Evolution is Flawed

It should be noted that my opponent dropped several arguments in the last round and has almost completely ignored my arguments. I would first like to expand on my opening argument and add new arguments. After that, I will defend my rebuttals to his argument. Evidence for Evolution Premise 1: If evolution is true, then we should see evidence of recent and modern evolution. Premise 2: We see abundant evidence of recent evolution. Conclusion: Therefore, evolution is probably true. My opponent ignored the evidence for evolution via the CMAH pseudogene. I would, however, like to expand on that argument. Malaria is one of the most horrific human diseases. However, at one point in our evolutionary history, humans enjoyed immunity to malaria. What happened for humans to gain and lose resistance to malaria? Malaria is caused by a microorganism known as Plasmodium falciparum. It cannot be transmitted from person to person but must be carried via mosquitoes and acquired and transmitted when a mosquito bites a person. Chimpanzees suffer from a less severe form of malaria caused by a microorganism called Plasmodium reichenowi. What happened is the following: The human parasite evolved from the chimp parasite by jumping hosts from humans to chimpanzees. Plasmodium reichenowi recognizes a substance on a gene called CMAH. Our genome carries this gene and we have it in the same strand of DNA as chimpanzees do. However, the only difference is it is disabled – a pseudogene if you will. No-one has the original non-mutated version. The mutation that disabled the CMAH gene had a distinct advantage of those that did not – they became resistant to malaria. [1] So, what happened? Why did we lose our resistance to malaria? The answer lies in the evolution of malaria itself. Mutations in a gene called EBA-175 allowed those parasites that carried the same mutation to recognize another substance which is abundant on human red blood cells about five to ten thousand years ago. The results: Plasmodium falciparum evolved as a new species. We are highly susceptible to this new form of malaria and the new version of malaria is much worse than the old one. [2] That is an expansion on the CMAH pseudogene argument, which was dropped. I would now like to defend my other arguments for evolution. Definition – Vestigial Structure: A rudimentary or degenerate, usually nonfunctioning [not always nonfunctional] structure that is the remnant of an organ or part that was fully developed or functioning in a preceding generation or an earlier stage of development. [3] Premise 1: If evolution is true, such organs and structures should exist. Premise 2: There are numerous such cases of rudimentary or degenerate structures. Conclusion: Therefore, evolution is given added support. For this, I cited the dandelion. Whilst it is true that some plants do exhibit both asexual and sexual reproduction (especially true in microorganisms), the article my opponent cited did not mention the dandelion. However, I did added research and this is what I found[4]: Dandelions can exhibit both sexual and asexual reproduction: Nothing is as simple as it seems. Dandelion reproduction can be sexual or asexual depending on the population of individuals under consideration. Understanding the details requires a definition of sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction involves two events, not necessarily in close order. One is reduction division or meiosis to bring a diploid (or higher ploidy) nucleus (and cell) to a haploid state. The second event is the fusion of two haploid nuclei (and cells) to form a diploid nucleus (and cell) which is the zygote. Asexual reproduction involves the formation of new nuclei and cells by mitosis, maintaining whatever ploidy level the parent had, i. e. , haploid, diploid, triploid, etc. The female reproductive parts of most dandelions are asexual in that the nucleus and cell destined to undergo meiosis fails to undergo a reduction of the chromosome number (a process called restitution) and emerges from the process as a triploid egg cell This triploid egg develops directly into a zygote at the same ploidy level as the parent plant. A general name for this process isparthenogenesis. It parallels in every way except reduction division the sexual process of egg formation and zygote development. Conclusion: My opponent’s arguments are an attempt at a straw man. My opponent ignores my argument from the CMAH pseudogene and ignores the fact that vestigial structure ≠ functionless. Defending my Rebuttals I do not have much room, so please forgive me if my arguments are not perfect and I will probably need to expand on the argument in the next round. My opponent completely dropped my rebuttal to the design argument that he attempted to use. Second Law of Thermodynamics My opponent once again confuses the concepts of entropy and disorder. The second law of thermodynamics simply says that the entropy of a closed system will tend to increase with time. "Entropy" is a technical term with a precise physical definition, but for most purposes it is okay to think of it as equivalent to "disorder". Therefore, the second law of thermodynamics basically says that the universe as a whole gets more disordered and random as time goes on. [5] Sunlight gives the Earth an open system as I explained in the last round, because it not only gives heat to the earth, but it also gives energy to the earth – a key player in Thermodynamics. The earth is an open system. The sun continually transfers energy into the earth’s system, and the amount of energy varies with the time of year. On a smaller scale, the earth’s oceans are open systems. They continually receive new water and chemicals from rivers, and lose water to evaporation. Lakes and ponds are also open systems. Closed systems are very rare. [6] Conclusion: My opponent fails to respond to the fact that the Earth is an open system because the sun gives energy to the earth. Fossils My opponent failed to respond to the argument against “living fossils” – i. e. , modern creatures that look like ancient creatures. I consider this a dropped argument. As far as the missing links is concerned, I apologize as I misread your argument. Evolution does not predict that every single species that lived will produce a fossil. No one expects to find every species that represents a fossil. WriterDave notes in his debate[7]: [Consider passenger] pigeons, once numbering in the billions, only went extinct 200 years ago; but you won't find their fossils anywhere. Fossilization only happens in habitats where preservation happens very quickly, such as tar pits and river deltas, and it requires the animal to be durable enough to preserve. Moreover, fossils are routinely destroyed by geological processes -- heat, pressure, erosion, etc. -- before they are ever discovered. Thus, if we did find "billions" of transitional fossils, geological science would be turned on its head! Out of room. [1] Interesting sidebar note, Neanderthals apparently had this same CMAH pseudogene meaning that the disabling mutation occurred before the splitting of the two lineages. [2]Fairbanks, Daniel J. Evolving: The Human Effect and Why it Matters. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2012. Print. [3] The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Quoted . http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com... [4] . http://evolutionwiki.org... [5] . http://curious.astro.cornell.edu... [6] . http://www.lifesorigin.com... [7] . http://debate.org...