Evolution, Aircraft, and Equivocation
Did you know that computers, legislation, automobiles, bicycles, airplanes, and so on can evolve? Sure, no problem! It is legitimate to use the word evolve in these situations, but the problem is, evolve has many definitions. (One definition is so vague, it's almost useless: change over time.) But Darwinistas play fast 'n' loose with the definitions.
One tinhorn laid down some pictures of similarities in the development of airplanes, correctly used the term evolution, and then conflated that use of the word with biological evolution. This involved arbitrary assertions, personal preferences, and a bit of emotional manipulation by claiming that biological evolution cannot be denied by "reasonable" people. Well, no, we'd better believe it, don't want people thinking we're not reasonable, do we? Never mind that his explanation is not the only one! The better explanation is that similarities in organisms (as well as mechanical devices) occur because of intelligent design, and our Creator made things according to his design plans.
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| Yours truly in front of a MiG-21 at the Kalamazoo, Michigan air museum, about 1998. |
Did you know airplanes evolve? A 2014 research article titled “The Evolution of Airplanes,” written by Duke University’s distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering Adrian Bejan, makes that very claim. He begins with all the visible differences between a biplane and a jumbo jet. Airplanes have gotten bigger and faster over the decades. We could say airplane design evolves in the sense that it changes over time.To read the rest of this enlightening article, click on "Major Evolutionary Blunders: Berra's Blunder".
A second look reveals some common features like engines and wings. What is the best way to explain both the similarities and differences at the same time? Are we seeing a core common design enhanced with many ingenious variations? Or did all modern airplanes descend from a common, primitive airplane ancestor, evidenced by similar ancestral traits but with new features adapted to new conditions? These questions sound a lot like those asked by evolutionists and creationists about living creatures. Bejan wrote his article to supply those answers.