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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2004
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Claim CB921:

New structures or organs would not develop incrementally because they would not function until fully developed. For example, what use is half an eye?

Source:

Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Green Forest, AR: Master Books, pg. 53.

Response:

  1. The assumption made by the claim is false. Structures and organs function quite well when they are not fully developed. Six-year-olds may not have the strength and agility of adults, but their arms, legs, and so forth function well enough to do a great deal.

  2. "Fully developed" is not even well defined. Human eyes do not have the acuity of hawks, the dark sight ability of owls, the color discrimination of some fish, or the bee's ability to see in ultraviolet (see CB921.1). With so much more potential possible for the human eye, how can one claim that our own eyes are fully developed?

Further Reading:

Gould, Stephen J., 1977. The problem of perfection, or How can a clam mount a fish on its rear end? In: Ever Since Darwin, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., pp. 103-110. Excerpted at http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/contriv.pdf
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created 2003-5-21