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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2005
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Claim CB102.1:

In an interview in 1997, Richard Dawkins was asked to "give an example of a genetic mutation or an evolutionary process which can be seen to increase the information in the genome." Apparently unable to answer, he paused a long time and finally responded by changing the subject.

Source:

AIG, 1998. Skeptics choke on Frog: was Dawkins caught on the hop? http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/3907.asp
Keziah Films, "From a Frog to a Prince" (video)

Response:

  1. According to Dawkins, he paused because the question revealed that the interviewers were creationists, that he had been duped about their motives. He paused to think about how to handle them, and the change of subject occurred due to the several minutes when he confronted them being omitted from the video (Dawkins 2003).

  2. The question is equivalent to asking how complexity could evolve, which Dawkins has covered in at least four books (The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, Climbing Mount Improbable, and A Devil's Chaplain). He has answered the question at great length.

  3. The ability of a single person to answer a question is largely irrelevant. The scientific literature is rife with examples of information increasing.

References:

  1. Dawkins, Richard, 2003. The information challenge. In: A Devil's Chaplain, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. http://www.skeptics.com.au/journal/dawkins1.htm

Further Reading:

Dawkins, Richard, 2003. The information challenge. In: A Devil's Chaplain, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. http://www.skeptics.com.au/journal/dawkins1.htm

Williams, Barry, 1998. Creationist deception exposed, The Skeptic 18(3): 7-10. http://www.tccsa.tc/video/creationist_deception_exposed.pdf
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created 2003-9-23, modified 2005-4-27