New Theory Settles ID Issue?
Marc W. Kirschner and John C. Gerhart have just published a new book called, “The Plausability of Life: Resolving Darwin’s Dilemma. His “new” theory is called “facilitated variation”. This theory is supposed to take the wind out of ID’s sails by addressing one of the major weaknesses of Darwinian evolution, the appearance of complex, novel structures in organisms. I have not yet read the book, but I did listen to Marc Kirschner explain his theory on On Point Radio.
I was disappointed that I heard nothing really new at all. At the risk of oversimplifying Kirschner’s explanation (listen for yourself, here), it appears he appeals to the wonders of human development in the womb and the reparative powers of the human body to explain the appearance of complex organs and cellular machines in organisms. While it truly is amazing that a human being, or any being for that matter, develops from one undifferentiated cell, I fail to see how this at all accounts for Darwinism’s shortcomings. All of the complexity of the human body is already programmed in that first cell. It doesn’t develop by mutation and change as the organism develops.
Based on the radio interview, it seems this “facilitated variation” adds little if anything to the debate. There was no new science presented. We have known what Kirschner presents for many years. It seems he, unconvincingly, proposes that embryology and development helps explain Darwinian evolution. In fairness, I’m sure that much more detail is presented in the book. I can only critique his radio interview. Based on what I heard, I do not believe science is any closer to resolving Darwin’s dilemma with this theory.