Ben Stein to take on Darwinism on April 18

[Final-Fan]

misterd said:

Entroper said:

Rath said:

Carl Sagan, ardent evolutionist, admitted: '... mutations occur at random and are almost uniformly harmful—it is rare that a precision machine is improved by a random change in the instructions for making it.'

ARGH. Mutations degrade information is such complete and utter bullshit, mutations change information. Positively, negatively or more often with no effect at all. Evolution essentially discards negative mutation and spreads positive mutations throughout a population, thats how it works. Also Carl Sagan was an astronomer, not exactly qualified to say that.

I'm sure that Sagan knew what he was talking about, but like all junk-science hit jobs, was quoted out of context. Note the use of the verb "admitted" -- was he being accused of something when he wrote it? The answer, of course, is no:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/evolution5.htm

Large organisms such as human beings average about one mutation per ten gametes [a gamete is a sex cell, either sperm or egg] -- that is, there is a 10 percent chance that any given sperm or egg cell produced will have a new and inheritable change in the genetic instructions that make up the next generation. These mutations occur at random and are almost uniformly harmful -- it is rare that a precision machine is improved by a random change in the instructions for making it.

See how that quote sounds with a bit more context? Yes, a mutation being advantageous is rare -- but when there is a 10 percent chance of a mutation occurring in every sperm or egg cell, and there are over one hundred million people born every year, there's an awful lot of mutation going on.

Even this is currently inaccurate, as I understand it. Hasn't it been demonstrated that most gene mutations end up being neutral?

I presume that he meant "of the ones that have any effect at all", most are harmful. 

Or, if he didn't mean that, I'd wager it's true. 

OK.  Sleep for real now.