Page 43 - The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences

The NAS's Error on Natural Selection

To put it another way, the reason why dogs do not turn into lions
is not that we have not been breeding them for long enough, but
rather that dogs lack the necessary genetic capacity for this to happen.

n'
on
s
r
Ci
s C
o
S
Se

el
ct
ec
e
o
on
ea
as
n
g:
ni
ng
ul
a
c
cu
R
Re
ar

ur
u
N N a a at t tu r ra l l S e l le c t ti i io n ' 's C i ir rc u l la r r R e a s so n i in g : :
al
a
N Natural Selection's Circular Reasoning:

Su
ur
s S
or
s
ve
e"
v
v
vi
vo
v
vi
ur
" " S S Su r rv i iv o r rs S u r rv i iv e "
u
v
"
" "Survivors Survive"
Natural selection, regarded as the explanation of the origin of
species, is not a scientific theory at all, but rather a tautology, a logical
vicious circle. Atautology is a statement that appears to provide infor-
mation, but that is really nothing but circular reasoning. Tautologies
provide no new information. They cannot be tested, for which reason
they are not scientific. A simple example of a tautology is "All hats are
hats." This is a true sentence, but one which provides no information
and explains nothing. Tautologies are often employed in jokes and po-
etry, but they should not be employed in scientific accounts.
Science explains effects in terms of causes. Since causes and ef-
fects are different things, they cannot have the same causal explana-
tion. In a tautology, however, the cause and effect are the same, so no
explanation is actually given, only the impression of one. When a doc-
tor says, "Your father's hearing impairment has caused his deafness,"
that is a tautology. The doctor is offering no explanation at all of your
father's deafness. The sentence contains two parts that appear to be
cause and effect, but actually mean the same thing. One does not ex-
plain the other.
In addition to failing to explain anything, tautologies cannot be
regarded as scientific because they cannot be tested and can never be
refuted.
Natural selection is also formulated as a tautology by evolution-
ists. Natural selection is the survival of the fittest, and the tautology
appears in the expression "of the fittest." "The fittest" are defined as
41