Evolution Of The Brain

QUESTION: How do scientists explain the evolution of the brain?

ANSWER:

There isn’t a universal consensus among scientists as to how the brain got here. There are a couple of different views on the subject. Creation scientists on the one hand believe that God made the brain. He conceived of it, He designed it and He built it, either from scratch or from preexisting raw materials. Since the nature and extent of God’s abilities remain largely unknown, creationists aren’t exactly sure how He did it. But they insist that the incredible level of complexity we see in the human brain cannot be explained by chance mutations and natural selection. It requires some sort of intelligent designer (i.e. God).

Darwinists on the other hand believe that the brain evolved from a simpler organ slowly over time. Evolution in this context is the process by which biological innovations are introduced via random genetic mutations over time. If these innovations prove advantageous they are preserved and passed on to future generations via natural selection. Creatures which lack these advantageous innovations die out as those which possess them thrive and take over.

As the theory goes, the evolution of the brain commenced when at some point in our biological history random genetic mutations began to alter some sort of pre-brain organ. These alterations proved to be advantageous and so they were preserved and passed on by natural selection. More and more advantageous alterations were made to this organ and over time they added up to a functioning brain. The evolution of the brain continued as more alterations were made and the level of complexity increased. Eventually this process achieved the level of complexity we see in the human brain.

Scientists have called the human brain the most complex structure in the known universe. The question is, could it possibly have evolved via random genetic mutations and natural selection or does its incredible complexity require the planning and foresight that comes only from an intelligent source? The debate rages on. What do you believe?