Examine the evidence. Follow it where it leads.
Neo-Darwinian evolution is taught as settled fact. Here you can walk through each of its pillars, read the strongest case for it, see how its evidence grades against the scientific method, and decide for yourself. Spend sixty seconds or sixty days.
Ten pillars hold up the theory. Examine each one.
These are the pillars as they appear in standard biology curricula, plus four lenses that cut across all of them. Hover a pillar for a summary and click it to open it. Your progress is marked in red pencil and saved on this device. So far 3 pillars are fully written, with 9 claim cards.
Mutation & New Information
The theory needs a source of genuinely new genetic information: new genes, new protein folds, new systems. Textbooks name random mutation, sifted by natural selection. How well does the evidence hold up?
Mutation and selection clearly tune and break existing genes. That is observed and repeatable. Whether they can build new protein folds and multi-part systems has not been shown. It is an extrapolation from small changes.
The reasoning behind each grade is in Explore, one claim card at a time.
Mutations modify existing genesObserved in the lab, measured and replicated.
Mutations originate new folds & systemsInferred from small changes, not yet observed.
The pillar's central word, information, is used for both a change in an existing gene and the origin of a new one. Most of the disagreement on these cards turns on keeping the two apart.
From what mutation and selection have been seen to do, over decades, to what they are said to have done over the history of life.
- 4 clear · 3 possible
- 3 clear · 2 possible
- 1 possible
Both readings are checked. How it works →
Every claim is graded on the same six steps.
We don't just argue. Each claim is scored against the scientific method, from observation to falsifiability, and receives a letter grade. Where the evidence is strong, we say so.
- 1Observation
- 2Hypothesis
- 3Prediction
- 4Experiment
- 5Replication
- 6Falsifiability
Choose how far you want to go.
Guided paths are curated routes across the Map. They are being prepared alongside the remaining pillars. For now, the three written pillars are the place to start.
The Overview
The ten pillars in one picture, with the one question to ask about each.
In preparationThe Core Issues
The claim cards that carry the most weight: new information, the fossil record, common descent, human origins.
In preparationThe Deep Study
Weekly units with primary papers, the Evaluator, and reflection questions. Works well for homeschool or small groups.
In preparationParents · Students · Pastors
The same evidence, framed for the conversations you're actually having.
In preparation