The Evolution of Sex
Posted on February 1, 2010 by Kris
Filed Under Evolution/Creation, What I'm Studying... | 1 Comment | Share
First, if you came here by way of a search engine looking for something inappropriate, you are going to be disappointed. However, if that was your path to find this blog, take some time and read a few posts…maybe you will find something far more beneficial to you! Unfortunately, the subject matter of this post may also block some good, and well intentioned filters.
The development of two distinct genders and the process of sexual reproduction in humans is a great problem for Evolutionists. The principle of Evolution is that profitable mutations have taken place over time within species to bring about stronger, more proficient species. When the change is great enough, a new species is formed. The problem is that sexual reproduction would be a move in the wrong direction on the Evolutionary chain! We can look at bacteria and other single celled organisms that reproduce by asexual means, and see that they are far more efficient than those that reproduce by sexual means. The reason is that these cells reproduce by replicating their own genetic material, and then splitting into two separate organisms. What this means is that all of the genetic material of the mother cell is duplicated into the daughter cells. If a mutation occurs, then that mutation is passed on through all succeeding generations, or at least until another mutation takes place. With sexual reproduction, each parent only sends half of their genetic material to the offspring. This allows for mutations to be “phased out” of the genome, as the mutation may have to be present in both parents for the characteristic to be expressed. This would be a good thing if the mutation under consideration is a negative trait, but it is not good at all if the mutation is a good thing that “nature” would want to pass on to subsequent generations.
Sexual reproduction is also a very inefficient manner of reproduction from an evolutionary standpoint. It takes much longer for offspring to be produced, and there are more opportunities for genetic problems to arise. Carl Zimmer, a noted Evolutionist wrote:
Sex is not only unnecessary, but it ought to be a recipe for evolutionary disaster. For one thing, it is an inefficient way to reproduce…And sex carries another cost as well…By all rights, any group of animals that evolves sexual reproduction should be prompltly out competed by nonsexual ones. And yet sex reigns. …Why is sex a success, despite all its disadvantages?
(As quoted in The Truth About Human Origins, Brad Harrub and Bert Thompson. P. 151)
Most reputable evolutionists will acknowledge that sexual reproduction poses this type of problem for their theory. Amazingly, they will not give up on their theory (which makes no sense, even according to their own rules), but will continue to look for that piece of evidence that will support what they believe to be true. Evolution is about the only branch of science that is a theory looking for data, rather than data developing a theory!
Another problem with understanding sexual reproduction to be the result of evolution is the vast diversity of sexual characteristics across various species. How is it that the process evolved in humans to include a 9 month gestational period, but in rabbits it is only about 30 days? If the process can be traced back to a common ancestor (if you go back in time by enough millions of years), then how could there be such a vast difference in species? In their book The Truth About Human Origins, Brad Harrub and Bert Thompson introduce the chapter on Sexual Reproduction in this way:
The advertisement indicates that this particular ovulation predictor kit “is the only technology based solely on hormone monitoring that provides you with personalized daily fertility information for pregnancy planning.” For around fifty dollars, a person can purchase this product, which is intended as an aid in determining the optimum moment for a human female to conceive. Viewing this scenario through a baboon’s eyes, the ad would seem to indicate that baboons are a somewhat more superior species when compared to humans. The female baboon, for example, does not need a “hormonal monitoring kit” to detect her period of ovulation. Instead, she gives off a distinctive smell, and the skin around her genitalia swells and turns a bright red color that is visible from some distance. Most other female animals are equally aware of their own ovulation, and often will “advertise” it to males using visual signals, odors, or behaviors. The question becomes: Whence did these differences in physiology and behavior originate? Or to put it more bluntly: How did sex evolve? (P. 135)
This illustrates the distinctions that exist between living creatures that reproduce by sexual means. By evolutionary standards, humans would be far less developed than most (if not all) of the rest of of these creatures. To the evolutionist, copulation is nothing more than the method by which the species is propagated. Any addition to the “process” which more fully ensures that the female becomes impregnated is considered to be an advancement. In the animal world, the female will not accept the male in the act of copulation unless she is at a point in her estrus cycle where she can become pregnant. This is far more efficient by reproductive standards than is found among humans. There are no external signs to identify to the male of the species (like in much of the animal kingdom) the time when the human woman will become pregnant. This indicates that there is more to the sexual relationship between men and women than exists in the animal kingdom. This is evidence that there was a designer that developed these physiological differences between species. If God had created humans exactly like the animals, then we would act exactly like the animals (even more so than some do now)!
Finally, evolutionists have a problem establishing any kind of a basis for the development of sexual reproduction in the fossil records. It is yet another of the “missing links” that cannot possibly be accounted for. Of course, this doesn’t seem to be a problem, as so many evolutionists continue to base their theory on the next discovery, rather than what has actually been found. But, if one considers the complexity of the reproductive system of humans, it will show that it would be impossible for the system to evolve. Either the two genders had to just happen to evolve simultaneously, able to work together to reproduce, or the two genders had to split one from the other at some point. Neither of these propositions is intellectually feasible! Are we truly to believe that two distinct sexes evolved side by side through time, only to eventually reach a point at which they could interact and reproduce together? The chances of one gender evolving is astronomical under the best of circumstances, but the evolving of two should be unbelievable even to the most desirous mind. If the two genders were at one point the same, and divided, then it would seem to reason that they would have much the same characteristics. While men and women have many similarities, the differences are actually very profound. There are obvious physical differences, but there are also many physiological differences that simply cannot be explained if there is a common ancestral being shared by the genders. How is it that there is a completely different set of hormones present in each gender, as well as the production of completely different gametes, produced in completely different ways? The vast difference is evidence that the genders have always been separate, and were created thus by an intelligent designer!
The only logical conclusion is that there is an intelligent designer (God) who created the two genders to work together in order to reproduce. No other conclusion can produce the answers that are needed clear up vast amounts of confusion. To use the Evolutionary Theory to try and explain the presence of the two genders, and the existence of sexual reproduction only raises more questions than it can ever possibly answer!
To read more about these problems, I recommend the book The Truth About Human Origins, by Brad Harrub and Bert Thompson.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Related Posts
Comments
One Response to “The Evolution of Sex”
Leave a Reply
What I’m Reading…
Recommended…
Good stuff! Thanks