Unlocking the Mystery of Life (1 of 12)

A professor from the University of California at Berkeley gathered a group of scientists and philosophers to try to explain the mystery of life’s origin. Did we come to exist by chance or is there something else going on? Each person at this meeting held significant doubts about evolutionary theory. “Is there a purpose, a plan or design based on intelligent cause? …that is the fundamental question.” (Watch this video)

In 1832 Darwin made a 5 year expedition for the British government. He spent a month on the Galapagos Islands and collected species and took extensive notes. Twenty years later, he published, “On the Origin of Species.” The idea of natural selection made it so the idea of a “designer” of species was obsolete. “However, a growing number of scientists were having trouble accepting the idea of natural selection in all cases.” (Watch this video)

Dr. Michael Behe looks deeper at the process of natural selection and discovers Darwinian explanations do not provide sufficient answers for life. One example in molecular biology, the “flagellar motor,” when magnified over 50,000 times could be described as the most efficiently designed machine. In the next chapter a principal which refutes Darwinian thought is the idea of “irreducible complexity.”
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In this video the concept of “irreducible complexity” is discussed as a obstacle to the theory of natural selection. In irreducible complexity, a system requires the existence of it’s unique parts in order to function. A non-biological example of this is the common mousetrap. Each component of the mousetrap is required in order for it to operate appropriately. The biological example of irreducible complexity is the bacterial flagellum. Natural selection, cannot explain the existence of the bacterial flagellum where the concept of “irreducible complexity” challenges it’s theory.
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Dr. Behe’s published book, “Darwin’s Black Box” describes evidence of intelligent design. “The assemblage of the ‘flagellar motor’ is an example of irreducible complexity all the way down.” Darwin is quoted that his theory would break down if any such irreducibly complex organism existed. The next chapter looks deeper at such questions.
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Darwin spent most of his life on the origin of species, but didn’t spend a lot of time on how life originated from non-living matter. Scientists continue to ask “how could life evolve from simple chemicals?” The question continues to arise, “where do we come from? Why are we here?” Scientist, Dr. Dean Kenyon set out to explain these questions on a natural scientific level. (Watch this video)

In this chapter, Dr. Kenyon explains how proteins are made up of amino acids. “Like the English language, each protein links with another to create a particular structure which serves a certain purpose. If the amino acids are sequenced incorrectly, the result is gibberish, as with forming a basic word structure in a sentence.” The next chapter presents a counterargument presented by one of his students, where Dr. Kenyon, “could not refute it. (Watch this video)

Dr. Kenyon was presented with the question of how the first proteins could have been assembled without the help of genetic instructions. Research about amino acids and their sequential DNA make-up, made Dr. Kenyon question his theory. “Further research proved that amino acids could not order themselves into any meaningful sequences.” ‘What was the source of the biological information in DNA?’ became Dr. Kenyon new topic of research in his pursuit in discovering the origins of life.(Watch this video)

Most researchers believed that the sequencing of the first cell could not have originated by chance alone. “By definition, natural selection could not have function before the existence of the first living cell.” “We have not the slightest chance of a chemically evolutionary origin for even the simplest of cells, so the concept of intelligent design was immensely attractive to me and made a great deal of sense as it very closely matched the multiple discoveries in molecular biology.” (Watch this video)

This chapter uses computer animation to take us inside the workings of a cell, through each step of its intricate processing. Dr. Kenyon states, “This is absolutely mind boggling to perceive at this scale and size such a finely tuned apparatus, a device that bears the marks of intelligent design and manufacturing. In DNA we find the most compelling evidence of design in the whole earth.”(Watch this video)

In this chapter, the idea that all scientific explanations must be derived from natural causes comes into question. It is natural to assume an intelligent designer of the ancient writing of hieroglyphics. Research has been done to identify those things which point us to intelligent design, such as the book, “The Design Inference.” “The fundamental question is that there is information in every living cell, where does that information come from?” (Watch this video)

This chapter leads us to the theory of “intelligent design,” a real scientific explanation for the origin of life. When we see other information rich systems we can infer that it came from an intelligent source. “Within the DNA molecule we find an artifact of mind, an artifact of intelligence, something that can only be explained by intelligent design.” (Watch this video)