This project sets as its goal the development of an Intelligent Design paradigm that
makes falsifiable predictions. According to Karl Popper, such falsifiability is a key
component of scientific theories. To accomplish this, two hypothetical historical narratives
are first outlined based on guided processes and the design points they predict.
A biochemical approach to characterizing organisms then defines a protein's global
functional limits as determining the set of amino acids that allow it to successfully perform
its functions in any situation. The local functional limits restrict this potential substitution
set to only those proteins viable within an individual genetic background.
Proteins are referred to as the first-order of specified complexity because a
protein's gene is the fundamental unit of inheritance. Other orders of specified complexity
are described culminating in the organism level, which is the fundamental unit of selection.
Each phylogenetic tree within the two intelligent design scenarios is founded by an
original group or archetype. The descendants of this archetype are known as the
archetype's genus. Speciation events within the genus are brought about by a slow process
called co-adapted drift that creates distinct species through functional incompatibilities. A theory of natural selection is developed that attempts to characterize the
relationship between the gene and the organism. Natural selection in this sense is
described as a preservation mechanism that selects against deleterious phenotypes instead
of selecting for beneficial ones.
Finally, a practical methodology is developed that begins by determining the
history of a gene in a given species by the symmetrical causal relationships of the alleles
and the species allelic distribution. The original alleles in this species and their local
functional limits are then compared with those of analogous genes in similar species to
determine if these species were functionally compatible at that time. The two Intelligent
Design paradigms predict patterns of incompatibilities, or design points, where guided
actions were involved. This is a falsifiable prediction that raises the status of these
paradigms in a Popperian sense.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4804 |
| Date | 25 April 2007 |
| Creators | Schroeder, James William |
| Contributors | Sansom, Roger B. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 271192 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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