The Universe - It's the Anti-Religion

By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. An irreducibly complex system cannot be produced directly (that is, by continuously improving the initial function, which continues to work by the same mechanism) by slight, successive modifications of a precursor system, because any precursor to an irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional. An irreducibly complex biological system, if there is such a thing, would be a powerful challenge to Darwinian evolution. Since natural selection can only choose systems that are already working, then if a biological system cannot be produced gradually it would have to arise as an integrated unit, in one fell swoop, for natural selection to have any thing to act on.

--Michael Behe, Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University, 1996


The concept of an 'Irreducibly Complex' system is one of the arguments repeatedly presented by Intelligent Design (Creationism) advocates. They claim that since an existing system requires all of the parts that are present in order to function, and that removal of any of these parts would cause the system to fail, that this provides sufficient evidence to determine that the system was created as is, and there is no way that it could have evolved into its current state.

The best example I have found to visualize and discredit this obviously ludicrous statement is to look at an arch. If you remove one section from the arch, it will fall--it requires all pieces to be in place for it to be a functioning arch. It is therefore 'irreducibly complex' and must have been created exactly as it stands, a miracle of architecture.

Of course, we know that scaffolding was involved to support the sections of arch until it was completed, and then being unnecessary, was removed. The narrow minded view of Creationists and those who rely on faith doesn't allow for this kind of reasoning. To them, everything exists in a constant state, without change, exactly as the 'creator' made it. Any opposing viewpoint is met with deluded ranting and attempts at lending credit to their myths and propaganda.

As I have said before, it is of the utmost importance that individuals continue to come to the realization of how little they know. To ignore the naysayers. To continue to learn and create. There will always be attempts to refute the evidence, but this can be good, since it requires those who are determined to learn the truth to keep on honing their skills, testing the limits, and pushing the boundaries.

Next Time: Music And The Human Mind