Specific Weaknesses and Their Scientific Rebuttals
Supporters of the 'strengths and weaknesses of evolution' language have proposed the following as weaknesses of evolution, and the scientific community has responded with the following rebuttals:
| Argument | Scientific rebuttal |
|---|---|
| Evolution violates the first law of thermodynamics | Sunlight is the ultimate source of energy for life on Earth and provides the energy needed for organisms to live and reproduce. As the existence and evolution of life neither creates nor destroys this energy, it does not violate the first law of thermodynamics. |
| Evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics | The second law only applies to closed systems that do not exchange matter or energy with their surroundings. Both the Earth and all living organisms are open systems. For further details see Evolution and the second law of thermodynamics and Entropy and life. |
| Evolution violates the Law of Biogenesis | Pasteur's law only disproved the (then current) idea that life forms such as mice, maggots, and bacteria can appear fully formed. It does not say that very primitive life cannot form from increasingly complex molecules. |
| Evolution is unable to explain the Cambrian Explosion |
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| Alleged frauds and forgeries such as Piltdown Man and Haeckel's embryo drawings | Rebuttal of allegations that past evidence for evolution has been overturned Further information: Icons of Evolution |
| Evolution is not observable | Observability of evolution |
| Evolution is only a theory and not a fact | Evolution is both a theory and a fact. |
Read more about this topic: Strengths And Weaknesses Of Evolution
Famous quotes containing the words specific, weaknesses and/or scientific:
“The more specific idea of evolution now reached is—a change from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, accompanying the dissipation of motion and integration of matter.”
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
“What is called an acute knowledge of human nature is mostly nothing but the observer’s own weaknesses reflected back from others.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)
“The scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)