The Failures of Mathematical Anti-Evolutionism

308 Pages·2022·0.995 MB·English

by  Jason Rosenhouse

TheFailuresofMathematicalAnti-Evolutionism
Anti-scientificmisinformationhasbecomeaseriousproblemonmany
fronts,includingvaccinationsandclimatechange.Oneofthesefrontsis
thepersistenceofanti-evolutionism,whichhasrecentlybeengivena
superficiallyprofessionalglossintheformoftheintelligentdesign
movement.Farfromsolelybeingofinteresttoresearchersinbiology,
anti-evolutionismmustberecognizedaspartofabroadercampaign
withaconservativereligiousandpoliticalagenda.Muchofthe
rhetoricaleffectivenessofanti-evolutionismcomesfromitsrelianceon
seeminglyprecisemathematicalarguments.Thisbook,thefirstofits
kindtobewrittenbyamathematician,discussesandrefutesthese
arguments.Alongtheway,italsoclarifiescommonmisconceptions
aboutbothbiologyandmathematics.Bothlayaudiencesand
professionalswillfindthebooktobeaccessibleandinformative.
jason rosenhouseisaprofessorofmathematicsatJamesMadison
University.Heistheauthororeditorofeightpreviousbooks,including
AmongtheCreationists:DispatchesfromtheAnti-EvolutionistFront
Line(OxfordUniversityPress,2012).
“Ifyouwanttoconvinceanaudienceofafalsehood,anexcellent
strategyistobamboozlethemwithmathematicaljargonthattheydon’t
understand.Ifyourincomprehensibleequationsseemtoprovewhatthe
audiencewantstobelieveanyway,you’llearnastandingovation.This
hasbeenafavoritetacticofanti-evolutionists.JasonRosenhouseisa
goodmathematicianbut,unlikemanymathematicians,heissuperbly
giftedintheartoftranslatingmathematicalargumentsintowords.He
mercilesslyexposescreationistabusesofmathematics,usinglanguage
thatnon-mathematicianscanpleasurablyfollow.Asabonusalongthe
way,heisanexcellentmathematicsteacher,patientlyexplainingeach
pointbeforerevealingtheabuseofit.Iespeciallyappreciatedhisdeft
useofanalogies.Heisthoroughlywellreadinthebogusliteratureof
creationismand‘intelligentdesign,’aswellasinthebiological
literature.Wehavehereasuperbbook,lucid,knowledgeable,wise,and
verynecessary.”
RichardDawkinsFRS,EmeritusProfessorofthePublic
UnderstandingofScience,UniversityofOxford
“Alittlemathematicscanbeadangerousthingwhenitisusedasa
rhetoricalweaponinapoliticalandreligiousbattle.Inthisincisiveand
crystalclearbook,JasonRosenhouseshowsthattheargumentsof
mathycreationistsareliketheproverbialsphericalcowand
unflightworthybumblebee:sophistical,wrongheaded,andoutoftouch
withbiologicalreality.”
StevenPinker,JohnstoneProfessorofPsychology,
HarvardUniversity,andtheauthorof
HowtheMindWorksandRationality
“Creationistsbeware!JasonRosenhouseisheretodebunkyour
perversionsofprobabilitytheory,yourtorturedthermodynamics,and
yourinsultstoinformationtheory.Andtherestofuswilllearnalot
aboutevolution,mathematics,andtheirinterrelationsfromtheexpert
guidanceofferedinTheFailuresofMathematicalAnti-Evolutionism.”
GlennBranch,DeputyDirector,National
CenterforScienceEducation
“Writtenbyamathematicianwhohaspaidcloseattentionto
mathematicalargumentsagainstevolution,thisisabeautifullywritten
andcarefulrefutationofthosearguments.JasonRosenhousecovers
argumentsbasedonimprobability,information,andthermodynamics,
andhedoessowithclearexplanationsthatwillbeaccessibletoanyone
whotakesscienceseriously.Awonderfulachievement.”
JoeFelsenstein,UniversityofWashington
The Failures of
Mathematical
Anti-Evolutionism
jason rosenhouse
JamesMadisonUniversity
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108842303
DOI:10.1017/9781108907149
©JasonRosenhouse2022
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Firstpublished2022
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Names:Rosenhouse,Jason,author.
Title:Thefailuresofmathematicalanti-evolutionism/JasonRosenhouse.
Description:NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2021.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2021041875|ISBN9781108842303(hardback)|
ISBN9781108820448(paperback)|ISBN9781108907149(epub)
Subjects:LCSH:Evolution(Biology)–Mathematics.|
Evolution(Biology)–Mathematicalmodels.
Classification:LCCQH371.3.M37R672021|DDC576.801/5118–dc23
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TomyfriendsattheNationalCenterforScienceEducation.
Thanksforeverythingyoudo.

