138. The Crisis in Darwinism?

Readers of Thomas Kuhn’s famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions will know his central thesis that when anomalies and contradictions arise in a reigning scientific theory it creates a crisis out of which new theories emerge to replace the old. We may be seeing the beginnings of such a crisis for modern Darwinism, which […]

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Readers of Thomas Kuhn's famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions will know his central thesis that when anomalies and contradictions arise in a reigning scientific theory it creates a crisis out of which new theories emerge to replace the old. We may be seeing the beginnings of such a crisis for modern Darwinism, which appears to have gaps and contradictions that can't be explained or explained away. The rumbles about the anomalies in Darwinism are ruthlessly suppressed in the media and in academia, but as with all such crises, the problems are impossible to suppress forever, and the doubts are increasingly leaking out.

See, for example, David Gelernter's recent long article, "Giving Up Darwin," in the Claremont Review of Books, or Ricochet co-founder Peter Robinson's recent Uncommon Knowledge show with Gelernter, David Berlinski, and Stephen Meyer, on this same subject.

Steve Hayward's guest this week is J. Scott Turner, professor emeritus of physiology at the State University of New York in Syracuse, and author of a new book, Purpose and Desire: What Makes Something "Alive" and Why Modern Darwinism Has Failed to Explain It. Our conversation delves into some of the anomalies, but also wanders off into the world of giant ant mounds (no, really: they are quite fascinating, and relevant to the subject). For an excellent short precis of Scott's viewpoint and the topic of the book, see here.

Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/powerline/the-crisis-in-darwinism/.

Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.

Subscribe to Power Line in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.