TITLE: Unmasking the Fantasy of Evolution (Part 1) 5/30/15 By Richard McCaw 05/30/15 |
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Unmasking the Fantasy of Evolution (Part 1)
With all the research I was doing on the subject of Evolution, one night I dreamed that the famous French scientist Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier was in town and that I had arranged an interview with him. I soon dreamed of myself sitting before him in the Signature Grande Hotel where he was staying for a week.
After the usual pleasantries I introduced myself and asked, “Monsieur Cuvier, you once lectured at the École Centrale du Pantheon in Paris, did you not?”
Jean Cuvier replied, “Oui, and I was professor of natural history in the College de France.”
“Did you ever read or study Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species?”
“Oui...I mean, of course!” he replied.
I continued, “I see that you have a significant list of at least thirteen or more publications to your credit. In fact your chief palaeontological and geological investigations finally appeared in two separate works: Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles de quadrupèdes and Discours sur les revolutions de la surface du globe. In this last work you dealt with the theory of Catastrophism.”
Jean Cuvier seemed slightly confused, “Did I write in Discours sur …” then his face lit up “of Catastrophism. Ah...I did write about that!”
Then I asked, “As a paleontologist do you believe that everything evolved by slow modifications over millions of years?”
“No, no, no…I strongly …objected to any such speculative notions.” He spoke, stumbling over and pausing between some words, “I believed that an organism’s …anatomy would have prevented …survival.”
“What brought you to that conclusion, Monsieur?”
“I had carefully …ah…studied cats and ibises mummified …thousands of years before… Their fossils had been brought back from Napoleon’s invasion …of Egypt. I discovered that they were no differences from the same animals then living …in the years of my research.”
I then interjected, “And what about the evolution of men from a common ancestor?”
“One cannot detect any greater …difference between the human mummies…ah… and the …ah….skeletons of present-day men. That is what discovered.”
“So, monsieur, you still do not support Mr. Darwin’s theory of evolution?”
Cuvier hesitated for a moment, then said, “I do not …sir, support the evolution, sir, but… evidence… extremely weak!” Then after a moment, “Even Mr. Darwin …ah…in his book …he doubt…. presence of fossils as missing links.” Professor Cuvier’s voice cracked a little, “Exactament …I know that 400 million year old sharks appear … same structure as modern sharks.” Cuvier waited a moment then continued. “100 million year old ants …same structure as …ah…modern ants. 100 million year old turtle… same structure as modern turtle.” After another moment, “135 million year old dragonfly also, and ah…55 million year old bat… same structure as …ah … modern dragonfly and bat.”
I found myself beginning to tap lightly on the arm of my chair as I faced Professor Cuvier.
“Monsieur, concerning the theory of punctuated equilibrium, have you ever read an article by Stephen Gould entitled Is a new and general theory of evolution emerging?”
“I have.”
“Professor, are you aware that some of Darwin’s ideas are in conflict with theories proposed by Stephen Gould?”
“Yes, through the…modern internet…I made myself … ah aware of those ideas. What special ideas?” he asked.
"I’m coming, Professor.” I flipped pages in my notebook. “Listen to this. Stephen Gould proposed that fossil evidence is lacking for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design. He suggested that since we cannot, even in our imagination, construct functional intermediates in many cases, that this has been a perpetual and nagging problem for any idea that evolution occurred by gradual steps over long periods of time."
I suddenly stood up with my hands akimbo and, looking straight at the professor, put the question once more to him, “How do you feel about Mr. Gould’s new theory of emerging evolution?”
“I looked at fossil evidence that …ah…surfaced since Mr. Darwin’s book and…”
Cuvier hit out, “Monsieur …ah...I have read them all...I don’t comment on Mr. Gould. But the fossil evidence must be …. weak…in extreme why Mr. Gould say such things…”
I reached back and held the arm of the chair once more and sat down. “Monsieur, scientists claim that there exists multitudes of excellent transitional fossils between primitive fish and amphibians, amphibians and reptiles, reptiles and mammals and between reptiles and birds. How do you respond to those claims?”
“Au contraire...” he began slowly, “Actually all evolutionists can point to are a handful of …ah…debatable fossils. Many alleged transitional forms…ah…based on fragmentary remains. Those remains …not show gradualism.”
“But Monsieur, evolutionists assert that some factors prevent fossil formation from being common...example, preservation must occur before it becomes scavenged or decayed. Such conditions only happen in very few habitats like river deltas, peat bogs and tar pits. Plus many types of animals are fragile and do not preserve well. Erosion, heat or pressure also destroys fossils.
“Besides, they claim that they are fully aware of many detailed examples of transitional fossils between various taxonomic groups.”
Cuvier kept smoothing out the hair on the top of his head and then smiled, “Tres bien, but scientists also claim …ah…that modern human fossils cannot be found…ah…embedded in strata from the…ah… Jurassic period which they say… was some 65 million years ago.”
I tried to play devil’s advocate by saying, “But modern scientists have predicted the placement of fossils in the geologic record and that without doubt provides strong evidence for evolu….”
Before I could finish Cuvier turned to face me and declared, “Mr. Darwin himself in his book expressed great skepticism about the existence of…ah…intermediate…or ah as you call them...transition fossils. If anyone still believes evolution…in spite of ah…contradicting facts…then…”
I smiled slightly then said, “Tres bien, monsieur.”
I tell you, things were really heating up as we continued discussing the issues.
Finally Cuvier then repeated emphatically, “If anyone still believes evolution…in spite of ah…contradicting facts…then we cannot help that person.”
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