Cosmos vs. Logos

The “Eye’s” have it

One of the challenges to the belief in evolution is the eye and the systems involved in eyesight.   The principle is referred to as Irreducible Complexity and using vision as an example, eyesight involves the simultaneous development of the eye, optic nerve and brain to make sight possible.  However, on Cosmos, the Journey of the Imagination, this is not a problem.   Beginning of course with tons of time, we’re to imagine an environment where a very simple organism has a mutation which enables it to suddenly sense light.  Now assuming one mutation could allow the detection of light, other simultaneous mutations would be necessary to allow the organism to “see / interpret” that light such as a connection / conduit to its brain.    The probability of 3 simultaneous positive mutations occurring is only  on in a billion trillion [10²¹](only is of course a tongue in cheek expression).   The show even provides a simulated split screen view to show how the light might have appeared to the organism. 

From this early start we’re to accept that additional mutations eventually resulted in the development of the human eye (one organ, but composed of many systems: cornea, iris, muscles, retina stem, rod and cone cells, fluid, etc.,), the optic nerve to carry the signal to the brain where the image can be read as sight.   Other examples of Irreducible Complexity can be observed in a single human cell or in an animal such as the woodpecker or giraffe.

From a biblical standpoint, there is one miracle that Jesus performed that demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is the Promised Messiah.  In the Old Testament it was foretold that the Messiah would heal the blind.   It was not until Jesus earthly ministry that a person born blind from birth was given their sight (See John chapter 9 for more details).   Even today with all the technical advances restoration of eyesight is just becoming possible by small circuits designed by intelligent designers.   Of all the aspects of creation the ability to see is one of the great demonstrations of our Creator.   Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  (John 8:12)

COSMOS vs LOGOS

The failure of the Biosphere 2 experiment

Do you remember back in the 1990’s there was a great experiment conducted in the dessert of Arizona?    Scientists constructed a small self-contained biosphere that was intended to be self-sustaining and made 2 attempts to seal off a crew to live and thrive within the domed area.   It was named Biosphere 2 after the planet earth, which was considered the first Biosphere.   It had an ocean, dessert, tropical forest and other representative regions of our planet, along with fish and animals intended to sustain life.   Despite very careful and intelligent choices Biosphere 2 was a complete failure.  My family and I visited and toured the facility / grounds back in the mid 90’s.

Now for a practical observation - I’m not knocking the efforts of the scientists and other great minds involved in this endeavor.  However, if a great deal of human intelligence could not pull this off on an extremely small scale, is it reasonable to believe that non-intelligent random forces and time could pull this off on a planetary scale?   Personally, I don’t possess that great of faith.

COSMOS vs. LOGOS

Not invited to the Evolution Party

Those who hold to evolution usually are from the biology, geology and perhaps, as Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronomy sciences.  But not all of the sciences are considered.   For example consider:

• Mathematics – the probability of life evolving from non-living matter is mathematically impossible.    Mathematically, evolution does not work.
• Physics – this science has long been a critic of evolution, especially from the standpoint of anthropic fine tuning exhibited in the universe.   For example, the expansion rate of the universe is fined-tuned to one part in a trillion trillion trillion trillion.  If it were changed by one part in either direction – a little faster, a little slower – we could not have a universe that is capable of supporting life.
• Molecular Biology – Michael Behee has written “Darwin’s Black Box” which describes the evidence of incredible design exhibited within the cells of the human body.  For example, the flagellum (rotary propeller of bacteria) that is capable of spinning at 10,000 rpm (and capable of stopping spinning within a quarter of a turn and instantly start spinning at 10,000 rpm in the opposite direction);  the transportation system inside each cell that rivals FedEx; the cascade process by which blood clots, etc.   The evidence now available with the advent of the electron microscope is just too compelling to accept something other than creative design.
• Philosophy – though this may not be necessarily considered a science, evolution is unable to account for the development of language in human beings or our ability to record / write to share with others.  There is also the matter of consciousness that evolution cannot answer.

(Source for bullets above:  Case for the Creator by Lee Strobel and interviews with various experts in their fields, some of which once held to life beginning by evolution until the facts that confronted them proved otherwise.)

The 2^nd program in the Cosmos series does take the time to marvel at the DNA strand within the cell and the host states the atoms contained within a single strand of DNA are roughly equivalent to the number of stars in a typical galaxy.   Now if you stumbled upon an immense library, would your first thought be, “I wonder how long it took for this vast work of knowledge and information to evolve?”   Is it any more plausible to believe that the infinitesimal DNA library evolved as well?