Re: [asa] Origins: Francis Collins and ID

Evolution is highly directional, constrained by natural selection.
That's also the answer to "where does the information come from?"-the
environment provides the information; evolution represents attempts to
produce adequate matches to the information given by the environment.

The eye is a popular but bad example of a challenge for evolution.
This is because even a rudimentary eye is useful. For example, many
single-celled organisms are able to detect and respond to light.
Within animals, there is the range from no apparent light sensitivity
through mere light detection, basic capability to detect motion, shape
recognition, etc. to well-developed lenses and various systems of
color recognition. Parallel development of lensed eyes in mollusks
(actually multiple versions), vertebrates, cnidarians, and annelids,
along with the somewhat different compound eye approach in many
arthropods, illustrates the evolutionary sequence well. Eyes can be
far from perfect and still functional. I need things to be within 20
cm to be fully in focus, but would still easily be able to detect a
large animal moving towards me while it was still a ways off. We
manage with a lot fewer colors than some birds.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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