Irreducible complexity

One of the most important resources to question Darwinist theory in the face of scientific findings is the criteria put forward by Darwin himself!

In proposing his theory, Darwin also set out a number of concrete measures about how his theory might be disproved. There are passages beginning with the words “If my theory is true . . .”in many chapters of The Origin of Species, and in those passages, Darwin describes the findings needed to prove his theory. One of them reads:

 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. But I can find out no such case. 226

Darwinism accounts for the origin of living things in terms of two unconscious natural mechanisms: natural selection and random changes, caused by mutations. According to Darwinist theory, these two mechanisms gave rise to the complex structure of the living cell, the complex body systems of living things, eyes, ears, wings, lungs, bat sonar and millions of other complex and sophisticated designs.

However, it is unscientific and illogical to claim that all these systems with their exceptionally complex structures are the product of two unconscious natural phenomena. At this point, Darwinism resorts to the concept of reducibility. It is maintained that all the systems in question were once far simpler states, and that they then developed in stages. Each stage provided the living species in question with a slightly greater advantage, and it will thus be favored by way of natural selection. Yet another small, accidental change will later take place, and that will also constitute an advantage and improve the individual’s chances, and the whole process will continue running along those lines.

Thanks to this process, according to the Darwinist claim, a species that initially had no eyes at all would come to possess a flawless pair, and another species previously unable to fly would develop wings and take to the air.

These evolutionist scenarios are related in a very convincing and reasonable-seeming style. Examined in slightly greater detail, however, it appears that there is a major error in place. The first misconception is that mutations are destructive occurrences, rather than beneficial ones. In other words, the idea that random mutations affecting a species can endow it with some advantage—and continue to do so, thousands of times in succession—is a violation of all scientific observations.

However, there is a still more important error at work. Note that Darwinist theory requires every stage in the progression (for instance, from a wingless animal to a winged one) to be advantageous. Thus in any evolutionary process from A to Z, all the intermediate stages—B, C, D C9 through to   W, X and Y— must all bestow separate advantages on the species that evolves. Since it is impossible for natural selection and mutation to consciously determine an objective beforehand, the whole theory depends on living systems being capable of “being reduced” to small, advantageous changes.

That is why Darwin said, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed. . . .”

Given the primitive level of science in the 19th century, Darwin may well have thought that living things did have a reducible structure. However, 20th century scientific findings revealed that many systems and organs in living things were actually irreducible. This phenomenon, known as irreducible complexity, definitivelydemolished Darwinism in exactly the way that Darwin feared.

The human eye’s structure cannot be reduced to a more simple form, and is a clear example of such a system. The eye cannot function at all unless all its components exist together and function properly. The consciousness that produces such a complex structure needs to calculate beforehand the benefits to be obtained at the very final stage. It is absolutely impossible, however, for the mechanisms of evolution to produce complex organs through consciousness and will. 

226 Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 189.