not have to rely only on experience but can learn from related events. The hunters can also coordinate thru the use of language; creating a plan, coordinating their actions and modifying their plans on the fly. Each of these four tasks are carried out by non-human species, but language allows humans to greatly enhance their effects. A simplified language, richer than chimpanzees can muster but less than full human language, would still permit all of these advantages over great predators, but be less effective than full human language. Thus, a middle stage in the evolution of the vocal apparatus would provide greater adaptability than the great apes, but lesser than human beings. A halfway goal is sensical.
Cranes are the use of a feature developing for one reason which accidently provides an advantage or usage on a different front. For hunters, the ability to immitate the sounds of different species would convey certain rather obvious advantages. A duck hunter with a good duck call device has an advantage over a duck hunter without. Miming can be a tricky advantage though. Enhanced miming can also aid the educational aspect of language development, a clearer lesson (one with better sound effects) is more likely to be remembered. Better miming, an intermediate goal is linked to enhanced survivability of multiple generations, both while active hunting and while instructing the next generation, and improved language skill; it is a crane, in that it is a gradual development on one front, which provides unexpected advantages on a second developmental front, which ultimately will be more important than the original. The vocal apparatus of human's developed as a means of miming and producing a variety of sounds which conveyed language development advantages which eventually provided the huge advance of language.
Is the human eye so different?
PBS article: Evolution of the Eye (Score:1)