Contents
Preface pagexi
1 ScientistsandTheirHecklers 1
1.1 DarwinPresentsHisTheory 1
1.2 WhoAretheHecklers? 3
1.3 BadMathCanBeRhetoricallyEffective 5
1.4 DoesEvolutionHaveaMathProblem? 9
1.5 TheSearchforanIn-PrincipleArgument 15
1.6 NotesandFurtherReading 16
2 EvolutionBasics 19
2.1 WhatEvolutionSays 19
2.2 TheEvidenceforEvolution 22
2.3 TheUnbridgeableGapsArgument 27
2.4 TheComplexStructuresArgument 29
2.5 IrreducibleComplexity 39
2.6 PayingaPriceforBeingWrong 47
2.7 NotesandFurtherReading 53
3 TheParallelTracksofMathematicalReasoning 58
3.1 MathIsSimple,RealityIsComplex 58
3.2 YouNeedBothRigorandIntuition 65
3.3 BadMathematicalModeling 74
3.4 Anti-Evolutionism’sFallaciousModel 76
3.5 NotesandFurtherReading 82
4 TheLegacyoftheWistarConference 84
4.1 Again,DoesEvolutionHaveaMathProblem? 84
4.2 NaturalSelectionIsLikeaTruffleHog 86
vii
viii contents
4.3 GeneticsIsDifferentfromComputerScience 91
4.4 ThePerilsofLong-TermModeling 99
4.5 TheTwoPillarsofMathematicalAnti-Evolutionism 105
4.6 NotesandFurtherReading 108
5 ProbabilityTheory 110
5.1 AWarm-UpPuzzle 110
5.2 AProbabilityPrimer 112
5.3 TheHardy–WeinbergLaw 117
5.4 TheArtofCounting 121
5.5 TheBasicArgumentfromImprobability 124
5.6 ComplexSpecifiedInformation 132
5.7 IstheFlagellumComplexandSpecified? 137
5.8 GreekLettersandSubscriptsDoNotHelp 146
5.9 RecentWorkonFlagellumEvolution 150
5.10 TheEdgeofEvolution? 153
5.11 NotesandFurtherReading 160
6 InformationandCombinatorialSearch 163
6.1 WhatIsInformation? 163
6.2 InformationTheoryandBiology 167
6.3 HowEvolutionIncreasesGeneticInformation 170
6.4 TheBasicArgumentfromInformation 177
6.5 IsDNAComparabletoHumanLanguage? 179
6.6 ProteinSpaceRevisited 184
6.7 Dawkins’WeaselExperiments 191
6.8 TheNoFreeLunchTheorems 195
6.9 ArtificialLife 207
6.10 ConservationofInformation 211
6.11 NotesandFurtherReading 217
7 Thermodynamics 221
7.1 AnEspeciallyAmbitiousArgument 221
7.2 WhatIsEntropy? 223
contents ix
7.3 TheFirstTwoLawsofThermodynamics 227
7.4 StatisticalMechanics 233
7.5 ApplyingtheSecondLawtoEvolution 236
7.6 TheBasicArgumentfromThermodynamics 238
7.7 StatisticalMechanicsversusEvolution? 243
7.8 ThermodynamicsinTheGenesisFlood 246
7.9 HenryMorris’sLaterWriting 251
7.10 RevivingtheSecondLawArgument 254
7.11 NotesandFurtherReading 264
8 Epilogue 267
8.1 Again,BadMathCanBeRhetoricallyEffective 267
8.2 CanIntelligenceBuildComplexAdaptations? 271
8.3 Coda 273
Bibliography 275
Index 285