The probability of beneficial mutations occurring simultaneously in multiple chromosomes of a single cell is extremely low. The probability of the same mutations occurring simultaneously in all cells of a multi-cell organism, is even lower. Needless to say, such random beneficial mutations have never been observed in the lab or in nature. To compensate for the low probability, biologists tend to take the approach of "given enough time it might happen." That's about as convincing as saying that given enough time, a monkey with a typewriter will produce all the writings of Shakespeare. With this premise, biologists have developed various models which yield "millions of years" as the time necessary for such "evolutionary mutations" to occur. Then, once such a time length has been calculated, we find in biology textbooks statements like: "Humans and monkeys evolved from a common ancestor 3 million years ago", as if this was a well established scientific fact. Where is intellectual honesty?
2007-10-25
03:01:35
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7 answers
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asked by
brandlet
2
in
Biology