Jacob Pruse

Symbiosis has been called “the most relevant and enduring biological theme in the history of our planet.” It can safely be said that symbiotic relationships quite often resist Darwinian explanation. According to Maureen A. O’Malley, “There is a long history of researchers who have theorized about symbiosis and evolution, and many of them have aligned themselves against Darwinian evolutionary theory.” One article puts it this way: “Mutualism among species is ubiquitous in nature but its evolution is not well understood.” Or, in the words of Doebeli and Knowlton: “Interspecific mutualisms are widespread, but how they evolved is not clear.” Thus, symbiotic relationships are problematic for evolutionary theory. In a previous article, I proposed the use of power-sets for determining irreducible complexity. Read More ›

Ever since Michael Behe published Darwin’s Black Box in 1996, the concept of irreducible complexity has played a central role in the debate over Darwinian theory. I am proposing a new, theoretical method of determining whether a system is irreducibly complex using power-sets. First, however, it is necessary to define irreducible complexity. Various definitions of irreducible complexity exist. Michael Behe defines it as “a single system which is composed of several interacting parts, and where the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to cease functioning.” Critics have noted that this definition is actually a definition of interlocking complexity, a concept H. J. Muller had written about years earlier and which is perfectly compatible with Darwinian theory. In Read More ›