Not By Chance
Lee M. Spetner
Judaica Press 1998.
copyright 1999, Art Chadwick
It might be thought strange that a book on biological evolution should be
written by
a physicist. Thomas Kuhn observed that insights rarely come from those
trained in a
particular discipline. Spetner's training in physics (Ph.D., MIT) and
tenure at Johns
Hopkins Applied Physics Lab where he worked on signal processing, did
include a
stint in the Biophysics department there.
He begins at a readable level, including numerous appendices for those who
might
not know what DNA is or how enzyme works. But he soon leaves any casual
readers
behind as he deals pointedly with some of the most esoteric issues in
molecular
biology.
He summarizes his thesis on page 23: "·it turns out that the theory [of
evolution]
cannot account for the way information would have had to build up to make
evolution
work."
Chapter three concerns the Neodarwinian theory of evolution, asking the
question:
"Can random changes lead to new information?". Citing his own published
work, much
of it from the Journal of Theoretical Biology, he contends that even where
information increase is possible the rate of mutation is far too low in the
evolutionary time frame.
He considers the three types of arguments applied to support evolution. The
verbal
arguments he correctly demonstrates to be useless and contrived. The
mathematical arguments are incomplete, ignoring the need to assign probability
values to the required events. The experimental evidence is either lacking
or, the
case of the fossil record, is circular.
Chapter four deals with the mechanisms for evolution. The tension is palpable
between a system where errors are catastrophic and great effort is exerted to
prevent them, and one where errors are required as the fuel for evolution.
Then
there is the question of how frequently a new mutation that is beneficial
might arise.
Using the numbers provided by evolutionary scientists, Spetner demonstrates
that
fixing a mutation with a slight advantage in a population is essentially
impossible. He
discusses parallel and convergent evolution, concluding that "·convergent
evolution
is impossible." He states "The average person finds it hard to believe that
complexity and sophistication of such high order was developed by having
natural
selection organize random events·as we have seen·the average person's
intuition
is correct·"
Chapter five is the heart of the book. Here Spetner touches the soul of the
inadequacy of evolutionary theory. Asking the question " Is there any
evidence that
evolution can build up information in living things?," he then proceeds to
systematically defrock every claim of increase in information in the
scientific
literature of which I am aware. By assuming the fossil record was a record of
evolution, evolutionists have then pointed to the supposed increase in
complexity as
evidence for the ability of natural selection to increase information in
biological
systems. Such tautologisms do little to help us understand how information
content
can be increased. Spetner wisely avoids committing himself to a thesis that
there
never has been an increase in information. Rather he systematically
examines each
reported case and concludes none of the claims thus far represents such an
increase. First, Spetner introduces us to the meaning of information.
Specificity is
crucial. The information necessary to tell a person how to get to Texas is
far less
than that required to specify a locality such as Keene, Texas. Each additional
element of specificity requires a higher level of information. Thus an
enzyme in a
bacterial cell that previously worked only with substrate A, after
undergoing a
mutation, will accept substrate B as well. This may appear to be an
increase in
information but it is not, since the enzyme is now less specialized and has
less
substrate specificity. Other examples play out similarly. The author states
"Although there are circumstances where point mutations are good for the
organism, all known point mutations lose information" (p.148 para.4), a
statement
that is well documented in the text.
Chapter six takes on Dawkins point blank. He is merciless in pinning Dawkins
weaknesses: "Dawkins talked about chance, but he didnât calculate the
chance of
anything. His pointing of Dawkins is also backed up with strong
justification. Again
and again, he unmasks Dawkins clever phrases and vague assertions. Dawkins
is just
plain sloppy and it is time someone called his bluff. This Spetner does
with the
exacting dignity befitting a physicist specializing in information theory.
We have
known all along that Dawkins was superficial and wrong. The disrobing begun by
Behe in "Darwinâs Black Box," Spetner has finished in this well developed
chapter.
Dawkins cannot survive even casual scrutiny. Spetner debunks careless
thinking and
unrealistic assumptions and yet is gentle enough on poor Mr. Dawkins: "He
let his
heart lead his mind, even though he would like to think that he came to his
conclusions in a rational and specific way" (p. 174, para. 4).
Chapter seven begins an approach to the question of the origin of
information that is
different than I have encountered elsewhere. Citing the well-known and
controversial studies of Hall, Cairins and others, he develops the paradigm
that he
calls "the nonrandom evolutionary hypothesis." He suggests that a wealth of
information may be hidden away in the genome, provided with switches that
can be
activated by appropriate environmental cues; a concept consonant with Cairins
results. He also suggests rather indirectly that environment may alter
organisms in
non-hereditary ways as an explanation for some of the differences found in the
fossil record. Interesting ideas.
The epilogue summarizes his arguments and reveals their impact. A very
interesting
read and impressive book. I highly recommend it. It is also inexpensive!