Lukas Ruegger presents a series of four videos (Season 1) on YouTube® that reveal just a few of the growing challenges to Darwinian and neo-Darwinian theories. Ruegger draws heavily upon the work of Intelligent Design proponents such as Steven Myers, especially his book Darwin’s Dilemma. While Myer’s books are written at a level that might be beyond teens, Ruegger’s brief presentations are easier to understand.
This series explores scientific evidence that undermines key evolutionary beliefs such as Darwin’s “tree of life.” Each video runs about 15 to 20 minutes.
In the first video, Ruegger explains how Darwin’s own predictions and questions undermine his theory because of archaeological discoveries since he died. For example, the Cambrian explosion provides evidence for the sudden appearance of up to 20 complex biological phyla without any precursors.
Evolutionists argue that there were likely precursors of the life forms representing several phyla (each with a different body plan) alive before the pre-Cambrian but that their remains were unable to be preserved because they were too soft and too small. The second video undercuts that argument by examining finds from southeastern Australia in the 1940s, in which the remains of soft-bodied creatures were discovered. This has been called the Ediacaran fauna or Ediacaran explosion since it demonstrates the sudden appearance of complex life forms. At first, scientists thought the Ediacaran fauna were precursors to those found in the Cambrian explosion. However, with two exceptions—a primitive sponge and a primitive mollusk, they don’t exhibit the same types of features (such as bilateral symmetry and no head, mouth, or gut) as the animal forms of the Cambrian explosion. The three other life forms found there don’t fit into any presently identifiable phyla.
In the third video, two famous paleontologists, Steve Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, proposed the theory of punctuated equilibrium in the 1970s to help account for the Cambrian and Ediacaran explosions. They proposed that evolution happens rapidly and only in certain limited periods rather than slowly and continuously. Their unorthodox theory was not embraced by other evolutionists even though it better fits the fossil record at some points. The rest of the video explains the problems with punctuated equilibrium, problems that caused even Steve Jay Gould to decide his theory didn’t adequately solve the problems of evolution.
Seeing that the fossil record didn’t support evolutionary theory, evolution proponents have turned to homology and phylogenetics. The fourth video shows how both (genetic similarities between different phyla) fail to support evolution, instead producing dramatic counter-evidence. For example, gene sequencing was thought to be the way evolutionists could finally prove Darwin’s tree of life, but genetic studies have only provided a great deal of contradictory and undermining evidence.
Summary
Ruegger’s videos are aimed at an adult audience consisting of those who want to keep up with developments in the origins debate. Coming from an Intelligent Design perspective, which uses scientific evidence rather than biblical beliefs, makes it more likely that these points of evidence might be heard by evolution proponents.
