Page 229 - The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences

The NAS's Errors in the Chapter on Creationism and
The Evidence for Evolution

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A A Problem Too Complex for NAS:
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A A Problem Too Complex for NAS: : :
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r I Ir rreducible Complexity
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I Irreducible Complexity
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The "irreducible complexity" of structures and systems in living
things is one of the most serious dilemmas facing the theory of evolu-
tion. According to the theory, all the stages undergone as one living
thing evolves into another need to be advantageous. To put it another
way, in a process of evolution from A to Z, all the intermediate stages,
B,C,D … W,X,Y, must be of some benefit. Since it is impossible for nat-
ural selection and mutation to consciously identify an objective in ad-
vance, the theory depends on the assumption that all the systems in
living things can be "reduced" to myriad small steps, and that each in-
dividual transition from one step to another is beneficial to the organ-
ism.
That is why Darwin said, "If it could be demonstrated that any
complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed
by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would ab-
solutely break down." 10
Darwin may have imagined, in the primitive state of science in
the nineteenth century, that living things did possess a reducible
structure. Scientific discoveries during the course of the twentieth
century, however, have revealed that many organs and systems in liv-
ing things cannot be reduced to simple forms. This fact, known as
"irreducible complexity," destroys Darwinism, just as Darwin him-
self feared.
Although the concept of irreducible complexity is sufficient to
demolish the theory of evolution all on its own, the NAS authors do
devote some space to it. However, they do so only to suggest, in a
manner devoid of any proof or logic, that irreducibly complex struc-
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