Secular scientists, in their attempts to explain the spontaneous origin and development of life, use various comparisons to support scenarios derived from the theory of evolution.1 One such example is the ‘infinite number of monkeys’ argument, which suggests that a group of monkeys randomly pressing typewriter keys for an infinite amount of time will eventually produce a text, such as the complete works of Shakespeare. However, can such ‘illustrations’ prove that all material things – including forms of life – developed through random processes?
Willful Ignorance
Creation scientists have consistently refuted such analogies used by evolutionists, which highlight the error of oversimplification.2 Nevertheless, some individuals continue to insist that even highly improbable events can occur, arguing that any series of random coincidences can unfold over infinite time.
Does infinite time serve as a lifeline, turning the improbability of evolution into something possible? Can everything in our universe truly be deemed possible merely due to molecular motion and infinite time?
In the context of the origin of life, entropy is one of the primary factors that explains why such a process cannot occur.
Entropy vs. Evolution
Entropy (the second law of thermodynamics) is the universal tendency toward decreasing order and complexity in the world. Thus, it does not support evolutionary concepts.
The naturalistic belief of most evolutionists, however, requires them to find a naturalistic explanation for complexity. A scenario must be proposed to show how a primordial chemical molecule could evolve into a self-replicating protein, then into complex protozoa, eventually into large animals, and ultimately into humans with infinitely complex brains. However, there is a universal scientific law that all natural processes tend to reduce complexity in the universe. This is the second law of thermodynamics, or the law of increasing entropy, which leads to decreased usable energy, increased randomness and disorganisation, and distorted transmission of information.3
Entropy governs our universe, and all biochemical compounds necessary for constructing body parts in both animals and humans are inherently unstable. From a statistical probability perspective, any random, accidental combination of these compounds in the ‘primordial soup’, even if successful and unintended, would be short-lived and decay with each passing moment. Thus, the universal reality of entropy clearly shows that infinite time works destructively on random biomolecules—it does not protect or develop them from simple to complex.
What About the Monkeys?
Dr. A. E. Wilder-Smith explained why comparing abiogenesis to monkeys typing on a typewriter is an invalid analogy.4 It is false due to the fact that:
- it does not take into account that the monkeys would die of hunger,
- it ignores the problem of obtaining an unlimited amount of paper,
- it overlooks the inevitability of the keys being completely worn out long before the monkeys could accidentally type anything meaningful,
- it fails to consider that ink also undergoes entropy and will disappear over time.
Thus, eons of time guarantee that monkeys will never write Hamlet…
Conclusion
To learn the truth about origins, we must read the Book of Genesis, as time and entropy effectively prevent the spontaneous origin of life. Time is the end of evolution, not the factor that enables it.
Footnotes
- Morris III, H., 2013. Willingly Ignorant. Acts & Facts, 42(3), pp. 5–7.
- Gish, D., 1976. Origin of Life: Theories on the Origin of Biological Order. Acts & Facts, 5(7). See also Tomkins, J.P., 2018. The Impossibility of Life’s Evolutionary Beginnings. Acts & Facts, 47(3), pp. 11–14; Morris, H.M., 1973. Evolution, Thermodynamics, and Entropy. Acts & Facts, 2(3); McCombs, C., 2004. Evolution Hopes You Don’t Know Chemistry: The Problem of Control. Acts & Facts, 33(8); Thomas, B., 2010. Critique of ‘Primordial Soup’ Vindicates Creation Research. Creation Science Update, 11 February.
- Morris, H.M., 2002. The Mystery of Complexity. Acts & Facts, 31(1).
- Wilder-Smith, A.E., 1993. The Origin of Conceptual Thought in Living Systems. Acts & Facts, 22(2).
Based on: J. J. S. Johnson, Infinite time won’t rescue evolution, Acts & Facts, Institute for Creation Research, June 2018, p. 21.
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