Page 103 - Advanced Genesis - Creationism - Student Textbook

systems fail, all the systems fail, generally leading to debilitation or death of the organism. Michael
Behe, author of Darwin’s Black Box, describes irreducible complexity as “a single system which is
composed of several interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, and where the removal of
any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. An irreducibly complex system
cannot be produced gradually by slight, successive modifications of a precursor system, since any
precursor to an irreducibly complex system is by definition nonfunctional. 113

In The Origin of Species Charles Darwin stated: “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 absolutely break down.” 114

To help you understand the concept of
irreducible complexity, let’s look at the
components of a mousetrap. “If any one of
the components of the mousetrap (the base,
hammer, spring, catch, or holding bar) is
removed, then the trap does not function. In
other words, the simple little mousetrap has
no ability to trap a mouse until several
separate parts are all assembled. Because
the mousetrap is necessarily composed of
several parts, it is irreducibly complex.” 115

A High Performance Motor: It is one of the most
efficient motors ever contrived. It spins at a
staggering 10,000 revolutions per minute. It can stop
within a quarter of a turn, and immediately spin in the
opposite direction at 10,000 rpm. At less than a
couple of microns in length (a micron is one millionth
of a meter), it is too small to see without very
expensive electron microscopes. This motor powers
the bacterial flagellum, which acts as a rotary motor to
propel the bacteria. It takes approximately 30 to 35
proteins to form a functional flagellum. If we remove
a few proteins, we won’t have a flagellum that rotates
at only 5000 rpm, we have a flagellum that doesn’t
work. 116

113 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreducible_complexity#:~:text=Behe%20presents%20this%20as%20a,and%20arg
ues%20that%20since%20%22an
114 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/344545-if-it-could-be-demonstrated-that-any-complex-organ-
existed#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIf%20it%20could%20be%20demonstrated%20that%20any%20complex%20organ%20
existed,theory%20would%20absolutely%20break%20down.
115 Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, p. 43.
116 Ibid., p. 71.
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