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Paul Nelson and Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig on Randomness in Natural Selection

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The question of whether evolution is “random” is a perennial. Darwinists respond to the challenge, often delivered casually, by exasperatedly pointing out that the natural-selection component of evolution is hardly a matter of chance. Actually, though, as geneticist Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig explains in an ID the Future podcast interview with Discovery Institute’s Paul Nelson, this is not quite true:

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Everyone understands, or should understand, that the evolutionary component of random genetic variation is just that — random. But, Dr. Lönnig clarifies, citing the American oyster and other examples, “selection” also incorporates a high degree of old-fashioned luck. The folk objection to Darwinian theory is, then, not as naïve at it might at first seem.

Photo: Bed of American oysters, Cockspur Island, Georgia, by JohnCub [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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