On Fri, 29 Sep 95 15:15:57 MDT you wrote:
[...]
JF>I disagree with Goodman's statement that the evolution of man is
>not only unexplained, but *unexplainable*. After all, the three-fold
>brain expansion Eiseley talks about didn't happen overnight. It took
>over 3 million years, and there are quite a few fossils that look
>like transitional forms along the way. No single stage looks
>particularly difficult, so I see no problem with the whole sequence.
As for the "3 million years", not being "overnight", Gould has noted
that "The human brain is now about three times larger than that of
Australopithecus" and that "This increase has often been called the
most rapid and most important event in the history of evolution."
(Gould S.J., "Ever Since Darwin", Penguin, 1977, p183)
He has plotted the "Evolutionary increase in human brain size" of
"Australopithecus africanus", "ER- 1470", "Homo erectus (Peking Man)",
and "Homo sapiens." He concludes that this "slope is the highest ever
calculated for an evolutionary sequence." and that "The graph
indicates that our brain has increased much more rapidly than any
prediction based on compensations for body size would allow...our
brain has undergone a true increase in size not related to the demands
of our larger body." (Gould, p184-185).
I would be interested in any plausible purely naturalistic causal
explanation of both each "single stage" and especially "the whole
sequence", with particular respect to its unprecedented rapidity.
Failing that, to this Progressive Creationist, this is strongly
suggestive of divine intervention in natural processes, and is
equivalent in geological time to "overnight".
Also, as to "No single stage" looking "particularly difficult",
Eiseley's point was that seemingly retrograde steps had to occur
before the brain expanded, eg. "Childhood had to be lengthened...We
lost our hairy covering, our jaws and teeth were reduced in size, our
sex life was postponed, our infancy became among the most helpless of
any of the animals ..." (Eiseley L., "The Immense Journey", Victor
Gollancz: London, 1958 p122-123).
I fail to see how becoming "among the most helpless of any of the
animals" conferred a selective advantage *before* the human brain had
grown large enough to compensate by enabling higher intelligence. The
same Blind Watchmaker, who is able to bring the eye to near
perfection, must have let that one through? :-)
God bless.
Stephen
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