In his landmark book Darwin’s Black Box, biochemist Michael Behe wrote that “to appreciate complexity, you have to experience it.” On a new episode of ID the Future, I conclude a three-part series with biologist Jonathan McLatchie that dives into the complexity and design of sexual reproduction. In Part 1, Dr. McLatchie explains why sex is the queen of problems for evolutionary theory. In Part 2, we explored some of the key components that make sexual reproduction such a successful system in the biological world, and we spent time unpacking why this interconnected system exhibits irreducible complexity. In Part 3, we review more interrelated features of sexual reproduction and explain why they are better explained as products of forethought and engineering than a gradual, blind evolutionary process.
This time, Dr. McLatchie explains the design features of erectile function, the ejaculatory reflex, sperm chemotaxis, and the female egg cell. McLatchie reminds listeners how all the separate parts work together as an irreducibly complex whole system: “If any of these aspects…were different or non-existent, then sexual reproduction couldn’t take place. And so you require multiple codependent sub-functions to facilitate sexual reproduction.”
Download the podcast or listen to it here. This is Part 3 of a three-part series. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.
Dig Deeper
- Read the article that inspired today’s interview: “For Males, an Engineering Marvel That Originates in the Brain.”
- Learn more about the concept of irreducible complexity in Michael Behe’s landmark book Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution.