Micheal J. Behe wrote a book about Irreversible Complexity (IC) called Darwin’s Black Box.
He used the example of a mouse trap to illustrate this concept when trying to communicate how complex a living cell is constructed. His point is that a complex system, such as a living cell or a mouse trap, cannot evolve part by part over time. His book performs a wonderful explanation of this concept and I cannot do it justice in just one paragraph.
Not being a biologist, what right do I have mentioning this micro biologist’s work on Is Evolution A Theory? Well, I am glad you asked.
The reason is to bring this concept to your attention because the fact is that you interact with irreducible complexity every day in your travels. You do not recognize IC systems as irreducibly complex.
So, let me mention a few that I have personally worked with or designed. I grant you the fact that none of these systems are as complex as a living cell with its cell wall, nucleolus, nuclear membrane, cytoplasm, RNA, DNA, etc.; but I hope you get the picture that each component of an irreducible complex system has to be just right or the system fails.
Here are three examples:
- A maintenance of traffic plan – each sign and lane line have to be coordinated with each other, the speed limit and driver expectation or the detour fails.
- A draw bridge – each railing, beam, counterweight, gear box, fender system, motor, trunnion bearing, control panel, traffic gates, etc. has to be designed in size, capacity, and timing or the bridge does not operate.
- Your home – each water pipe, electric panel, electric circuit, bathrooms, bedrooms, doors, wastewater pipe, window, HVAC duct, roof structure, etc. have to be considered with design input such as appearance, number of occupants, wind load, etc. so you have an economically efficient home.
I trust that many of you get the picture. For some of you who do not, you probably think a home is not irreducibly complex. You might say a home does not need water or waste water pipes. You might go on and claim a home does not need an electric system or cooking or windows. Are you going to tell me a home does not need walls or a roof?
While you have a point, as I have described a home in our traditional industrialized cities, please think again and a little more broadly. I have been to Kenya, Africa. The water pipe is a 5-gallon UN yellow water container. The window is a mosquito net. The electric or natural gas for cooking is dung blocks being transported, not by pipe, but by person.
Don’t get me started on sizing everything economically correct to conserve money and material resources. Your kitchen faucet is not a 6-inch PVC pipe,
A home is an irreducible complex system where humans live. No different than a cell is a IC system where energy is absorbed, waste is disposed, repair is performed and reproduction takes place. No different than a mouse trap is a IC system where mice are captured.
What is Irreducible Complexity in My World? IC is a maintenance of traffic plan that gets people where I want safely. IC is a drawbridge that is coordinated to get cars over the intercostal cannel safely while accommodating boating (and my under cost budget). IC is a home (or any building) that provides a place for humans to gather and supply their needs.
I have designed IC systems. I see IC systems. IC systems do not just appear. That sir or madam is magic. Biological Evolution cannot model or explain how this irreducible complex living cell system began.
Without a clear and understandable explanation, evolution is by definition a Hypothesis; not a Theory, because, and according to Wikipedia, it is based on “previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories.”
Except one more thing, the theory of evolution is incompatible with available scientific theories!!