Hitching continues: “But if not sight, what else?
I think it’s perfectly reasonable], but the most obvious and daunting ones continue to stare us in the face, unexplained. “At this point a disinterested outsider might fairly conclude that evolutionary theory has reached an impasse. In three crucial areas where neo-Darwinism can be tested, it has failed: 1. “The fossil record reveals a pattern of evolutionary leaps rather than gradual change. 2. “Genes are a powerful stabilizing mechanism whose main function is to prevent new forms evolving. 3. “Random step-by-step mutations at the molecular level cannot explain the organized and growing complexity of life.” And so Part 2 begins, where Hitching discusses “Alternatives”. Chapter 5 is devoted to creation. Hitching doesn’t accept creation. The irony, of course, is that in the big battle of “Evolution vs. Creation”, everything he said in Part 1 would be enthusiastically embraced by creationists to show how implausible evolution is. Hitching concludes the chapter with the observation (page
