Question

Q) Proponents of Intelligent Design assert that some complex traits are irreducibly complex. What would those proponents have to prove in order to support their assertion?

They need to prove that the evolving trait ...   

A) could not have evolved from a simpler one with the same function.   

B) could not have evolved from a more complex one.   

c) did not undergo a functional shift.   

d) All of the Above

Answer 1

The answer is option A

Explanation:

"A system performing a given basic function is irreducibly complex if it includes a set of well-matched, mutually interacting, nonarbitrarily individuated parts such that each part in the set is indispensable to maintaining the system's basic, and therefore original, function. The set of these indispensable parts is known as the irreducible core of the system"

In simple words the irreducible complexity theory states that if in a structure or a pathway the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning then that complexity of that organ or pathway is unchanged and is present as it was since it first came into existence and not by gradual process of evolution.

For example, The flagella of certain bacteria constitute a molecular motor requiring the interaction of about 40 different protein parts. Behe presents this as a prime example of an irreducibly complex structure defined as "a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning", and argues that since "an irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional", it could not have evolved gradually through natural selection.