As I mentioned a few hours ago, this week has seen one great result in the understanding of nature using evolution. The Wall Street Journal also reports on a second discovery: the resurrection, by studying dozens of genes from a variety of species, of an ancient hormone receptor that last existed 450 million years ago [WSJInTheory]. The work, published in “Science”, suggests from the gene lineage that when this chemical first appeared it was co-opted by the existing chemical aldosterone.
Further demonstrating that ID proponents live in a subjective world where good news is bad, and bad news is good, they proclaim that the very fact that anybody is studying the “complex” receptor/hormone system suggests that scientists take “irreducible complexity” seriously, thus lending creedence to their position. Perhaps instead of using Orwellian double-speak to declare victory when they’ve clearly suffered a scientific blow (the recptor/hormone system was an accident that worked, which is why it stuck around, as opposed to requiring God to make it happen), they should have published refutable papers that demonstrated how this system was irreducibly complex.
Oh, wait, they have an answer for that, too. Steven Meyer was paraphrased as saying that “. . . the hormone-receptor system is not really irreducibly complex.” Ah, good one Steven. You really showed those scientists with that pseudo-scientific sleight-of-hand. Clever. Remember that one when they find out the bacteria flagellum is also an accident that worked really, really well.
.. [WSJInTheory] “http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114436537563919417-2SeevT9LrELO0e2AWr5cVOVeLBg_20060506.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top”:http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114436537563919417-2SeevT9LrELO0e2AWr5cVOVeLBg_20060506.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
