Let's test that idea. Darwin's theory is that mutation plus natural selection can produce a population that is more fit.
So let's take a sentence (remember, evolution isn't about the origin of life) and see what happens.
Dawkins intends this example to illustrate a common misunderstanding of evolutionary change, i.e. that DNA sequences or organic compounds such as proteins are the result of atoms randomly combining to form more complex structures. In these types of computations, any sequence of amino acids in a protein will be extraordinarily improbable (this is known as Hoyle's fallacy). Rather, evolution proceeds by hill climbing, as in adaptive landscapes.
Dawkins then goes on to show that a process of cumulative selection can take far fewer steps to reach any given target. In Dawkins's words:
We again use our computer monkey, but with a crucial difference in its program. It again begins by choosing a random sequence of 28 letters, just as before ... it duplicates it repeatedly, but with a certain chance of random error – 'mutation' – in the copying. The computer examines the mutant nonsense phrases, the 'progeny' of the original phrase, and chooses the one which, however slightly, most resembles the target phrase, METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL.
By repeating the procedure, a randomly generated sequence of 28 letters and spaces will be gradually changed each generation. The sequences progress through each generation:
Generation 01: WDLTMNLT DTJBKWIRZREZLMQCO P [2]
Generation 02: WDLTMNLT DTJBSWIRZREZLMQCO P
Generation 10: MDLDMNLS ITJISWHRZREZ MECS P
Generation 20: MELDINLS IT ISWPRKE Z WECSEL
Generation 30: METHINGS IT ISWLIKE B WECSEL
Generation 40: METHINKS IT IS LIKE I WEASEL
Generation 43: METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_program
So clearly, random mutation and natural selection can produce a sentence.
Here's a more difficult challenge, solved by Darwinian processes:
Creatures from primordial silicon – Let Darwinism loose in an electronics lab and just watch what it creates. A lean, mean machine that nobody understands.
“GO!” barks the researcher into the microphone. The oscilloscope in front of
him displays a steady green line across the top of its screen. “Stop!” he says
and the line immediately drops to the bottom.
Between the microphone and the oscilloscope is an electronic circuit that
discriminates between the two words. It puts out 5 volts when it hears “go” and
cuts off the signal when it hears “stop”.
It is unremarkable that a microprocessor can perform such a task—except
in this case. Even though the circuit consists of only a small number of basic
components, the researcher, Adrian Thompson, does not know how it works. He
can’t ask the designer because there wasn’t one. Instead, the circuit evolved
from a “primordial soup” of silicon components guided by the principles of
genetic variation and survival of the fittest.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...at-nobody-understands-clive-davidson-reports/
The cool thing is, it uses about 1/10 of the components needed in a human-designed device that does the same things. And there are components and circuits that seem to do nothing, but if they are removed, the system doesn't work.
God is a lot smarter than a lot of creationists are willing to let Him be.
See above.
